Spring Cleaning

I love how life somehow blissfully connects itself when you least expect it. For example, I was inspired to turn these many class hand-outs into a blog post this afternoon. As I sat down to assemble the paragraphs together, my son randomly decided to open the trunk in the family room. He never asks to open this trunk, but, tonight he did. 

This trunk is one of my inconspicuous hiding, I mean “storage”, spaces for his toys when I do a rotation. Currently, my kid is sitting on the floor playing with a farm toy he didn’t have any interest in six weeks ago. Toy rotation for the win! So…. here is a glimpse of my toy rotation strategy and the reasoning behind it. I’ve also included other spring cleaning tips and tricks. 

Enjoy! 

Spring Cleaning, Step 1: Toy Rotation

I learned about toy rotation in my curriculum classes during my graduate course work. Childcare facilities who subscribe to NAEYC standards or five-star ratings are required to participate in this strategy. It’s a great way to keep toys fresh, interesting, and engaging without constantly buying new supplies. All toy rotation entails is limiting what children can access and when. 

Half of the toys will be in your child’s sight line and within their reach, so they can access the toys independently. The other half will be put away. Use the plastic storage bins, trunks, boxes, etc, and store your child’s toys out of reach and out of sight. 

Set a reminder for once a month or every six weeks to “rotate” toys. This can mean either completely flip-flopping the toys, or just switching the location of toys or both. In our house, I rearrange the playroom once every three months, switch out 50% of toys every month, and change the location of the other 50%. 

I love this system for several different reasons, including:

1. Reduces clutter and forces me to clean. 

2. Keeps toys new and interesting so we get longevity out of toys. 

3. Encourages different schemas with toys - kids will get creative and play with toys in a new way depending on what toys are grouped together, where they are placed, and how they are arranged, etc. 

4. I can evaluate toys - is it worth keeping? Is it missing pieces? Has he outgrown it? 

5. Can help lessen children’s tendency to get overwhelmed with toys - causing them to go from one activity to the next without cleaning or finishing. Also decrease sensory overload. ***Great for kids with sensory issues!***

6. Less choices can actually be empowering to young children. Choosing between two items is much easier for their brain to do than choosing between 5-6.

HOW TO GET STARTED

Early childhood centers hire consultants to help them configure classrooms, organize toys, and learn systems such as toy rotation. Needless to say, implementing a new system in your home can be overwhelming. Here are some steps to help get you started:

1. Buy bins. Pick your favorite! I recommend see-through, snap-top for easy stacking and easy identification. (Excuse for a Target trip = winning!) 

2. Observe your child for a week - what toys do they play with the most? What toys are forgotten? Where do they play with the toys?

3. Leave 25% of their favorite toys out, the other 25% should be the toys that are shoved at the bottom or lay forgotten. Pack the other 50% in the bins. 

4. Put toys that they don’t frequently play with in the most convenient, conspicuous places. This will naturally encourage them to play with them. I like everything to be visible. So toys are on open shelving, in open-top baskets, see through plastics drawers, etc. 

5. Another strategy to encourage different play is to rearrange the furniture in their room or playroom (wherever they play). I’m not necessarily talking about couches, beds, dressers, etc. but the easy stuff that effects the kids’ play. For example, craft table, play kitchen, doll set-ups, lego/train tables, dress-up boxes, etc. I’m always amazed by how much more interesting a toy becomes when it suddenly appears in a new space! 

6. Set a reminder on your phone (4-6 weeks) to remind you to “flip” the toys. 

Spring Cleaning, Step 2: Ages and Stages: What is Developmentally Appropriate?

Toys. They seem to multiply exponentially as time goes on. Pretty soon we have piles of toys that our children no longer use, and probably no longer intrigue them. As we rotate toys, we should consider our children’s developmental age and stage. For example, a few weeks ago, I noticed E speeding through the “knobbed puzzles”. He’s mastered the skills these puzzles require. He’s ready to move to large pieced puzzle with 12-24 pieces. I still have these puzzle accessible to him because he just recently “mastered” the skill set (the practice will build confidence). However, in a few months, I’ll move these out and only present the next stage. 

As we pick-up, organize, clean, and sort through toys we should ask ourselves “is this still interesting and appropriate for X?” If the answer is “no” invest in some big plastic bins and toss the toy in! This will help save our sanity, and our children’s focus and engagement. 

Most children struggle to filter out extraneous stimuli, which is why they can sometimes be easily distracted, overwhelmed, and get “worked-up”. By keeping play rooms and bedrooms as clutter free as possible, we facilitate longer and more meaningful play sessions with toys and creative materials (Cue laughing. But seriously, minimalistic is so much less stress!). 

12 - 18 months: Wide markers and paper, pretend-realistic toys such as phones, baby dolls, purses/bags, large blocks, cardboard boxes, containers, balls, stacking and nesting toys, pop-up toys, musical instruments, push and pull toys, picture books. 

18 - 24 months: Building toys: different types of blocks, train sets, linking toys; pretend-realistic toys to play “house”, knobbed puzzles, illustrated storybooks with simple plots, sorting objects, sensory play, balls. 

2 year-olds: materials for pretend and building (house, forts, blocks, construction material, boxes, recyclables (**for realistic “house” props), washable, non-toxic craft material, more detailed picture books, self-help practice (hooks, laces, buckles, snaps), 

OPEN-ENDED TOYS

Open-ended toys are toys that don’t have a defined purpose. They encourage flexible and creative thinking because children will have to experiment with them and use imagination. Younger children will lean more towards the experimentation to define and learn about the object, whereas older children will use their imagination to use objects during pretend play. Often times these toys will give you more “bang for your buck” because you can introduce them at a young age and they will use them for years.

Currently, our favorite example of this is Manga-tiles. These are magnetic blocks that E has enjoyed since he turned two. I have eight year-olds enjoy the same blocks! That’s at least 6 years from one box of toys! My philosophy is: if I’m going to have toys take-over my house they may as well foster healthy development and be worth the money! 

Other example of open-ended toys can include: crafting material, stacking and dumping toys, push and pull toys, generic dress-up clothes, construction/block materials, animal figurines, puppets, dolls.

Spring Cleaning, Step 3: JUNK DRAWERS! 

Clean out your cabinets, junk drawers, yard, etc and get creative with fine motor activities! During a recent chat with a mom she mentioned her son doesn’t like to sit and do art. This is 100% normal and 100% ok. Yes, it is important for children to engage in fine motor activities; however, crayons and pencils are not the only means to achieve this end. 

Young children will be more likely to attend to an activity if it is new, exciting, and/or sensory based. A great way for them to practice their pincer grip (the grip we all need to develop to learn how to write) is to have them engage in other activities that require the pincer grip. They will strengthen important muscles, develop the hand-eye coordination, and assimilate exciting, new experiences into their “background knowledge bank”. 

PAINTING ACTIVITIES

Wine corks: Save up wine corks (or ask for donations) and use them to “dot-paint” paper. You can get creative by hot-gluing two or three together for a different “stamping” effect.  If you want to get really messy, let them roll the corks through the paint and onto the paper. You’ll notice that the single corks encourage a “beginner” pincer grip. They will use a three to four finger grip, whereas, a true pincer grip uses two (thumb and pointer). 

Nature painting: Find sticks in the yard and tape leaves, flowers, grass, mulch, etc. to the end. Show them how to dip the ends into paint and all the different brush strokes. Definitely easier to do this outside! 

Finger painting: Who doesn’t love to finger paint?! Have yourself from the mess, strip them down naked, put them outside with a big piece of paper and let them go wild! Encourage them to make marks with their pointer finger. 

JUNK DRAWER ACTIVITIES

Rubber bands and nails: Hammer small nails into a two-by-four and give them a pile of rubber bands. Show them how to stretch the rubber bands between two nails. As you layer the rubber bands neat patterns and design will emerge! Make sure to hammer the nails down far enough so they don’t pop out! 

Loose change and buttons: Gather all the loose change in the junk drawers or at the bottom of your purse and encourage them to “deposit” it into their piggy bank. Picking up the coins and aligning them with the slit is a great coordination activity. This also works with spare buttons you may have lying around. Make a slit in the top of an old tupperware container and encourage your child to fill it up, open it, and dump it out! 

CRAFT DRAWER ACTIVITIES

Stickers: A favorite in our house! Take old sheets of stickers and go nuts! You may have to help start peeling the sticker off, but let them finish it and transfer it to another sheet of paper. Then drawer a picture.

These are great strategies to support your child’s development and learning AND preserve your sanity! I typically rotate toys every 6-8 weeks and do a “developmentally appropriate check” every six months. Feel free to send an inquiry to caley@playwithpurposefl.com if you have any follow-up questions. One-on-one consultations are available AND monthly workshops, which are posted on FaceBook (HERE) and updated regularly. 

Happy cleaning!