Toys/Books Organisation

Is there a big basket of toys in your house where all the toys get dumped in the night? Does your child have to dig through a bunch of stuff to find the tail of one toy and the head of another?

There is a famous phrase that goes like this: "A place for everything and everything in its place." (It is variously associated with Benjamin Franklin, Dr Maria Montessori and Samuel Smiles) What does it even mean? How can we apply it for the benefit of our children?

"Prepared environment" is a concept introduced by Dr. Maria Montessori (the Italian physician and educator famously known for her philosophy of education). It is an environment designed to match the developmental needs and interests of a child. You can create such an environment for children of all ages. Materials (toys and activities) should be presented on low shelves so that they are open and available to the child.

Children have an inherent need for order and routine. They do not thrive in chaos. (This is true for adults as well. How do you feel about working on a cluttered desk vs working on a neatly kept desk?)

Children also have sensitive periods where they will focus on developing a specific skill. They can go on working on that skill for weeks. So it is our job as parents to provide them with the right environment based on their interests and needs in order to facilitate them to work on those skills .

Creating the right environment

A huge pile of toys/books overwhelms children and leads to emotional disconnect. It becomes difficult to focus on one particular activity. The best way to tackle an overloaded toy basket is to go by "less is more" rule. Here are some simple steps:

1. Use a shelf and arrange only 5 - 10 toys and/or activities. Arrange them as if you are putting them up for a display to attract customers - because that's what they are supposed to do - attract children to play with them! All the remaining toys should go in the cupboard. Similarly, use a bookrack to keep about 10 books outside and keep the rest inside, out of sight.

You do not need fancy and expensive furniture for this. For almost a year we lived in an unfurnished house and I had made a shelf using cardboard boxes.

2. Every week, rotate the toys and the books i.e. keep this week's toys/books inside and bring out fresh toys/books. The excitement on rotation day is infectious, trust me!

3. The toys that are kept outside should have a good mix of

- open ended toys and/or blocks

- vehicles

- animal figurines

- pretend play toys

- activities for matching, sorting and for fine motor skills

- puzzles

- art supplies

This selection should be based on what your child is currently interested in and what his current milestones are.

Similarly books should have a good mix of fiction and non-fiction. You could even go for a theme like earth related books during World Environment Day by keeping activities and books around that particular theme.

4. The toys/activities that you keep on the shelf should be deconstructed. For example if you are keeping a shape sorter, do not display it sorted. Instead display it unsorted, so that it invites the child to pick it up and sort it.

5. Some of the open ended toys, animal figurines and vehicles can stay on the shelf all the time. The child might feel the need to use them along with other toys.

6. If your child is actively using one or more of the toys/books, let it stay on the shelf until the child is done with it.

7. Try to keep some random things from around your house that make no sense at all. For example - some sticks, marbles, beads, pom-poms, some bowls, strings etc. You never know when creativity strikes.

8. Fix a time for tidying up and stick to it. The child may show some lethargy for this particular activity; tell them stories, help them tidy, verbally appreciate the after-effects.

You will notice a tremendous change in the way your child plays once you start offering a prepared environment. Your child will play more mindfully and there will be more involvement and appreciation towards toys/books. In addition to that, you will also have an account of the whereabouts of all the toys in your house. The chaos gets reduced.

Some general points:

1. Never force your child to play with a toy or do an activity or read a book. Let it sit on the shelf, let the child pick it up. Show them how it is played with and take a back seat. Do not interfere unless they request you to do so.

2. There is no wrong way of playing. Your brain is trained to use a particular item a certain way. Theirs is not. So let them explore and play the way they want to.

3. Find different ways of playing with a certain toy and show them to your child (again - show once and let them be). Also, most of the times, one toy can be played with in many different ways. We had bought an abacus about six months ago. It would come out every few weeks, sit on the shelf and go back in - untouched. I never really gave much thought about it; always thought he'll play with it when he's ready. One day I just sat down and googled some ways of playing with an abacus. Found some very interesting games. Modified one of the games to suit what my son was interested in at that point of time and voila! He would pick up abacus at every opportunity and play with it. And now, I already have a new game with abacus planned. When he's done playing with it this way, I'll introduce the new game. It has been such a brilliant eye opener for me!

4. Sit down with them and play with them. Be a child for a little while everyday. Let them show you what they have been playing with, build your own fort and have some fun.

Observe your child. That is the key. There are no set rules. See what they are playing with the most, see how they are playing. Ask yourself what might be the next step, what might interest them next. Let the child guide you.