One Toy At A Time

[Rainbow]

I was reading through some older posts where people said they only let kids play with one toy at a time.

I finally got fed up with kids not willing to clean up their toys, so, this morning, I pulled out any remaining toys that I had in the playroom (already pulled out a bunch that had been left strewed about on the floor) and set up a few shoe box sized totes of toys, up out of their reach, that they could choose from. Plus I put my youngest dcg in a play yard to keep her out of, well, everything! ::

Not only did this help with the cleaning up aspect, but it also cut down on the fighting over toys. There were a few little squabbles, but overall, a much calmer morning than I have been having lately.

So, anyway, for those who have a 1 toy at a time rule, how do you implement that in your daycare? What are your rules for this (such as, do you let 2 kids share 1 toy?) How do you store toys (are they accessible for the kids or do they have to ask)?

[Blackcat31]

I do not have a 1 toy at a time rule but I do agree that less is best.

Kids do not have to be so stimulated and the abundance of toys and activities that are available to kids now days is crazy!

No wonder they don't care if they get sent to their rooms or get something taken away from them.

[hwichlaz]

each child can use one bin of toys at a time, and they must clean them up before getting another out. Mine are organized by type...bin of cars, bin of lego, bin of blocks etc. When they get bad about the rule, I pull the bins out of the play room and they have to request them.

[MLittle]

I do not have a 1 toy at a time rule but I do agree that less is best.

Kids do not have to be so stimulated and the abundance of toys and activities that are available to kids now days is crazy!

No wonder they don't care if they get sent to their rooms or get something taken away from them.

This is a great point!

I would just add that a great way to know when a number of toys are overstimulating, is when the toys are not being used together.

If the toys are not all incorporated into one game, it is too much.

And if you see that a particular child abandons toys often/quickly, you know they cannot handle too many toys and should get them in the habit of returning what they are not using (done by limiting toys that can be played with).

But I would treat it on a case by case and not a hard and fast rule.

[Pandaluver21]

each child can use one bin of toys at a time, and they must clean them up before getting another out. Mine are organized by type...bin of cars, bin of lego, bin of blocks etc. When they get bad about the rule, I pull the bins out of the play room and they have to request them.

This is similar to what we do. Not so much a "one toy at a time" rule, but just put what you are playing with away before you take out a new toy. There are certain toys the kids can take out together (blocks and cars, for example)
Multiple kids can play with one toy, but certain areas have a limit of kids allowed to play (only two at the house center, for example)
We are a preschool, so we have all 2-6 year old's. Each station has a stop/go sign. If it is closed it will say stop. If it is open it will say go. The go sign has (for example) a 1, 2, 3, on the bottom. Each child has a clip and they put it on a number. When all the number are full the center is full.

[knoxmomof2]

The toy sets are in bins, accessible to the kids. Each child is allowed to have 1 large toy or bin maximum. If they want to share a bin, that's fine. If the set is big enough and someone else wants to play, I require them to share. If it's a smaller set, I tell the 2nd person that they can have it even the first person is done.

If they really want to play with 2 bins together, and they are good at cleaning up when asked, they are allowed to with a reminder that they will need to clean it all up when it's time. If they are well-established with the rule and they try to get out of cleaning up, I tell them "you clean it up, or else I will. If I have to clean it up, you go to timeout and the set is gone for the day" (for them, others can play with it). If this becomes a pattern, they're not allowed to play with the larger sets for awhile.

It's all taught gradually as they get old enough to start "helping me clean up" a bin I gave them (they'll put things in the bin, but I have to stop them from removing them again... Lol).