Our playroom worked great for us when we one young kid, with a few toys. Then we added a second child and their toys multiplied after each birthday and holiday. Eventually we added a third child to our space, and each time we had to decide… would we change spaces and move, or could we let our space change? We decided to set up a toy rotation system!

THE PROBLEM

We used to keep ALL of our toys in our playroom, which is a 7’ foot wide x 14’ foot long room. It’s basically a wide hallway that connects our living area to the bedrooms.

We tried different storage furniture and room designs, mostly focused on sorting toys into low, accessible bins so that the girls could see and independently reach their toys. After a few minutes of play, little Mabel would eventually move every toy from a bin onto the floor, leaving no room to play or to walk through the space.

TOY ROTATION SOLUTION

A few years ago we turned our kitchen pantry into a toy rotation closet. We had to get creative with space, and it was a bit of a puzzle project. We started by moving our kitchen table and chairs to the corner of our living room as a dining area. That opened up space in our kitchen to add a storage cabinet and open shelving. We moved our dishes and appliances from the kitchen cabinets into the new cabinet and shelves. Then we moved the pantry food into the kitchen cabinets, and that opened up the pantry for a toy rotation system!

Our toy rotation system allows us to limit the amount of toys out in the playroom at any given time. This helps us make sure the floor space is easy to walk through, and leaves plenty of open space for play. Our family was recently featured in “Secrets of Getting Organized magazine” by Better Homes and Gardens, and our playroom and toy rotation system was one of the highlights!

WHY A TOY ROTATION?

All families have to make choices about how they allocate space within their home. Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to be minimalists, but it does mean you have to choose which categories to prioritize space to in your home, and where to keep each item.

My degree is in education and my wife Emily’s degree is in occupational therapy. Learning activities and engaging toys are a priority to both of us. We also have three kids with different ages and developmental interests. We like to make sure they start their days with play. Here are some of our favorite morning activities. We try to focus on activities that get their fingers moving and their brains thinking.

We have set up our playroom and toy rotation closet with various organization items. The playroom has baskets, bins, and a toy shelf for the items that are currently out. We have a 3-tier rolling cart in both the playroom and in the toy rotation closet. A set of fliptop storage containers has been great for storing small toy sets and art supplies. We also added a sliding lock to the top of the closet door, to limit access as needed.

Our girls have access to their toys, but they don’t need ALL of them out all of the time. Our toy rotation system lets our girls have more open space to focus on play!

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