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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Switching Out Toys ?
Provider_Manda 07:44 PM 08-31-2012
How do you do it? I know I have read where some put them in totes and exchange them out. Do you do them by a certian kind of toy? My daycare room is also my son's play room so you can only imagine how many toys we have...It's overwhelming not only for me but for the kids as well. I was thinking of getting a tote and putting some back and just exchanging them out..but I wasn't for sure how often you exchange them out. Just looking for ways to help them out and myself.
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DaisyMamma 05:01 AM 09-01-2012
I have the same situation. My two girls have lots of toys and so does the daycare. As soon as I notice that something isnt played with much I put it away and pull out something else. I would like to get into a ruitine where I take out something new once or twice a week.
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Countrygal 05:12 AM 09-01-2012
Great question! I've been wondering about this myself. I DO NOT have extra storage, but really want to do this! Looking forward to the responses!
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Blackcat31 06:44 AM 09-01-2012
The very first thing I did was downsize. Honestly, kids do NOT need half as many toys as we think they do. IF you don't believe me, spend ONE day watching and noting what they actually play with.

Kids get overwhelmed with having too many choices. Too many choices is hard to manage for you, for storage and makes deep, open-ended play almost impossible.

This is what I have in one room right now

Big bin of Duplo blocks
4 Big Little Tike Trucks
Big Bin of Hot Wheel Cars
Bin of Mr. Potato Heads w/accessories

My DCK's will literally play with one or all of these 4 choices for hours. Seriously for hours together and off in corners in smaller groups or alone even. They will make elaborate buildings and bridges and all sorts of creations.

I will rotate these 4 bins out with something else when I notice their interedt levels going down.

I do NOT have a toybox filled with crap and mis-matched miscellaneous toys. That is just way too much for me so I don't bother.

If you give kids only a few choices, they play much better. Imagine if you were a child and someone let you loose in Toys R Us? You wouldn't even know where to start or stay. You wouldn't really get the chance to play with anything fully and deeply because as a child your mind would be telling you to move along and see what else is there. You would also start becoming a bit possessive about things you have already played with and the things you are going to want to play with, causing fighting and frustration if there are other kids around....see where I am going with this?

That is kind of how kids feel when there is too much stuff. We get flustered by having to organize all the stuff...they have to play with it, own it, share it, use it and keep track of it but yet they are distracted with all the other stuff.

Sometimes I keep my totes or bins in the garage, and sometimes I will just stack them in a closet out of the way. Depends on how soon I plan on taking them back out.

So first step to organization is really to downsize and get rid of some of the crap that you (the kids) really don't need.

I keep sets of things. Things ALL the kids can play with if they want but sets that have enough that they could all play together but separately too.

In another room I have:

Giant bin of My Little Ponies
Kitchen stuff/dishes
Dolls, clothing, bottles etc
Huge tote of Hand Puppets

My art/craft area is centrally located and that stuff is always out and available. I use my two other rooms for free play and use the bins of things there. My third bedroom is my toddler room.
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Countrygal 06:49 AM 09-01-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The very first thing I did was downsize. Honestly, kids do NOT need half as many toys as we think they do. IF you don't believe me, spend ONE day watching and noting what they actually play with.

Kids get overwhelmed with having too many choices. Too many choices is hard to manage for you, for storage and makes deep, open-ended play almost impossible.

This is what I have in one room right now

Big bin of Duplo blocks
4 Big Little Tike Trucks
Big Bin of Hot Wheel Cars
Bin of Mr. Potato Heads w/accessories

My DCK's will literally play with one or all of these 4 choices for hours. Seriously for hours together and off in corners in smaller groups or alone even. They will make elaborate buildings and bridges and all sorts of creations.

I will rotate these 4 bins out with something else when I notice their interedt levels going down.

I do NOT have a toybox filled with crap and mis-matched miscellaneous toys. That is just way too much for me so I don't bother.

If you give kids only a few choices, they play much better. Imagine if you were a child and someone let you loose in Toys R Us? You wouldn't even know where to start or stay. You wouldn't really get the chance to play with anything fully and deeply because as a child your mind would be telling you to move along and see what else is there. You would also start becoming a bit possessive about things you have already played with and the things you are going to want to play with, causing fighting and frustration if there are other kids around....see where I am going with this?

That is kind of how kids feel when there is too much stuff. We get flustered by having to organize all the stuff...they have to play with it, own it, share it, use it and keep track of it but yet they are distracted with all the other stuff.

Sometimes I keep my totes or bins in the garage, and sometimes I will just stack them in a closet out of the way. Depends on how soon I plan on taking them back out.

So first step to organization is really to downsize and get rid of some of the crap that you (the kids) really don't need.

I keep sets of things. Things ALL the kids can play with if they want but sets that have enough that they could all play together but separately too.

In another room I have:

Giant bin of My Little Ponies
Kitchen stuff/dishes
Dolls, clothing, bottles etc
Huge tote of Hand Puppets

My art/craft area is centrally located and that stuff is always out and available. I use my two other rooms for free play and use the bins of things there. My third bedroom is my toddler room.
BC, are you involved with a rating system yet? How do you handle the "centers" and the required "available toys" sections?
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Blackcat31 07:03 AM 09-01-2012
Originally Posted by Countrygal:
BC, are you involved with a rating system yet? How do you handle the "centers" and the required "available toys" sections?
My state in in the process of implementing a star rating system that is based off your states system.

My county is one of the pilot counties that is trying to help providers just get educated about the whole process right now. I think they have had two meetings so far. Both of which I have not attended. A fellow provider I know has attended and she said they are only focusing on what the provider needs to do as far as degrees and educations so far. Nothing about our spaces or acceptable curriculums.

I have the room for the centers and know what requirements I will have to meet when we do have the system in place. At that time I plan on using the same method of organizing but will just have to separate things into actual areas, so for me that just means dividing up my space a bit more but I will still use the rotation and tote system because I truly believe kids don't need so many choices or so much junk...kwim?
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Provider_Manda 08:11 AM 09-01-2012
That sounds great...The only bad thing is I have 1 room to do it all in, and my son want sto keep his toys downstairs in the daycare room so he can play when we are down here which is where we spend most of out time. I am so sick of BIG toys..Idk if you all remember several years ago the big dinosaur "KOTA" from fisher price I believe..well this thing is HUGE and they cost like $400 or they did back then..Well a family member gave it to us and its just too big !! We have a kitchen set that they do not use, and lots of other things...but love balls, what is a good way to store balls ? I hate to take them away when they love to play with them, but I just don't know where to keep them anymore...It would be great to have a bigger space, but right now that is not possible :\
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Blackcat31 08:21 AM 09-01-2012
Originally Posted by Provider_Manda:
That sounds great...The only bad thing is I have 1 room to do it all in, and my son want sto keep his toys downstairs in the daycare room so he can play when we are down here which is where we spend most of out time. I am so sick of BIG toys..Idk if you all remember several years ago the big dinosaur "KOTA" from fisher price I believe..well this thing is HUGE and they cost like $400 or they did back then..Well a family member gave it to us and its just too big !! We have a kitchen set that they do not use, and lots of other things...but love balls, what is a good way to store balls ? I hate to take them away when they love to play with them, but I just don't know where to keep them anymore...It would be great to have a bigger space, but right now that is not possible :\
I keep all my balls in an indoor pop up tent.

My nephew had that dinosaur! It is cool but yes, takes up way too much space. Maybe compromise and have him keep only some of his toys out where they can be shared and rotate them.

If you aren't required to keep any specific type toys, I woud get rid of the ones they really don't play with. Maybe bring them out at a later time and see if they are interested then.

Sometimes just removing a toy for a while and then reintroducing totally re-lights their interest in things.
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MrsSteinel'sHouse 06:11 PM 09-01-2012
I rotate my toys I always have out certain types of toys. I always have out a building toy.. so Duplos, wooden blocks, or mega blocks are the big ones. I try to have out some type of cars. Animals, dinos, little people.. something they can create a story line with. I have a lot of little people and sets so sometimes they are all out or part so maybe the barn and it's stuff, or the house etc. Kitchen and one of the food sets are generally out although there are times it gets put away. Dolls and their stuff. i generally have something that fits with my bins. I have board books available all the time. I have a lot of manipulatives so they get rotated. I am planning on reorganizing my closet this weekend.. or next.. so I will try and take some pics.
I have little kidos so my rule is that I do not have out any more toys than I, personnally can pick up in 5 minutes So generally, 5 or 6 bins.
Friday afternoon, I had stripped out the playroom (cleaning carpets over the long weekend) and just had a pool with noodle parts in it, a big noodle to use as a balance beam, some balls and the mega blocks and they had a great time. I love that I can rearrange my playroom and move stuff around easily.
I generally leave the toys out for about a month. I may change out a couple of bins or add something but I don't switch everything weekly. I rotate out table top toys also. Sensory bins and activities switch out weekly.
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momofsix 07:44 PM 09-01-2012
I emptied out my room a couple of years ago because the group I had couldn't handle a lot of toys. I have slowly added some more, but not a whole lot.
I keep cars and duplos out all the time. I have art and craft things available all the time too. I always have a kitchen out but rotate out what I have available in it. Right now it's a pizza shop with a couple of toy pizzas, some Italian looking placemats/dishcloths/potholders, and aprons with pads of paper for taking orders. Only four plates, cups and silvsement on shelves and in bins. I usually change out at least once a month, sooner if I see they're getting bored with it or aren't playing with it appropriately. Big toys don't stay out long here-they just take up too much floor space for the amount of time they get used. Even my train table gets put away sometimes.
I usually switch the toys on the weekends and the kids get so excited to come into the room and see the new toys out
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Provider_Manda 07:51 PM 09-02-2012
These are great idea's..does anyone have picture's of how they have the playroom set up ? Right now I have toys everywhere and Im not sure how to make it look if I just have some bins out with toys in them. I know the kids are getting overwhelmed and so am I. So any pictures where I can get a visual would be great..Where do you store everything else ? ANd when you make the bins do you do it by type of toy ??
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Sunchimes 08:39 PM 09-02-2012
If you request an invitation to the Decor group here, you can see tons of pictures of people's setups. There are some wonderful ideas on there.
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Tags:toys, toys - getting old
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