Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in toys??
If so then keep reading because I’m going to be sharing my updated easy toy rotation system that I use with my toddler to conquer toy clutter, and spend no more than a few MINTUES a day on clean up!
Last year I shared my original post about my toy rotation system (you can read that one here: Easy Toddler Toy Rotation System) and honestly, I couldn’t believe the attention it got!
SO many people were looking for a better way to manage toys!
And I get it. 100%.
Before I started using the toy rotation system I use now, I used to feel like I had no control.
The toys were everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
And if I wanted to enjoy my house being toy free for a few hours in the evening?
Well then I had to spend at least an hour, sometimes more, picking things up.
Every. Single. Day.
Sound familiar?
Most other parent’s I know do the exact same thing!
Now I had heard about “toy rotation systems” but I honestly doubted how it could help save time. Wouldn’t a system involving a lot of sorting and whatnot only make the whole process take longer?
Let me tell you, I couldn’t have been more wrong!
The system I use has been LIFE CHANGING.
And you can use the exact same system to save yourself tons of time, and change your life as well!
Since my original post, I’ve given my system a bit of a makeover, and made it even easier to keep it updated!
This post is all about my NEW updated toy rotation system!
And if you love the look of it, you can get the numbered labels and blank toy lists that I made, for FREE!
Just sign up for my email newsletter, and they will be sent straight to your inbox to print at home!
Find your container
First off you’ll want to find a container to use for your system!
I used diaper boxes for mine because
1. They’re free
2. I had A LOT of them lying around, haha!
and 3. They fit perfectly on the shelf in my son’s room!
When I had written my original post, I hadn’t changed the look of them at all. Just taped on some quick labels to show which number box it was, and what was in it.
That worked perfectly fine for a while!
But I am a bit ocd and so eventually it started to really bother me that they didn’t all look cohesive and pretty sitting on the shelf, haha!
I didn’t want to invest in expensive new container yet, and I didn’t have the time to build my own (which is what I hope to do eventually!)
So instead, I gave these ones a quick makeover!
Decorate your containers
For my diaper boxes I just did a few coats of chalk paint over the outsides!
Note: I wouldn’t recommend doing this if you’re little one is still young enough that they might chew on/bite the containers!
I waited until my son was well out of that stage before painting mine.
Some other alternatives ways to decorate your containers could be to use wallpaper on them, modge podge fabric or ribbon onto them, glue scrapbooking paper onto them, and anything else you can think of!
Once your containers are finished, you’ll want to print out your labels!
Labels
To grab the free printable numbered box labels I used, plus the blank toy lists, just sign up for my email list below!
After you confirm your email address they will be sent right to your inbox!
Next you’ll want to print them, and cut them out!
After cutting them out I actually covered mine in some clear contact paper as well!
This made the labels much more sturdy (a must with toddlers, because what can’t they destroy, right? Haha!) plus the best part is that by laminating the toy lists, you can use a dry erase marker on them to make your lists, then just wipe it off each time you change up the toys in your containers!
The actual process of laminating them was a bit time consuming, but so SO worth it in the end!
After my labels were laminated, I used some double sided tape to attach them to each of my boxes.
I only have 6 boxes in my toy rotation system since that’s what fit best on my son’s shelves, but I did actually make 7 of the labels in the free set you receive since I know many people like to do one box for each day of the week!
Declutter & sort
Next you’ll want to get out all the toys (yes ALL of them, haha!) and start decluttering.
I won’t go into that too much here, but you can read all about how to declutter toys in this post:
The Ultimate Toy Decluttering Guide (Plus FREE Printable Checklist!)
Once you’ve finished decluttering, start sorting all the remaining toys equally into each of your containers.
For mine I tried to make sure that each box contained a favorite toy, and a decent variety of different types of toys, as well as a few things that would work well together.
Remember, if once you start using the system you notice that there’s not enough toys in one container, you can always go back and rearrange things later!
It’s all a process of trail and error to find out what works best for your own kids!
List what’s inside
Now you’ll want to take your blank toy lists and start writing down everything inside each box!
(Don’t forget to use a dry erase marker if you laminated yours!)
Once you have them all written down, you can decide where you want to put them.
You could place them on the container itself, but I felt like they would probably get accidentally erased all the time if they were there.
So I used some velcro fastener dots from Dollar Tree on the back of them, and then attached them to the side of my son’s shelf where the boxes are.
I used the velcro dots so that it would still be possible to grab a toy list and carry it around the house with us as we put away toys for the day, that way we wouldn’t miss anything!
How it works
This is how the updated easy toy rotation system works in our house:
I place all six boxes on the shelf in my son’s room.
Each day, we get out one box of toys.
We go in numerical order now, and so he doesn’t get the same toys again for another six days each time.
He knows that he is only allowed to have one box each day, although admittedly it did take some time for this to sink in!
Just be patient with your kids and give them awhile to adjust when first implementing a new system like this. It may take some time, but they’ll get there!
At the end of the day, we grab that day’s box and the toy list that goes with it, and go around the house together putting everything away!
This honestly only takes about FIVE MINUTES each night before bedtime!
And the crazy part?
My son actually plays with his toys WAY more now than he ever did when they were all out!
He’s also content playing independently for much longer periods of time now!
So between the time saved in clean up, and the joy it’s brought my son, I’d definitely say using this system has been life changing!
PLUS I didn’t spend a dime on fancy new containers!
And these look so neat and organized sitting on his shelves!
Now I recommend toy rotation to every single parent I know!
I seriously don’t know anyone who hasn’t loved it!
I hope this inspired you to try out your own toy rotation system!
Have you ever tried a toy rotation system? Let me know in the comments if you have, and tell me what you thought of my updated easy toy rotation system!
