It's Christmas All Over Again: The Importance of Rotating Toys

Do you know that feeling when you find 5, or even 10 bucks in your pocket after not wearing a piece of clothing for a while?  You get this jolting sense of excitement at your new prize.  It's the same as when you give your child a brand new toy on his birthday or for Christmas.  You love watching their face while they explore this new toy.  Well, here's the thing.  It doesn't need to be Christmas in order to do this.  It doesn't even require money.  I am sure you all have heard of rotating toys around, well I am here to tell you that it really is the best thing to do.

First of all I believe that it is best to only keep a few toys out at a time.  If you have too many out your child will likely wander around aimlessly, going from toy to toy not really taking the time to enjoy the special things they can do with each.  The other thing that may happen is he or she will only play with a few favorites.  I feel that children are able to become a lot more creative when left with a few toys instead of tons.  Needless to say though, we all love getting new toys for our children, and there are of course holidays.  So, for these other toys...store them.  Every few weeks we will take out an old beloved favorite and take away a toy or two that isn't getting used as much.  The expression on my sons face is the same as it was when we bought him the toy.  He may even be old enough now to use it.  He is so young that he may not even remember the toy, so it's like brand new.  He doesn't even notice that his old favorite toy is gone, because he has some new ones to explore.

There are a couple of advantages for us parents.  1) Clutter: we get to keep it at bay.  I know for us, we have little man's toys not only in his bedroom, but in our living room.  It's much calmer having two or three in the living room then a whole boat load.  2) Cuts down on the money you are paying on new toys.  3) Gives you some free time while your child is exploring his "new" toys.