HOW TO MAKE THE MOST USE OUT OF TOYS

Hello! I am here today to share with you some ideas on how you can make the most out of the toys your child already owns. It will save you money, time and stress because we all know that clutter is overwhelming. 

OBSERVE YOUR CHILD
To start, I would suggest observing your child for a few days, to check what they actually play with and what type of toys they are mostly drawn to. Also, which toys they never, ever use.
If you have a lot going on in your life, and loads of things to remember about, I would suggest making a list of often used and never used toys, it will make the next steps much easier for you. 

RE-ORGANIZE YOUR CHILD'S PLAY SPACE

Once the list is ready, you can re-organize your child's play space. Decluttering is fantastic! Most of the children don't play with their toys because they simply have too many of them. Of course, this step is optional.

Next, you can divide the toys that you're keeping into two groups, and hide one of them away. Then you swap the toys every week/ two weeks, or how often you wish. This method is great because it is fully customizable to your child's needs, and your schedule.

Rotating toys has many benefits, one of them is that your child never gets bored with their toys, and they feel that they are getting new toys frequently, which makes them want less brand new toys. This will also allow you to have less clutter in the toy storage system, which means less mess, and less cleaning. Less cluttered play space (no matter how big or small it is) encourages the independence in the child, because they can not only easily access all of the toys, but also clean them up after play. 

EXAMPLES ON MAKING THE MOST OUT OF THE TOYS:

Lego Duplo/ building blocks

Building blocks are one of the most important types of toys to have in one's collection. They teach the child about geometry, gravity, they encourage creative thinking and problem-solving. Honestly, their benefits are endless. But there is so much more your child can do with them than just building. 

With their help, you can teach your child colours, counting, matching, sorting, patterns and many, many more. 

Animal figurines

Animal figurines are many children's favourite toys. They are, however, pretty expensive, so it is worth to make the most out of them.

I came up with 48 fun and educational activities with animal figurines, and you can find the first part of my guide here, and the second one here. These activities are suitable for babies, toddlers and younger children. 

The ball

The ball is the queen of open-ended toys. It is affordable, and if we were to count the cost per use of toys, the ball would probably win. It not only beautifully supports the development of your child's gross motor skills but also, thanks to its simplicity, can be easily incorporated in other types of activities. 

A small ball can become a pretend food or an animal, and if you have a few of them at home, you can build an interactive solar system for your child or introduce them to the concept of ordering by size or weight. You can use them for making patterns, colour matching and colour sorting, or shape sorting.

Vehicles

Toy vehicles can be used in many ways, too! The child can sort them by colour, by type, by brand. Put them all in lines, do patterns, practice counting, addition, subtraction. Learn hundreds of new words when learning the parts of the vehicle. Practice ordering by size (or tell which one is bigger, which one is smaller etc.). Learn the brands. Endless possibilities here. 

A few tips on purchasing toys:

• follow your child. Each child has his interests, so it is fantastic if we follow them when buying toys. Then we are almost 100% sure that our child will play with what we bought. It saves frustration (for parents and kids), money (obviously), and space (because the storage always comes with capacity limits 😉),

• if you want to save some money on toys, you can invest in second-hand items. You can find them online (eBay, Gumtree, Facebook market place etc.), in charity shops/ thrift stores and car boot sales,
• buy less, but better quality. Minimalism in toys has more benefits for the child's development than an abundance of toys. If you choose wooden toys over plastic, they will last much, much longer. I know that wooden toys tend to be pricier, but I found almost all the pieces my son owns second-hand, and I paid less than I would for plastic toys,
• invest in open-ended toys and loose part materials. Thanks to the simple design, they can be used in infinite ways, so they will never be too boring for your child. You buy (find in the garden/upcycle) once, and they last for a few years. If you have never heard of the idea of the loose parts play before and you would like to learn more, you can check out my article on the topic here. 

I hope you found some inspiration here, and please let me know what do you do to make the most out of toys your child owns. 

Thank you for your time,
Gosia x