3 MONTESSORI TOY ROTATION TIPS

Today we are going to be talking about toy rotation!

Is your toy rotation working for you? Today we will tell you how to get started and help you through the process.

During this session of Montessori Mondays with Holly, we talked about toy rotation tips! Watch the show above and click here to join the Facebook group.

Observe Your Child 

You simply cannot do a toy rotation if you do not observe your child. How would you know what to put out if you do not observe your child? You need to know what is going to get the most concentration and time used! If you make those observations during a work period you are going to notice that there are favorites and things that are never getting played with.

How do you know what information to observe when watching your child? We talk about this at length in the 4 Days To A Montessori Home Challenge. Observing is so fundamentally important in Montessori. We talk about “sitting on our hands” and simply watching our child.

Make A Schedule For Toy Rotation

Some people love to do toy rotation on a scheduled date, whether weekly or monthly. You do not have to do this. The key is to find what works for your unique family. There are so many components when figuring out what works for you. Toy rotation won’t be sustainable if you don’t do what works for you. Trial and error is the key!

I remember when my toy rotation changed with my second child. I couldn’t keep up with the schedule that I had with one child. For the first 2 months, I was beating myself up because I couldn’t get a schedule set. But that’s ok, I started pulling off one toy at a time that they weren’t playing with. And that completely worked for our family. You’ll see in the 4 Days To A Montessori Home Challenge that you don’t want to pull all toys off the shelf at one time. We’ll discuss why and more ab0ut this on day 3!

Don’t Let The Toys Pile Up 

There are a lot of different storage solutions in all different sizes of homes. If you need guidance on where to store definitely join us in the challenge! We talk a lot about ideas for that!

Being Organized is easier said than done. I’ve had ups and downs in my toy rotation through the years. But we generally use a closet to store four materials. I’m able to open my closet and see what’s available. Just like a child with low shelves, we can see what’s available. If we open our closet and everything is dumped into boxes we have no idea what we have. When you start you may still remember what is in those boxes but as time goes on you won’t know anymore. In my closet I have them on shelves, I have them categorized a little bit.

For me, putting dress-up clothes or imaginary play in one area, putting authentic Montessori materials in one area, puzzles books in another area of the closet. There is no one-size-fits-all for your family. The only thing that matters is to not throw it all into a cardboard box to where you have to dig through it every single time. It’ll take up so much time that you won’t do toy rotation anymore.

You want to make this sustainable. It shouldn’t be too much hard work it should be easy and fun.

We talk much more about how to stay organized in the 4 Days To A Montessori Home Challenge! 

4 Days To A Montessori Home Challenge

So if you are ready to learn more about a Montessori and learn more about how to master toy rotation I would love to invite you to join us for our 4 Days To A Montessori Home Challenge.

About this Challenge:

• This Challenge is specifically designed to transform your main living space into a beautifully prepared Montessori environment.
• This challenge is NOT meant to be complicated or make your life difficult.
• You do NOT need all the expensive materials to make this happen!
• Our [free] pop-up Facebook group is all about supporting one another, no mom shaming here!

What you need to know:

• The Challenge starts on June 21st!
• It’s ABSOLUTELY FREE to join!
• One lucky winner will win a scholarship to the Montessori Learning Center!

Do you rotate your toys at home? Tell us in the comments how you handle your toy rotation!