So, A nifty little tip regarding your kids’ toys: Rotate them!!
My kids have a lot of toys. The twins have inherited a lot of their older brothers’ toys – some of them are dang near 17 years old now! And, they continue to get their own, new toys as well. So what is a mom to do with all of these toys?
Well, we naturally purged them when we moved. We cleaned out all of the toys and got rid of a lot. Trashed them. I didn’t have time to bring them anywhere or to put on a garage sale. We don’t miss them.
But for those we kept, I rotate them. I have some of them stashed under the stairs, to pull out occasionally when we need some new inspiration. I have a closet and a toy box downstairs full of toys. I have a basket in the living room upstairs, full of toys. And the twins have a basket in their bedroom full of toys. The three-year-old has only a select few in his bedroom simply because he shares a bedroom with his 11-year-old brother, who really doesn’t appreciate having that many toys hanging around.
I often will bring some selected toys from the toy box downstairs to the basket in the living room upstairs. I then will move some of the toys in the basket in the living room into the basket in the twins’ bedroom. And then I will move some of those toys out of the bedroom and back down to the toy box. I do this for big items as well, such as the kitchen and the Lego table. It’s amazing what a new setting, i.e., a new room in the house, can do to an old toy!
How do I know when it’s time to rotate? When I get tired of cleaning up the same toys again and again! I was sick and tired of cleaning up the Duplex Blocks for the umpteenth time today. So rotate we did! It’s also a good time to rotate when you need something to capture your kids’ interest for a bit longer than usual. Some “new” toys can do the trick. Maybe rotate when you need to get some Christmas preparation finished up! 😉
And with Christmas around the corner, it’s a good time to go through all of the toys as well. Clean them out! Tuck them away, chuck them away, or haul them away. Give them to the Salvation Army or The Boys’ Ranch, or bring them to a second-hand store.
Happy Cleaning!