It's been awhile since our current toy arrangement has "worked" for us. After Christmas we kinda let things fall where they may and never really revamped the system.
It was time.
Our children are coming into a new stage in life where they like to be crafty. {insert mom's 'mess' anxiety}. Play-doh, glue, paper, cutting, crayons...have all become a part of our daily routine. Natalee & Xavier are also very into imaginative play - probably because that's what Mike & I value as good quality toys. Things that lead to open ended play. Kitchen set, train tracks, baby dolls, trucks & automobiles, farm set...real life settings scaled for little people. I'm not a fan of talking, singing, noise making toys. Not just because of the noise, but because they don't lend much to the imagination and are usually made to be played with in one way. {Don't get me wrong...we have a few...and are thinking about getting an Innotab or LeapPad for the children...the verdict's still out}.
Anyhow...it was time for a face lift at the Beeler house. I get anxiety about rotating toys because it makes me sad to put toys away...#1, for fear I'll forget to get them back out, #2, for fear the children will "miss" them, and #3, because I hate breaking up "sets". It's time to get over that!
For the first time in a long time I went through the toys and chose some to put up on rotation. I don't think I did a very good job of this but I tried. I put away the stroller, the fridge to the kitchen set (they never played with it but I hated to put it up b/c it's a "set" with the stove), several balls, the chatter phone, and other smaller toys. In retrospect I could have put away a couple of baby dolls, 1-2 of the toy cell phone choices, etc...but at least I did some! The thing is, we have a LOT of toys but not a lot of single toys. The things we have belong to something. For example: they have a lot of food and kitchen accessories but it all goes together. Make sense? I guess that goes along with our lack of singing, obnoxious, single toys for exchange of good imaginative play sets.
So, here's the revamp. I should have taken before pictures. I NEVER do that - ARGH!
Here's the playroom:
To the left is the kitchen set and the 3 stacker drawers with food, dishes, etc. To the right is the Christmas train table. Then, under the window is the cradle. I'm sure you look at those TWO vacuums and think "put one of those away!" No can do. Those are the ticket to brave children when I vacuum with my Kirby. It's worth it...trust me.
To the left of the window by the kitchen there is a table with 2 drawers. Those drawers were full of stuff we hadn't touched in the 3 years we'd been here. So, they got emptied and most of it donated to the Clothes Nook in town...they are now home to the baby doll clothes & bottles & accessories. You can also see in here the red dress up trunk & in the back corner the Little Tykes washer/dryer set. On top of the washer/dryer is the Critter Clinic Natalee got for her birthday. They both love this toy!
This 3 tier stacker is the only "single" toys we kept out. The top houses about 1/3 of our ball population. *sigh* Some balls got the boot to the outdoor bin this round and some went into storage for awhile. The middle row is the few electronic toys we have - play phones, remote, camera, vibrating pillow. The bottom row is Xavier's pull along puppy that he's in love with right now, a See & Say, and a doctor kit. On top are Xavier's power tools {smile} and the John Deere tool set.
These two invitational play areas house the bin of "all things wheels," the animals & fencing with the barn, and the baby dolls house with the bucket of accessories. I could have easily put one or two of these options away but I think Mike & I have decided to rotate them to the "prime" location every week and encourage play with them more. The "prime" hot spot seems to be where the baby doll house is...it's formally where the little table and chairs were and the children are good to play with things when they are in that spot. I hate to put any of these 3 things "up" for a month because we use them so frequently. You never know when you need a cow to march through your play-doh or a car to race in the tub!
This new "station" is very exciting for the children. We moved their little table & chairs into the dining room where the train table previously was. Mike tapped a nail for me and I hung up a calendar for them so they can track important dates (like Natalee starting PRESCHOOL!).
These bins are where my "mess" anxiety sets in but I'm working on relaxing and embracing the Little Years & loving it! The three top bins were things previously stored in clear totes with lids. That was an okay system but we housed them in the office on the bookshelf and I rarely thought to offer them & the children rarely saw them & asked for them. From L to R: homemade play-doh & toys, Snap & Style dolls, iPlay giant magnets (I wouldn't recommend these - the Magneatos brand is much better!).
Yes, I'm leaving the Play-Doh out as a choice all the time. Yes, I'm dealing quite well. Actually, it's working out fine - the rule is you may choose a bin and before you get another one yours has to be put away. I'm on the hunt for recycled play-doh canisters or yogurt containers with lids to store our homemade play-doh in...it's quite hard for little hands to open and close Ziplock bags.
The second row (L to R):
The first bin is full of items I had intended to be for gluing but so far the children have enjoyed sorting, dumping & picking up, and just looking through the items. I used recycled Take & Toss containers from our baby stage to store the items in. There are foam ABC beads, foam sports beads, & pom-poms in there right now. I have some other things to use in rotation with these items. The second bin has a container with giant plastic buttons & a lacing string & then a couple of items from the Busy Bag Exchange that some other mommies & I did last fall - right now we have out the 1/2 egg carton with buttons for sorting & the colored pasta with lacing string.
The third bin is full of stickers! :)
The third row has:
Small notepads, paper pads, etc
Colored pencils (new to my children & they are loving them!).
Artbox with crayons
Glue, glue sticks, hole punches & scissors (we'll see how this goes!)
The last row:
Construction paper, recycled paper, blank paper, etc
Doodle pads & coloring books
So far this is going very well. They are loving the free reign on the colored pencils and the glue. Xavier needs to be taught safety with scissors. We've pretty much established that the crafty things (not the dolls or magnets) need to stay at their table when in use and they are sticking to that very well. That's not to say I couldn't walk by and pick up a stray foam ABC bead at any time...that's part of being 1 & 3!
This shelf is in the office. It's mostly puzzles, puzzle games & flashcard type activities. Our games are stored in a separate closed door cabinet. In a perfect world EVERYTHING we be together but in our humble home we just use what we've got. On the bottom shelf you can see the electronic Vtech book that we've had for 2 years and they are just starting to enjoy. To the left of that is Natalee's "special project" suitcase...it's full of rolls of streamer crepe paper. She loves the way these feel and will sit for long periods of time unrolling, tearing, cutting, gluing them. We've decided that these can be hers as long as she understands that, if she gets them out while Xabe is awake she has to share. She usually chooses to wait until he is asleep to do them. Little brothers don't understand the importance of something so precious as crepe paper streamer rolls.
This last picture was a last minute thought but something that's working well. I've had this ribbon display board for several years but it wasn't being used right now so I asked Mike to hang it on the door. The children can slip their artwork in (or mom can help!) and it's not stuck to my already full fridge or walls that we don't have!
So there you have it. Our reorganized happy little home. It's working so far (you know - 24 hours in!). And I'm stepping out of my sensory secure bubble so that my kids can develop their own!
No comments:
Post a Comment