I've always been of the mindset that the toys either stay inside or outside. But now my eyes have been opened. Course to my credit, I do have to say I don't have a clean backyard to play in. No deck. No bricked patio. It's dirt, mud, mulch. Not even hardly any grass(not for lack of trying).

Anyways, I will be changing my outlook and allow them to bring stuff out. What about you all? Do you keep them separate or bring a bunch of stuff outside? And what, specifically, do they like bringing outside? My dcks are always asking to bring the dolls out and I always tell them, no they'll get dirty blahblahblah.

I started redoing some things outside this past weekend and can now envision them bringing out dinosaurs, people, the car bucket, zoo/farm animals, but what else?

Reply

We bring the naked dolls outside but only the hard plastic ones that can be washed easily. We also have Legos, trucks, some of our kitchen "supplies"(plates cups spoons etc) outside. It depends on the group

Reply

I have toys specific for outside. I have 2 large deck boxes for storage (so it looks tidy at the end of the day) and a few large bucket totes so things can be hauled around.

We have lots of figurines, vehicles, playdough, art stuff, easels, wood pieces, lego, kitchen housewares, lots of things to scoop with, etc I have little people playsets for outside.

Basically anything that could be considered an inside toy, we use outside as well. I hunt garage sales and kijiji.

I do keep my outdoor toys specifically for outside. My indoor toys stay inside. I do have a large deck, lots of grass, and lots of mud and sand.

Reply

In my group now, none of the kids have asked. Outside, in addition to a climber, there is an outdoor easel that my son built for us, a sensory table, a work table, and a bin with a variety of misc. toys. (Trucks, balls, and building toys) I don't mind if the kids take indoor toys outside though; I think it can be a great way to add variety to the outdoor space.

Reply

I do not bring toys between the two locations. I do have pretty much all of my centers inside represented outside though - art, music, blocks, etc along with the normal large motor outdoor stuff.

Reply

We keep the outside and inside toys seperate. Mostly because of the mixed age group. I have 3 one year olds who put everything in their mouth.

Reply

To keep the inside stuff from being dirty and always having wash it, I split items up.
So if I get a set of blocks, half go outside and half inside.
If the kids really want to take dolls outside, keep a couple outside and a couple inside.

That way the inside ones stay clean.

Reply

I wish I could find a sandbox I like that I could afford. Then some of my kitchen stuff might end up outside. I have so much of it.

Reply

We already have lots of cars/trucks/kitchen stuff outside. We also bring out fabric, dress up clothes, babies, dinos, animals, etc. We'll bring out art stuff too. We often do lunch outside or paint outside too. Sometimes the instruments come outside and we bring books out too.

I don't really have any rules about things that cannot go out, but we do talk about how to treat our materials outside. Instruments must be put back in box when you're done with it, books stay on the blanket area, etc. They are responsible to bring everything back inside when we go back in. It helps that I have only preschoolers, so they can be pretty responsible with our things.

Reply

Inside toys stay inside and outside toys stay outside.

Ideally if I had the staff to allow them to be interchangeable and portable I certainly would but I don't.

I clean and sanitize enough toys on a daily basis that I am not adding the inside toys that went outside and are now back in again to my list.

Ideally there are many things I would like to do (or not do) but "ideally" and "reality" rarely get along cohesively in my world.

Reply

That's my thing. I took a shopping cart outside today. I had a cheaper one that I first bought, then found a little tykes one at a yard sale. My space isn't big enough for two. The cheapy one went outside today. Not sure what they will do with it out there, but they will figure it out. Not coming back in now.

Reply

I took an old bookshelf, laid it down on its side, removed the inner shelves aba filled with sand.
It worked great for over a year

Reply

For the most part I kept inside and outside things separate. I personally did not want things like hot wheel cars or other small things in the grass. We have a guy that cuts our lawn with an industrial mower (common here in Florida where you have to cut all year long). It is a pain to try to get things off the lawn for mowing. I mean things that get lost out there.

That said, I would bring things out but just for the day. That way, with one project at a time, I could keep track of things. For example, one day we might spread a blanket under a tree and read books but books were not outside every day. Or I would let them take dolls in strollers on our walks through the neighborhood. Some days we might bring paper and markers outside and do them on the little picnic table but they wouldn't be out every day. Things like that.

Laurel

Reply

I've always had this wonderful sandpit area that was huge. My dh built it many years ago, it looks like 2'' by 12' boards. Two sides were made into seats, the other 2 sides were just single boards. I took it apart this past weekend and we're now using the area for laying down a townscape kinda thing(pinterest yay!) but we're using our plastic kiddie pool this year as our sandbox. I wish it were bigger but I'm thinking the kids will probably use it mostly for kitchen play activities, hauling sand back and forth for cooking. You could buy something like that and they have lots of sizes.

Reply

I've always kept them separate. In fact on Fri I just went and bought one of those vertical resin narrow tall storage sheds for outside. Going to make shelves for it and then put some smaller totes in there for just outside toys for dishes, food, baby stuff, some books, manipulatives, blocks etc. so that will have those toys for outside this summer along with ones inside. I have enough I can split them up into two places. I wouldn't want to deal with inside outside all the time.

Reply

It has to be covered, to many cats in the neighborhood including my own indoor/outdoor cats.

Reply

I learned quickly that nothing ruins a toy faster than playing with it outside. If dropped on the concrete or left in the sun for very long, it is scratched, faded, and pretty dirty.

For daycare, inside toys stay inside. Once an inside toy is getting past it's prime, it becomes an outside toy, but at my discretion.

Reply

We have tons of stray cats in our neighborhood. I just got a cheap piece of plywood and used that as a cover

Reply

Hmm something to think about!

Reply

Agreed. All I can see is hours of evening cleaning to wash off toys. We have a lot of things to do outdoors that make outdoors fun, and I allow everything in my screen in 3-season room. I had an outdoor bin of Legos, but they were pushed into dirt, and I'm still finding them years later.

Reply

Inside toys stay inside. The kids forget to bring them in and they get filthy. Outside toys are already filthy and I don't want them inside.
pergaps you can choose some inside toys to become outside toys

Reply

For me I like the outside to be for outside. I like typical outside things....trikes, climbers, balls, water table, sand, etc. I like kids to be running, jumping, climbing, drawing with chalk, playing with bubbles, etc. when outside.

I do bring an easel outside for outdoor painting. I'm all for playing with rocks, flowers, leaves, water, etc. not so much with toys!

Reply

Reply