The Toy Rotation Plan

I have been rotating Yuri's toys for five weeks - or over a month - now. Before I explain to you why I adopted this new system, let me first show you how I stored Yuri's toys months before:

Boxes of toys

Like many others, we haphazardly place all of Yuri's toys in boxes. Aside from this big box, we also have another big box upstairs that house his unused toys. In other words, there was no proper organization. Because of that, what happens is that Yuri just takes what he likes and ignores all the other toys. Yuri has pretty much the same favorites, so he plays with the same toys over and over again. And ignores all the other toys over and over again.

Why toy rotation? I'm a heavy (literally and figuratively) reader, and when a subject sparks my interest, I tend to read so much about it to the point of information overload. Anyway, I came upon the subject of book and toy rotation, and I felt like there was no harm in trying it. Since Yuri didn't have so many books before, I focused on rotating his toys first. These are photos of the toy rotation process over 5 weeks:

Heroes on our buckets!

As much as I would have wanted to buy fancy baskets, I knew they weren't practical. Aside from the added cost, I know Yuri would just throw these baskets around (and I was right!). So, I used the free and reliably plastic Jollibee bucket containers.

The good thing about these buckets is that they have handles, which Yuri can use to carry toys from his shelf, which is in my "office area" now to the living room. He also uses them as pretend "shopping" bags, so they double-purpose as containers and toys. If you don't have these buckets, you can use any plastic containers like Tupperware or just buy cheap plastic ware. Again, those with handles are better!

First Week

Shape sorter

First bucket: Balls, a Rubix cube, plush toys, toys with wheels, his rattle bracelet, and whatnots

Second bucket: A set of stacking cups that he never had the patience to properly use

He didn't even realize his favorite toys were missing!

Plus he discovered his favorite number on one of the cups!

Second Week

Yuri was around, so I just hurriedly took a picture. The contents of the bucket are a smodge-podge of cards, an Elmo bag, a Detective Conan toy free from McDonalds, a phone, some plush toys, and, of course, toys with wheels.

The educational toy of the week was this shape sorter.

Third Week

I think this pail and scoop can be educational? Heehee. I didn't get out any educational toy that week (Christmas week) because I wrapped a number of wooden puzzles under the tree. I'm sure he would play with those.

Another set of stacking cups and a lion on wheels

Plush toys, a little toy truck, Spongebob, a hand puppet, and, yes, a door stopper

Fourth Week

Wooden and age-appropriate puzzles

A pink fan, a toy baby, a little broken car (Yuri's favorite!), a pink magnetic plush rabbit, a Rubix cube, and a bigger toy car

Fifth Week

Jollibee cups, a toy car, and a thingamajig

Two stuffed toys, a ball, and more thingamajigs

Educational toy of the week is this magnetic board, which I will feature in a future Fun-and-Frugal Finds Post

As you may have noticed, there aren't really concrete themes. I just dug into the toy boxes upstairs and placed them in the buckets. However, I noticed I tend to follow this guideline:

A week's worth of toys should have one educational toy (shape sorter and the like), plush toys (stuffed toys), cars and toys with wheels, and little non-toy trinkets (like his Calpol's cover) to encourage Yuri's imagination.

So how have we been doing so far? At first, I was a bit ~~scared~~ apprehensive of the possibility that Yuri might look for his favorite toys. To be honest, he does that - but only for a few moments on the first days (Mondays). He quickly gets over it and proceeds to playing with his "new" toys. This strengthens my resolve that young kids do not really get attached to toys - or at least in my opinion.

Also, he "discovers" his old toys or the ones that he just ignored before. This time, each and every one of his toys gets thoroughly played! Yay! Plus, I noticed his yaya looks forward to Mondays to see what toys I have placed in the buckets for them to play with in the new week. Heehee.

Finally, there is a lot less mess in the living room! Because there are a lot less toys, there is a lot less to clean up after playtime. Yay!

Bonus: Since there are fewer toy options in this system, it actually encourages Yuri to "play" with his books more. I can't say that this is true for all children, but in our case, it happens!