enough toys out or not?

[newandlearning]

hi everyone.. I'm trying to figure out if I've enough toys out for everyone or not.. the 15-18 month olds play with the toys out and the 3 year olds don't..

I've loads of toys in boxes in the garage but my garage looks like a bomb has hit it.. I'm at a loss to how to make it more accessible..

I used to rotate toys and have more toys out .. now I have soft toys out, books, and an expedia unit along with table and chairs with puzzles.. I use my lounge as my playarea and over the past 3 years have disliked having loads of toys out.. especially when the lil ones just unload every box and are too young to put things back.. completely.

I'm wondering if you guys have storage for toys not used.. how have you stored your toys so they are accessible for rotation?

.. all the kids I have here are here for 2 days each per week.. I'm thinking of rotating .. how often do you rotate stuff?

the first mindee was soo much easier to read with his interests etc so I could rotate toys easily with him.. the 3 yo I now have doesn't always show a preference and I do ask for feedback from mum to help me with this.. and the under 18 month olds are even trickier to read and involve several nappy changes feeding sleep etc etc so I find after going to a group and tidying up I don't have much observation time left with them.

am I doing everything wrong? I feel pathetic asking questions which I feel should be obvious to me after 3 years

[FussyElmo]

All my toys are stored in cupboards adn upstairs apart from some happyland which is on top of the one of the cupboard and is rotated frequently.

The children have free access to all the toys in the storage but they get one box out at a time and replace it when they have had enough.

If they want some of the toys from upstairs I have photos of these which they can show me.

I go with the idea less is more. Its more likely to be played with if there is not too much choice

[mushpea]

I dont have much out when the weather is nice as they tend to play outside more,, at the moment we have a big castle in and 4 small draws filled with theings like popoids, mr potato head, cars etc then a box of books but then I only have 3 children this week,, next when its back to normal and I have up to 8 children each day i will bring in the toy kitchen, dolls and pram and maybe happy street,, there are puzzles which are up high but they can ask for and they have free access to drawing equipment,, I rotat toys every week or in the holidays every fortnight as I have less children in the holidays

[Kes]

I have the 6 drawer trofast unit with toys in but have a box of cars in it which takes up 3 drawer spaces. I have a bigger trofast unit in my boys room and use these to rotate the one in the living room. I tend to rotate every couple of weeks or sooner if needed.
I also have a dolls house out all the time and books. Dressing up stuff in a pop up bin down the side of the sofa.

I then get other things out for an hour or so if they are bored such as treasure basket, tree blocks and box of baby toys.

I also have a play kitchen out but put it away for a bit every now and then so they don't get too bored with it. I swop it for workbench, shop etc.

[amanda1309]

all my toys are in boxes in the garage.

I bring out the toys on a monday morning and they stay out till friday night. I usually only get out a few boxes at a time. If I get too much out they don't play with any of it and just scatter it around the lounge

[JumpingJacks]

I have 4 large trofast units in the hallway so just let Lo's help themselves, but we only take 2 boxes out at a time, I have two larger boxes out in the lounge which I rotate, these are usually Little people, Building bricks, kitchen and play food or the musical instruments. I also have the craft trolley in the kitched 24/7 so mindees can access it whenever they like.

I find this is enough as the mindees don't know what to play with when there is too much to choose from and everything just gets tipped out and thrown around. I find this works for well for me