How Many Toys?

[mamamanda]

I know I posted a thread about this a couple years ago, but I can't seem to find it. I always end up with too many toys in the play area. I feel like I'm constantly tripping on toys & the area feels cluttered. I rotate a bunch out, but especially after Christmas I bring too many back in & we're there again. Clean up time is so stressful for all b/c it takes us about 20 min to clean up all the pieces & the kids are all under 4 so if it's overwhelming to me, it must be to them as well. I guess specifically I'm wondering:
Books I have the hardest time with b/c we are all avid readers here & I don't want to limit them, but they're being dumped & mistreated.
How many books do you give kids free access to at one time?

How many cars in a basket?

How many action figures/dinosaurs, etc?

How much play food in the kitchen, etc?

They love all these things but the pieces end up just being dumped in the floor & walked on. But I don't want to put too much away either.

[storybookending]

I have two rain gutter shelves of books that the kids can reach, with two above that they cannot reach, each shelf has probably 10 books on it and I rotate those as I get sick of reading them.

Cars I keep in 2 separate holders under the changing table and they have to ask to get them out.

Play food I limit if it gets out of hand or put in the “freezer” section that my 1 year olds cannot reach but everyone else can still access.

Some things that have a lot, or in some cases small pieces are in the closet and they have to ask for them. Things like our smaller dollhouse, wooden blocks, Lincoln logs.. etc

I think the mistake is in cleaning everything up all when it’s time to transition rather than cleaning up as you go along. If you see a child playing with something or if I child dumps a bucket of something out they are told they must pick it up before they move on to another area. My 3 year olds are great, my stubborn 2 year old needs some reminders and hand over hand help to start the task at times. My 18 month old picks up what is told but gets distracted and my 14 month needs to see others helping to join in or to put a toy in his hand and tell him or show him where it goes but they are all capable of cleaning up after themselves to an extent. I rarely help with cleaning.

[CityGarden]

Some of this depends on your group. How many do you have? What ages?

With cars I am for enough for each child to have one as they often play that together or will race eachother. We have a ton of play kitchen food but organize it by food group so it stays pretty organized.

I like the less is more approach but almost always strive for enough for each child to have one at min so if they want to all play with one at the same time they can but then rote what is out. i.e. I may enough cars for all on Monday then the cars go away and I will have enough play silks for all on Tuesdayout. Naturally this is not always possible (due to size/storage space).

[AmyKidsCo]

ITA that it depends on how many children and their ages.

For cars I have 2 sets of Melissa & Doug wooden vehicles, so 18 maybe?

I put away the play food because they were just dumping it out, and they haven't missed it. Most of the time they ignored it and used their imaginations anyway.

I don't have any action figures/animals/dinosaurs out right now. When I do put some out it's however many are in that particular collection. For instance, I have a HUGE box of Christmas Little People but not as many for other topics/themes.

[mamamanda]

Some of this depends on your group. How many do you have? What ages?

With cars I am for enough for each child to have one as they often play that together or will race eachother. We have a ton of play kitchen food but organize it by food group so it stays pretty organized.

.

I have 5 children. A 3yo, two 2 yo, a 20mo, & a 5 mo. My 6 yo is with us before & after school.

[Michael]

Here are a couple of similar threads that may help but you didn't start any of them.

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=toys+-+too+many

[mamamanda]

Here are a couple of similar threads that may help but you didn't start any of them.

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...oys+-+too+many

Thank you!! My phone wasn't letting me search.

[HappyEverAfter]

I only have 4 kids, all under the age of 2. I have one basket of board books. I’d guess maybe 15 books are in there and I rotate them as needed. I have enough cars for each child to use one. I have enough play food and play dishes to fill the cabinets and fridge of my play kitchen. It gets rotated out too. I have one basket of blocks which is enough to build one large tower or a couple small ones. I have a 2 baby dolls, 2 teddy bears and 6 other stuffed animals. There are also a few noise making toys, maybe 4 or 5. I definitely feel like less can be more, especially at the age group I have now. When I put too many toys out they seem to become easily over stimulated, toys get in the way and are trampled on, kids are more likely to trip and fall and so on.

[mamamanda]

Thank you everyone. I took a lot of toys out of the room this evening & rearranged a bit. I'm hopeful that this will help. And I agree that I need to be better about cleaning as we go instead of just before transitions. I put so much stuff away & pulled out a few things they haven't played with for a while. Here's hoping tomorrow is wonderful!

[Josiegirl]

At this point I'm thinking ANY toys are too many to have out!! It's not just the toddler dump-its, it's the 3-4 yo group that'll be walking along and just drop whatever they're playing to go onto the next thing. I am constantly asking that they go back, pick up what they're no longer playing with and put it back where it belongs. I have 2 cute little walk along type toddler toys. The bigger kids reel through the house with them, so I'm constantly taking those toys out of play because the younger ones never get to play with them anyways.
When they do pick up, things never go back where they started out from. They're dumped wherever it's convenient. I am SO sick of toys. I seriously feel like a toy scrooge. I have very little storage space to rotate very many out. I feel like a big grump who is always harping on the 3-4 yos to pick up after themselves. So sick of being the toy police.
Is it that hard to do????

[mamamanda]

At this point I'm thinking ANY toys are too many to have out!! It's not just the toddler dump-its, it's the 3-4 yo group that'll be walking along and just drop whatever they're playing to go onto the next thing. I am constantly asking that they go back, pick up what they're no longer playing with and put it back where it belongs. I have 2 cute little walk along type toddler toys. The bigger kids reel through the house with them, so I'm constantly taking those toys out of play because the younger ones never get to play with them anyways.
When they do pick up, things never go back where they started out from. They're dumped wherever it's convenient. I am SO sick of toys. I seriously feel like a toy scrooge. I have very little storage space to rotate very many out. I feel like a big grump who is always harping on the 3-4 yos to pick up after themselves. So sick of being the toy police.
Is it that hard to do????

I feel your pain.:hug:

It is a battle here for sure, but I think we get such an important role in teaching them skills that will stay with them all their lives. I try to think of it that way so it feels more like I'm actually accomplishing something rather than just cleaning up the same mess every day.

[mamamanda]

My set up has worked so much better today! Thank you for all the encouragement!happyface