Toy Rotation

Mom, you will be proud of me. After 17 months of you telling me to do this, I finally am. Before now though, I hadn't felt the need or even had much of a reason to do a 'toy rotation' for Esperanza. Christmas put me over the edge. Unfortunately the 'afluenza bug' got to me this year and Esperanza ended up with much more than she needs. I honestly believe that now there are too many toys around for Esperanza to enjoy any one of them as much as she should, or could. A kid really doesn't need more than a few toys to play with at a time right? I get overwhelmed and can only imagine that she feels the same way.

This picture is most of what we have, but I haven't cleared out the car (I know theres a bag of toys in theres) or figured out what to do with the bigger toys (rocking horse, doll high chair, the big plastic kitchen set Mando's friend gave us, toys that are outside, etc)

I made 3 sets of toys. Each set includes a different set of blocks, a ball, a plastic battery operated phone, a few other battery operated obnoxious pieces of plastic that play music or talk, a talking/singing stuffed animal, a wood puzzle, some other non-plastic musical toys (shaker, whistle, xylophone, bells, etc), and a variety of other random toys we have. I'll also divide up all the stuffed animals and dolls we have into each pile. They are all different toys and the idea is that they will be 'new' each time they are rotated and given to Esperanza, hopefully entertaining her for longer periods of time. Every few days, once a week, or whenever it seems like the right time, I'll put one set of toys away, and pull another out. Or maybe I'll even just switch one or two items at a time, not sure.

I do have a chest in the living room of things that will have 'every day' toy items which include a mirror, a flashlight, several play silks, an old cell phone of mine which has never lost Esperanza's interest and a few other things that are always interesting to play with.

Has any one else tried this with their kids and all their toys? Also, as your kids get older, what do you do with the toys that they've outgrown and aren't worth keeping to pass down? Donate to Goodwill, Teasure House, a friend, Free Craigslist ad...? Anyways, wish me luck!