April Toy Rotation

It’s the beginning of a new month and time for a toy rotation. We’ve had our Easter toys, decorations and activities out for almost a month now, so it’s time for a refresh.

I started with the cubes in our IKEA Kallax shelf that house toys I rotate monthly. However, I plan on doing a larger reorganization of the toys in our playroom this week, so stay tuned.

My approach to toy rotation is to remove all the toys from the cubes that are no longer getting attention. This resulted in taking away everything but the Schleich farm animals, Ostheimer Wood Fences, Fisher-price Barn and Schleich Chicken Coop. If you’ve seen some of my other posts, then you may know that my 3.5 year old son is farm obsessed and plays with these items all the time. I wouldn’t dare take them away from him.

The next thing I did was to pull out toys that are topical for the month or in-line with my kids current interests. So this month I put out some toys with a spring feel to them and things the kids received in their Easter baskets this past weekend. If you are curious about what was in their Easter baskets, see here. I don’t have an endless number of spring toys, and we also had some out last month, and so I added in a few other items that the kids haven’t seen in a while.

I try to keep a rough balance between different types of toys, puzzles and games so that there is something about language, something related to math, building, pretend play, small world play etc. I also try to keep a rough balance of items for my 5.5 year old daughter and 3.5 year old son. Although as they both get older, I am finding they both play with everything.

Keep in mind we also have a number of toys that are not rotated. I’ll include a list at the bottom of toys that remain out all the time.

Here’s what we’ll be playing with this month:

• Grapat Mandala
• Lego City Barn and Farm Animals (Amazon)
• Schleich farm animals
• Ostheimer wood fences (Nest)
• Fisher-price Barn (ours was passed down from friends, but here is a similar one)
• Schleich Chicken Coop (Amazon)
• Lego Disney Encanto the Madrigal House (Amazon)
• Sarah’s Silks swords, rainbow veil & crown (The Playful Peacock, Mymy and Me)
• Lovevery Montessori Sensory Box – from the Analyst Playkit
• Clixo (Amazon)
• Learning Resources Shape Shell Turtles (Amazon)
• Guidecraft Barnyard Activity Boxes
• Lovevery Turtle Hatch Game – from the Problem Solver Playkit
• Lovevery Lockbox from the Realist Playkit with Velcro critters from the Fuzzy Bug Shrub in the Adventurer Play Kit
• Londji A Home for Nature Puzzle (Mymy and Me)
• Crocodile Creek Unicorn Dreams Floor Puzzle (Dilly Dally)
• Janod A Day at the Farm Puzzle
• Goki Life Cycle of a Chicken Puzzle (Sewing Seeds Play – save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
• Peaceable Kingdom Snug as a Bug in a Rug Game (Amazon)
• Lovevery Letter Sounds Animal Puzzle from the Storyteller Play Kit
• 2 Jeux Mômes Jeu Éducatif Métiers + Chiffres (3 part cards – jobs and numbers)

*As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The white bins on the top level of the Kallax shelf hold items out of rotation and the toys in the bottoms baskets do not get rotated. The bottom baskets include

• Magnetic tiles (combination of KidCheer and Picasso),
• Picasso ball run,
• Plan Toys wooden roads,
• Brio/ wooden trains and tracks,
• Balls and soft objects the kids can throw inside, and
• Vehicles.

We also have wooden building toys, musical instruments, large vehicles and a play kitchen that remain out.

I find rotating toys helps refresh the kids’ interest for their toys and also keeps some of the clutter down. It does take a bit of effort on my part, but I always find it’s worth it when I see my kids’ enthusiasm and engagement with the “new” toys.