How Many Toys Do You Have Available?

[SunflowerMama]

Since we're talking about toys lately and "no tos" I'm just wondering what you DO have available and how many/much of each (dolls, dress up, blocks, etc.

Even though I feel like I've cleared out a lot since I first started I still feel like there is a lot of dumping going on.

What do you have out daily for the kids??

[Blackcat31]

ENTIRELY WAY TOO MANY TOYS!!! I operate out of a 2 bedroom house (I don't live there) and one bedroom is filled with bins of hand puppets (12), My Little Ponies (2 full bins), dolls (8), doll furniture, doll clothing, kitchen center, table and 4 chairs,& all the necessary play kitchen items, the second bedroom is Lego/train table, Car/road mats, bins of hot wheel cars, wooden train sets, BIG Little Tike semi-trucks (10), the living room has beanbags, floor cushions, BIG Lego blocks, Waffle Blocks, bins with Mr. Potato Head, plastic dinosaurs, tools, Little Tikes workshop, and the kitchen has all the art stuff in it as well as a stopsign shaped table and 10 chairs (all kid sized).
After taking a look around and really thinking about it...I HAVE ENTIRELY TOO MANY TOYS!! I wish we all lived close enough to be able to share and do toy rotations!! I do that with a friend who does childcare also. She seems to have alot of girls right now (I have more boys) so she has my Little Tikes beauty Salon and all the hair accesories etc. Toy sharing/rotation with another provider works great because the kids think we get new stuff all the time. But in response to the OP post, I have more than enough of any one toy for all the kids in care....in most cases, enough for a small country! LOL!

[momofsix]

Not many! i think soomeone might come in and wonder what the kids do all day...expecially if they compare it to how it looked a year ago! I have slowly been removing toys until I found a good level and I think I've found it! I have one shoebox sized tub of duplos, 2 puzzles, 15 matchbox cars w/ a car rug and fisher price parking garage, one tub of bristle blocks, one tub of magnet blocks, 2 dolls, my kitchen and a small variety of food/dishes and dramatic play. I also have an easel w/ dry erase crayons for one side and chalk for the other. About 5-8 books at a time. Play-do and other art things only available when I take them out (this may change as my group gets older.) They also may play freely with the feltboard stories that we use at circle time-only one set is out at a time.
I have a TON of toys that I rotate in and out, this is just what I have out now, and I've decided this is the perfect amount. When something new comes out, something that's currently out will get put away! There is no more dumping for the sake of dumping--the toys the kids take out now are toys they actually PLAY with there is plenty for each child to still do...no one is ever bored! Clean-up is SO much easier without toys all over the place.
I have 5-6 kids each day, and this works perfectly for us.

[kendallina]

I think I'm at a good level for my kids today. I change it out regularly, especially the pretend area.

Pretend area:
1 basket of food (probably 8 items)
4 plates
3 baby dolls, clothes, 1 baby blanket, baby crib
animal masks
family pictures

Block area:
wooden block set (LOTS)
basket of animals (15 or so)

Art area: (messy art is in kitchen, this is what I have in my playroom)
crayons (1 small container full)
1 tray of paper
5 glue sticks
1 container popsicle sticks
small amount of scrap paper
basket of their journals

Quiet area:
books (about 20, but it's too many)
homemade books (2-3)
children's portfolios
4-5 puzzles
playmats (LOTS-very popular item from the dollar store, no idea what they're actually called)
pillows

That's all. If I were to add anything I would do it to my art area, but I can't even put markers up in my carpeted area, we only use them downstairs. So, that's all.

I started out in September with at least twice that and there was a lot of dumping and VERY LITTLE actual playing. This set up is soo much better for us.

[SilverSabre25]

Also too many, but I'm working on it. It's a slow process, . I need a better storage area and some more shoebox-sized plastic boxes so I can put more stuff away in the play kitchen area.

I have two bookcases that hold toys and a bin thingy. Each shelf on the cases will ideally have 2 (smaller shelf) or 3 (larger shelf) items available--the smaller shelf holds pretend play stuff (cash register, doctor stuff, tea set, etc) and the larger one has a shelf for blocks (the kind varies), a shelf for "shape" toys (shape sorters, puzzles, etc), and a shelf for musical toys (instruments, piano/xylophone). Other toys, like cars, usually go on the block shelf. The bin thingy holds a lot of the play food and play kitchen stuff, also assorted "dramatic play" items like phones (I use discarded real phones), wallets and old credit cards, a ring of keys, bags (and bags and bags...these are popular), and baby doll stuff.

I'm catering to ages 0-3 in a fairly small space. It's interesting.

[kendallina]

When I was paring back my toys a few months ago I took out SOOO much stuff and it really really felt like I was taking too much out. Like, how could they not have cars available to play with all the time?? But, really, it was the best thing I could have done! They survived not having every toy under the sun available to them and they play in such a deeper way with everything that is available. They play with each toy longer, they are much more focused and they PLAY so much more. Ok, I'll stop talking about it now....

[AfterSchoolMom]

My DC situation is a bit different than most, but I currently have out:

One of those shelves with the bins and the sling style bookshelf. In the bins I have,
-1 bin of matchbox cars
-1 bin of duplos
-1 bin of trio blocks
-1 bin of magnetic blocks
-1 bin of miscellaneous toys (animals, super heros, dinosaurs, etc.)

The sling part has about 6 toddler/board books in front section, and 10 older kids' books/4 or 5 kid friendly magazines in the back (where the smaller ones can't reach).

I also have a big bucket of wooden blocks and a laundry basket that holds toddler and baby toys, a chalk board (I keep the chalk in a basket on a higher shelf), and a rolling 3 drawer thing that holds barbies.

I have a "homework area" for the older kids with a table and a set of shelves that start at my chest level, so too high for little ones. This contains all of our art supplies, paper, crayons, markers, paint, and puzzles. I have a credenza in the next room that holds all of the board games.

[countrymom]

ENTIRELY WAY TOO MANY TOYS!!! I operate out of a 2 bedroom house (I don't live there) and one bedroom is filled with bins of hand puppets (12), My Little Ponies (2 full bins), dolls (8), doll furniture, doll clothing, kitchen center, table and 4 chairs,& all the necessary play kitchen items, the second bedroom is Lego/train table, Car/road mats, bins of hot wheel cars, wooden train sets, BIG Little Tike semi-trucks (10), the living room has beanbags, floor cushions, BIG Lego blocks, Waffle Blocks, bins with Mr. Potato Head, plastic dinosaurs, tools, Little Tikes workshop, and the kitchen has all the art stuff in it as well as a stopsign shaped table and 10 chairs (all kid sized).
After taking a look around and really thinking about it...I HAVE ENTIRELY TOO MANY TOYS!! I wish we all lived close enough to be able to share and do toy rotations!! I do that with a friend who does childcare also. She seems to have alot of girls right now (I have more boys) so she has my Little Tikes beauty Salon and all the hair accesories etc. Toy sharing/rotation with another provider works great because the kids think we get new stuff all the time. But in response to the OP post, I have more than enough of any one toy for all the kids in care....in most cases, enough for a small country! LOL!

me too, I need to take pictures. My problem is that after these kids leave, I have my 4 kids who play with other things too, at this point I'm not replacing any broken toys, but I'm still taking donations.