Toy rotation {How I made it work for us}

I saved my sanity by recently implementing a new toy rotation system for Leila's main play area.  After just one day of less toys and books around our home felt less cluttered, Leila started playing with "new" toys, and I didn't spend all day picking up after her various messes.

In the first post of this series, I shared what I learned about toy rotation from Kim at Little Stories and a fellow mom, Meagan.

With limited storage space and a play kitchen set that is always set-up in the living room, I was worried if I could toy rotation work in our tiny space.

I started by getting rid of the junk.  I tossed broken and junky prize toys, gave away toys with missing pieces, and boxed up toys that were too baby-ish for her.  I did the same with our books on the book shelf.  This left us with way fewer toys and books for the rotation than I had expected.  I couldn't believe how many baby toys I still had out for Leila to play with ignore.

Next, I sorted the toys we were keeping in for the rotation into one of 5 categories.  Instead of pulling all the toys off the shelves (again) I made lists of the toys we have in a notebook.  I figured this would help me when I was ready to switch the toys out in two weeks.  No more thinking required...I already did the most difficult part!

Here's what my list looks like:

Thinking Toys- choose 3

puzzles, bead maze, wooden stacking train, crayons/coloring books, Magna-Doodle, pounding set, blocks (we have 4 different sets), play-dough, magnets, shape sorter, art/crafts 

Moving Toys- choose 3

balls, foam climbing blocks, wagon, baby stroller*, keyboard, musical instruments, vacuum*

Pretending toys- choose 3

kitchen set, play food and dishes, tool set, shopping baskets/bags, dress-up clothes/accessories, baby crib, Little People house, Little People zoo, baby dolls, doll clothes, stuffed animals, baby diaper bag

SCLaNs- choose 1

anything that turns on and has buttons to push

*I realize some of these toys can fit into more than one category.  This is how I chose to do it based upon how many of toys we have for each category and what her current faves are.

See...not nearly as many toys as I thought.  Clearing out the junk and packing up the baby toys really helped.

Choosing toys to have out for the first rotation was easy using my list.  I picked the correct amount of toys from each category, found a tub for them, and set them on the shelf.  Ta-da!

For this rotation-Thinking toys: 1 puzzle, wooden stacking train, MegaBlocks
Moving toys: keyboard, stroller, ball
Pretending toys: kitchen, baby diaper bag/baby doll, Little People house and accessories

I also decided that we had way too much play food and dishes available in the kitchen set.  I put them all into a giant tub for storage and chose two cooking pots with lids, three place settings, and five food items.  The available kitchen toys are neatly in baskets that fit in the kitchen set.

Ahhhh...so much better.

You may have noticed that I left out her GIANT Minnie Mouse and considered her baby diaper bag with the baby doll one pretending toy.  I also left out two shopping buckets in the kitchen area and decided to always keep the crayons and coloring books on the top shelf, out of her reach, until they are officially part of the rotation.

The important thing to remember is that this is your toy rotation system now.  You need to be flexible, bend the rules if necessary, and make it work for you and your child(ren).

Now, what on Earth did I do with all of the toys left out from this first rotation?

Stay tuned for my next post in this series...

Toy rotation {Storage and books}

Toy rotation saved my life!

Seriously though...how may times have you tripped over your child's toy, stepped on a small block, or pulled out your back cleaning up the mess of toys left out by your kid?

This fed-up Momma is begging you to rethink how you organize and store your child's toys. Not only will you feel like it saved your life, your child will secretly thank you too.

Our apartment is small...like teeny-tiny small, without a garage.  I work hard to make sure everything has a place, but sometimes it just gets out of control.

Take our main living area for example; it includes our television, couch, Lazy-boy, kitchen, kitchen table, Leila's toy shelves, her play kitchen, her mini-table, filing cabinets, end tables, and a tall bookcase that holds everything from Leila's books to over-sized kitchen items.  Let's just say we utilize every possible space possible, including the walls, for storage,

Here's some scary BEFORE pictures of the upstairs play areas.  As you can see I had a lot of sorting and organizing to do.  The worst part...I feel like I JUST organized this after her birthday in September and felt good about it.  Yikes.

Before: Toy shelves

Before: Kitchen area

Before: Upstairs bookshelf

I came across a pin on Pinterest about toy rotation that sparked my interest. The link ended up leading me to my friend Meagan's blog.  Meagan gave all the credit of her organizational system to Little Stories, an excellent resource focusing on early speech and language development.

At first I was surprised at all the toy and book organization tips on a speech blog, but after reading Kim's posts for newcomers I could see the relevance.  If you are interested in starting from the beginning check out these posts for newcomers.  They are quick reads and you'll be hooked on her blog immediately.

Toy Rotation {What I learned}

I searched Little Stories blog for the posts about toy rotation.  I read them all, then read them again.  Here's what I learned from Kim's posts.

• Get rid of junk!  Broken toys, toys that have missing pieces, toys that are too baby-ish, and toys that are just junk (think freebies from Chuck E. Cheese) need to go.  Donate them, recycle them, or store the baby-ish ones for a future child...just get them out of the play area.

• Categorize and sort toys that are left into one of these five categories (for further descriptions read here):

1. Thinking toys (cognitive and fine motor toys)
2. Moving toys (gross motor toys)
3. Pretending toys (toys that help develop social/emotional skills and language)
4. SCLaNs (Shapes, Colors, Letters, and Numbers electronic button-pushing toys)
5. Books 

• Make sets of ten toys to have out at a time.  Choose 3 thinking toys, 3 moving toys, 3 pretending toys, 1 SCLaN, and 5-10 books depending on your child's age.

• Store the rest of the toys out of the play area, out of sight.

• Rotate the toys in each category every two weeks.

• Watch your child rediscover and take interest in her toys!  Save your life by having less toys to clean up, trip over, or step on!

Stay tuned for my next post in this series...

Toy rotation {How I made it work for us}

Two-year old Favorites {Children's book Edition}

Books are one of the greatest sources of entertainment for toddlers.  Leila loves to hear the same stories over and over again.  She enjoys pretending to reading them, looking at the pictures, and simply pulling them off the bookshelves.

Reading from the dictionary (baby genius!)

Leila's favorite picture book changes almost every time we introduce a new one. When we do introduce a new book, she always asks for it to be read at least three times in a row in that sitting alone.

Being a former elementary teacher means I have more children's books than one person could imagine.  Most of them are still boxed up for when she's older but I have brought home some repetitive, rhyming, or simple text books with great illustrations for us to enjoy now.

1. Mother Goose by Scott Gustafson:  Her all-time fave, especially since Jeff changes all of the names in the rhymes to Leila.
2. No David by David Shannon:  She loves all the books in the series.  I just discovered there is a Christmas version called, It's Christmas, David!  We need this one for sure.
3. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes  by James Dean and Eric Litwin:  This one has a free song to download that is really catchy.
4. LMNO Peas by Keith Baker:  I swear I read this at least once a day because I like to read it too.  It one has excellent rhyme and rhythm.
5. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown:  We have the board book version.  The repetitive text makes it a favorite of Leila's.  I like it because it's about a mother bunny and her child.
6. Fire! Fire! Said Mrs. McGuire by Bill Martin Jr.:  A great rhyming book with simple text and a surprise ending.  They don't make the version I have anymore so I linked the newest edition.
7. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems:  These books crack me up.  It's the only one I have in the series but I know she'd love the others just as much.  The pictures are simple and the text meant to be read with a lot of expression.
8. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault and Lois Ehlert:  Another one with great rhyme and rhythm which makes it fun to read and listen too.

What is your toddler's favorite children's book? Maybe I need to add it to her 2012 Holiday wish-list.

  

Want more lists like this?  Check out the others in this Two-year old Favorites series: {Food Edition} and {Toy Edition}.

Baby Shower {Children's book theme}

Last Saturday I hosted my first baby shower.

Our friend Courtney is expecting her first baby boy this summer.

Doesn't she look amazing!
I spent some time on Pinterest, of course, searching for a theme that was not too over the top. With the beautiful backdrop of the restaurant patio, I knew simplicity was key!

I loved the invitations I found here.

Our no-sew version turned out just as cute!

I purchased some stuffed animal and book sets at Kohls and used them as table decorations. (If you don't already know about their $5 book and stuffed animal deals, check it out here.)

One of the books was set out for guests to sign. You can see in the picture that I glued the invitation to the from cover.


The dessert was homemade by Betsy! She made Lemonade Rice Krispie Treats and Red Velvet Ding Dongs (Courtney's favorite). I had one of each and wanted more.

I asked everyone to bring a book instead of a card. Guests that were not able to attend sent books too. Thanks to everyone's generosity, Baby boy T has quite the book collection already!



I purchased enough fabric to make this double sided pennant banner. I wish I could take credit for how perfect this turned out! My mom and aunt Carrie planned and executed the whole project. I love the buttons they sewed to each corner. The weight of the bottom button held the fabric in place in the breeze.


Courtney was showered with love and gifts. I think everyone had a fun and relaxing time.

We cannot wait to meet her little guy this summer!