Toy Room Transformation

By Mrs. Canadian Renegade

The Dilemma

I wish I could tell you I was a minimalist with a pristine home, and perfectly curated collection of wooden toys for my children. I have so much respect for these dreamy spaces because they are filled with thoughtfulness and purpose.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm a borderline hoarder. I have bins piled up in the basement with labels like, "Aimee's Crap" and "Need to Sort". I have bins of stuff to sell, stuff to donate, and clothes to organize. The sky-high piles are overwhelming and suffocating, and we are on a mission to purge, reduce, and repurpose our space. But, it's kind of a slow process with four kids under four.

Duplo.png

Duplo is by far the most played with set in our kids collection. They're bigger than Lego which is perfect for smaller children. This is a great example of open ended play and you can see some of our kids creations on the right. Duplo is one toy we don't mind adding to since it's used so much and fosters focus and problem solving skills.

So what exactly does my mess have to do with toys? For one, I don't want my kids to suffer from the same crippling anxiety I experience when it comes to sorting through the collection of stuff I have managed to accumulate over the years. Secondly, research shows that kids are more focused and imaginative when they aren't being over stimulated with jam packed toy rooms. And quite frankly, it's up to me to create their space, the kind of environment they can thrive in.

Problem Solving

I admit, we let our toys get out of hand. Our family is incredibly generous and we had a hard time setting firm boundaries around gift giving. We've begun exploring different methods to reducing incoming gifts such as a fiver party where guests were asked to bring no more than five dollars for the kids to spend at a later date.

While the fiver party was helpful for minimizing toys, and the kids had an amazing time at the toy store, the downfall came when we had to guide them to making a decision. They ended up choosing toys that were eye-catching but didn't hold their interest for very long. In fact, those toys are among those they interact with the least.

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Top left: Wooden building toys and tools. Bottom left: magnetic tiles. Right: the kids containment project where they removed all of the wooden parts and reused the container to perfectly organize their magnetic tiles.

Another method we explored was curating a gift registry with options that we felt would be beneficial to cultivating dexterity, problem solving, and imaginative play. Most of our selection was focused on open-ended play. If you're unfamiliar with the term open-ended toys, the concept boils down to toys that can not only be played with in a variety of ways but will also grow with your children.

We made sure our list had varying price points to accommodate any budget and we set a limit of maximum one item per child. Our combined families are large though so we had another influx of toys but at least this time they had more purpose.

The Rotation

Even after pairing down a significant amount of toys, we found our collection to be substantial. We also knew that as the big kids outgrew their toys, the babies would grow into them. Not wanting to buy toys twice, we decided to store the toys in limbo in the basement to be taken out as they become more age appropriate.

Wooden_TruckTrailers.png

These wooden trucks, trailers, and accessories are beautifully crafted but are currently hit and miss right now with the big kids but the babies really like the simple emergency vehicles in the set.

We had two toy towers in the kids room in addition to closet space and the options had become too great for the kids to remain focused. Each day, it felt like the kids were attempting to play with absolutely everything in their room. The result was a fast descent into total chaos. Even if we cleaned throughout the day, we still found ourselves cleaning again come night time and we were growing resentful.

A radical change was needed and so we introduced the toy rotation. After purging a few boxes of toys we decided to keep roughly a third of the remaining toys upstairs and the other items were kept in the basement. One toy tower was removed from their room and used as extra storage. Now, about once a week, we swap an assortment of toys.

Animals_Cars.png

We have a large bin of assorted animals as well as another bin of dinosaurs. Each are playtime favourites but need to be rotated for sheer volume. We also have an assortment of cars, trains, and wooden tracks. They used to need us to assemble the train tracks but now that they're nearly four they're starting to build their own lines.

@alexanderfarm gave me insight into choosing toys that matched the particular area of focus they were working through, also known as a schema. I tend to mix and match but always keep in mind their latest interest. I also like to include items that imitate real life like toy food, dishes, and baby dolls.

The Result

Brilliance. Honestly, I braced myself for total melt downs upon discovering their newly organized and much more sparse room. Instead, they walked through with wonder and curiosity. Right away, I noticed that the kids were playing with their toys more creatively and for longer periods of time than before.

Clean up takes much less time to achieve but could still use improvement. I tried to schedule toy rotation - because schedules are the key to survival with my tiny brood of multiples - but it wasn't sustainable. Now, whenever I notice the kids getting more irritated with each other than usual I'll suggest switching things up.

Cars_WoodDoll.png

These remote controlled cars were an impulsive Christmas purchase. They're loud, annoying, coming out rarely and are on my toy hitlist. The magnetic dress up doll on the right was put away for about a year because it was gifted too early in development. When it's out she get dressed at wake up time and before bed. When I notice the pieces getting scattered I know it's time to disappear again for a little while.

Those little geniuses even recognize when they need a change of pace and ask for swaps too. And, my favourite part of toy rotation is how excited they get when they discover its happened without warning. They really settle in to explore and this mama gets a temporary slice of peace.

Even though the changes we made were substantial I know there is more work to be done. Most of the loud, flashing, obnoxious toys disappeared and haven't been missed. Some are still hanging around with targets on their back for when I can muster up another purge.

The toy room transformation was a large project but we are all better for it.

KidCreations.png

Here are a few of the kids creations. They can often be found using magnetic tiles, wooden blocks, or Duplo to build farm fences for animals and housing for their figurines. You can see the wooden peg people I painted for the kids in a cozy house in the picture on the left.

Want to see more of our collection? Let me know in the comments and I'll take a deeper dive into the variety of items in our rotation.


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I have so much respect for these dreamy spaces because they are filled with thoughtfulness and purpose.

And also made by people who are designing for an interior photoshoot or have way more time and patience than the rest of us XD

But, it's kind of a slow process with four kids under four.

At least you have a valid excuse >> I have two teenagers and one not far off aand still nowhere near finished sorting through all the crap for no other reason than I don't really want to do it, it's wasting precious art time ^^;

I know what you mean about the generous families. Both sets of parents love the kids to bits and how they show love is by plying them with everything under the sun x_x

I suppose we only ever see the room when the kids are absent and everything is orderly. For all we know, the other side of the room could be complete chaos.

I think people who actually want to purge are rare and probably have less to do because they stay on top of it. I would also rather spend my time with my kids, or creating, biking, or relaxing. The desire to have less clutter is there but I don't really want to spend hours actually doing it.

Thanks for reading!
-Aimee

Could be the hidden behind doors thing too 🤣

I’ve known a few people who actually want to purge, they’re probably about as common as hoarders 😳 most people I know are kinda lazy like me 😅

Wanting less clutter but not wanting to do it is exactly my sentiment! And why there is still clutter 😵

We are definitely speaking each other's language. Ha ha! -Aimee

PS. When I read the beginning of your post I said to myself I need to go to his house, you hoard I am maniac with the order of things at home until my son and my husband take their walk around the place both have the same manias for my husband everything still serves no matter what it is we no longer have space in the warehouse and as he is a musician and plays several instruments has in his studio too many things where I better not enter because I think I would go crazy ha ha ha ha everyone has their manias.

Ha! Yes, I truly need someone to come in and help me be ruthless with getting rid of things that no longer serve me. Some days I am more inspired to clear things out than others. I feel like once I do pair everything down though, I will feel much lighter. 😊 -Aimee

PS. When I read the beginning of your post I said to myself I need to go to his house, you hoard I am maniac with the order of things at home until my son and my husband take their walk around the place both have the same manias for my husband everything still serves no matter what it is we no longer have space in the warehouse and as he is a musician and plays several instruments has in his studio too many things where I better not enter because I think I would go crazy ha ha ha ha everyone has their manias.

I congratulate you for the result of tidying up the room, you immediately noticed something that I also perceived in a similar situation, my son regularly told me that he was bored or did not know what to play with, I think that having too many toys they do not know how to play and lose interest, instead, with their favorites always in sight they seem to entertain themselves for a longer time. Besides being surrounded by so much plastic is not good, and the organization helps the cleanliness of the room. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thank you! Cleaning and organizing the room was challenging, probably because I am working through my own struggles of letting things go. I am not sure why I have such a hard time parting with stuff, it's just stuff!

I am glad you experienced a similar result with your child, boredom in the face of too much and more focus in a declutter space.

Thanks for reading!
-Aimee

Aimee your first paragraph could've been written by me and I don't have the same excuse as you do....I only have TWO UNDER FOUR!!! Minimalistic living. Tiny homes. A place for everything and everything in its place. Wonderful pipe dream. But I love the lego. We also have loads. And wooden educational toys. But it all lives everywhere except the designated home! The joys of motherhood. I keep reminding myself how fast they grow and then nothing really matters except time with them. And toy rotation. It definitely works. They seem to always love their toys and be excited about something they were ready to toss just a few weeks earlier.

I am so glad I am not alone. I always feel embarrassed about my packrat ways but recognize there are so many other people with the same struggle. You're right, motherhood evolves so fast; how much they need us, how much the want us, how the days are spent. Getting caught up in the daily tasks is so easy to do. We really need to stop, take a breath, and just be with those babies while they're still babies. Thanks for stopping by. -Aimee

I love this post! We’re in an a similar situation with the volume of toys we have. We are moving house soon so will take the opportunity for a purge and also to gain a better idea of how to curate then in a new ‘playroom’ we’re planning to have.

Thank you. Sounds like you have a opportunity for a fresh start with a new playroom. What a great mindset you are in to be focused on purging and curating instead of using a new space to squeeze into. I hope there were some helpful ideas in this post for you. Thanks for stopping by. -Aimee

Aimee! I don't know what to say other than I really enjoyed this post. I relate to so much of this, and yet, I am one of those weirdos who loves to purge. I'd rather tidy and organize than go for a bike ride. 🙊 So if you need help...you call me girl!! haha

I am so glad you enjoyed the post. You are so far ahead of me with selecting toys and creating engaging spaces for your kids; I am always inspired when I see what you have going on.

Honestly, I might take you up on that offer. I would benefit greatly from someone who could keep me on track and help me be ruthless.

Ps. You're the best kind of weirdo

wooooo!!!! It is a wonderful idea, I would never have thought of rotating toys because children suffer and cry if they have to get rid of their toys, especially some that are already very damaged by their use and there are others that, as you point out, are the love of a summer, so to speak, but that is an excellent idea. I solved the problem of the large amount of toys especially on birthdays and Christmas with an idea that I read a long time ago and I liked it a lot because besides helping you not to have large amounts of toys it teaches them the value of sharing, so every time you give the children a good amount of toys I invite them to keep only one or two and all the rest we donate to a center for children with limited resources that day I try to take the toys and make a meal with the help of other people who also support and spend an afternoon in the company of the children of the center sharing. I really like your system, please patent it.

What a brilliant idea to share gifts with others in need. I think this is something we will need to work into our toy management as well. I am such a big fan of the toy rotation, it makes so much sense and have worked really well for our kids. Old toys are refreshed and they have new exciting ideas of how to play with something they haven't seen in a while. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing with me. -Aimee

It really is an excellent proposal that you have here, I really had not considered a system of rotation of toys, I have the habit of donating the excess of things at home but there is always a lot, especially in the case of toys and well very little space to store, certainly there are toys that are very little used and after two or three glances the emotion disappears, that is a good way to organize and teach our children equality and balance. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for stopping by. I also like the idea of donating it selling gently used items. If I sell the kids toys I put the money 8n their piggy banks to spend at a later time. I like your idea of donating though. Do you get your kids involved? I would like to I close my kids in donating and choosing which items to let go of but so far they get overly emotional and can't seem to part with anything by choice. They're nearly 4 so I assume it's developmental and will simply take practice. -Aimee

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