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Have you ever put your hands into your pockets and pulled out a forgotten $5 or even $20 bill, you know that feeling of excitement, a bit like a lottery win that puts a spark into your day. Toy rotation, for a young child, is in essence like found money. Nothing beats that feeling of rediscovering a toy after a bit of a hiatus from the playroom.

Toy rotation has many benefits:

1. Extends a toys play life by keeping toys fun and new for your child.
2. Saves money on purchasing new toys, toys are kept cleaner and intact longer.
3. Children practice making choices based on interest.
4. Through your child's choices, you can see what they enjoy, dislike or perhaps have outgrown.
5. Great for maintaining organization, keeping the amount of toys more manageable for everyone.

Now, naturally, not every toy will be stuck in a closet. There will always be toys, books, stuffed animals and plenty of other items about for a child to play and create with. Rotation is just a checks and balance system for chosen activities that helps with overall toy control. Think of yourself as a toy librarian when you rotate, whatever comes out must always go back. Your child chooses what they want to "check out and return" for the day or, at least, until the interest has passed which may be a few days, a few hours, or even a few minutes depending on the child. Just remember that for the system to work, everyone must help to maintain it. What comes out, must go back!

A good start in setting up a rotation system is to separate the toys into categories. This will give an overview of what you would like to rotate and the amount of space you will need. Below is a sample of how the toys may be sorted:

Pieces and Parts - puzzles and board games
Building Toys- block, Lego's
Noise Toys- musical instruments, talking toys
Large Toys- Sit n' Spins, Walking push toys
Computer/video- games/educational lap games
Art/Science- paper, crayons, markers, play dough, paint

In our home, a closet with several small baskets and shelves is where we store toys and activities for rotation. For the larger items, such as the Sit and Spin, we use a heavy utility shelf in the garage. A cleaned out drawer of a dresser, or an empty plastic tub, is just as useful and a perfect solution for anyone short on space.

Since setting up the toy rotation system in my own home, I have found that the overall benefits have far exceeded my expectations. Toys have become much easier to manage, my children have shown more responsibility for their items, there is less time wasted on frenzied searches for missing toys and more time spent doing what kids do best, playing!

Learn more about this author, R.L. Busch.
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