How often do you buy your children toys?

[jojo2324]

I ask because I'm getting the impression that Gman is bored with the current selection, lots of stuff from babydom. And he is SO excited when I do introduce something new, like his Magna Doodle or the wooden/wire/bead contraption thing I just put together today. But the excitement wanes after a day, and he goes back to playing with a few very specific things. (Two shapes ONLY from his wooden shaper sorter, the cylinder and the octagon, then his stacking post but NO rings, blocks and a set of measuring spoons.)

So, every few weeks? Do some incorporate a rotation of sorts? That seems like a lot of work. I'm also trying to "save" up for the coming holidays, and have stuff already picked out that I want him to get on Xmas.

[khakismom]

I don't have much advice for you, but this same thing happened to Kathleen too right around this age. I was so busy buying her clothes, that I forgot to upgrade her toys to something not for a baby. So I started buying some new stuff then, but still like to introduce a new toy maybe once a month. She was so overwhelmed at Christmas last year that we ended up not opening some of her gifts and then giving them to her in the months that followed. A GF of mine lets her kids open all their b-day and Christmas gifts and then takes 1/2 of them and stores them, and then brings each one out at a different time down the road. It's like they're NEW toys to the kid! :)

[Sarah1]

Hi Joanne...

For me, it seems like every couple of months. I just get a sense for when she (and I) are feeling bored with the offerings...and sometimes I try and find creative ways to make current toys more exciting. But Gannon is older than Audrey and he probably would figure out you were doing that :)

[Melanie]

I put some things away that I thought were too young and he didn't care about...I also try to rotate the location of the toys b/c I notice that dictates how much attention they get by Ds. If I put things 'away' I'd probably forget about them, so I just move them to the ignored locations & rotate in that manner. ;-)

[alleyoop]

Joanne,
That is so funny! Nate will only play with the cylinder and the rectangle from his shape sorter! He throws it at my head a couple times a day so that he can just get those two shapes out...

[amp]

Like others here, I plan to rotate Jake's toys. My mom used to do that with our toys when we were little and she said it worked like a charm. Not only did it lessen the clutter somewhat, but when she took out the new ones and boxed up the other ones, it was like new toys each time. And apparently we never really missed the ones she put away, but we had a new appreciation for the ones that came out of storage.

[twins r fun]

I rotate the toys around here and still end up buying new ones pretty often-maybe 3 or 4 times a year or so I add a bunch of new stuff because they've hit a new developmental stage. But Jaocb and Caleb sound a lot like Gannon in that no matter how cool a new toy is it gets boring within about 2 days (except for balls and ball related equipment of course). So rotating is what works best-you get that 2 days worth of excitement every time you put a toy out again. It's not actually much work. I just put out a selection of toys and then once a week (usually Sunday nights after they go to bed) I put about half of them away and pull out the same number of "new" toys. The biggest problem is having somewhere that is not kid accesible to store the ones that are rotated out. We bought a wardrobe from Ikea for this. You also need enough toys that you can leave them out of rotation for 2 or 3 weeks so they can be forgotten about. The only toys I have that are exempt from rotation are the balls & clubs/raquets, the easel, and the basketball hoop. I also have about 8-10 bigger toys (ball blast, little people farm, etc) where I choose one each day for them to play with and put it away at the end of the day. And then there's some "supervised toys" that I pull out when we need something to do-bowling set, art supplies, playdough, bubbles, etc.

I find that a rotation system is the only thing that sustains any interest in the toys, but I still have to buy frequently enough as their abilities and interests change.

[brubeck]

Well my kids both have birthdays during the holidays, so there's one big toy extravaganza at the end of the year (ready to begin for Amy on Sunday).

Since the kids get double presents within one month, I do put a lot of the toys aside. Between the time Amy was 1 and 2 we only bought her 1 toy (Neurosmith Music Blocks, which we got for a super deal) and last year we only got her a couple of small potty-training rewards. This however doesn't count the books we buy regularly and the Little Tikes outdoor playhouse we bought last April. We did bring out the birthday/Christmas presents at strategic times. (and used some of those for potty rewards too)

I also use the hideaway trick. Some toys are put away in a special cabinet, to be brought out if we are desperate for something new or if we are going somewhere and I REALLY want the kids to be entertained.

And Joanne, you may want to start hiding the really baby-type toys. When Gannona comes along she will want some and you don't want Gannon remembering that they were once 'his'. Half of Andrew's Christmas/Birthday presents this year are Amy's old toys (Neurosmith Jumbo Music Block, V-Tech spider, FP snail shape-sorter, etc.). Amy does not remember them at all because they have been in storage for the past year.

[egoldber]

Well, I buy Sarah toys as I see them (on clearance, at Tuesday Morning, Marshalls, or TJ Maxx, etc.). BUT I only give them to her periodically. Honestly, I wait until I'm having a REALLY bad day and need to distract her, then pull one out of the toy stash! So she might get a new one every other month or 2-3 in a month depending on how things go, LOL!!

I also take a new toy when we go away on a trip. That way she has something new and interesting to play with while we're away.

I do also try to rotate her toys at least once a month (my goal was every two weeks and that just doesn't happen, but would probably be better.) I also try to rotate her books now too.

I have pretty much all of Sarah's Chanukah presents at this point. I am still agonizing over a dollhouse, but I think I'm reaching closure on that!! LOL! :)