Mama's Toy Store

I have a toy store in my basement.  Really.  Last week I went bonkers and scooped up every last toy we have and cleared out a conveniently stored shelf in the basement and created a store.  Laine may get new toys to play with whenever he wants, but he may only have one bin at a time.  No rotation, no schedule, no fuss.  I am a fan, Laine thinks it is a special treat to go down in the basement to shop for "new" toys, and, bonus, we aren't stepping on so many toys.

Result after a week: Laine is playing so much more, BUT not really with toys.  He is finding things in his environment to play with.  Today it was string and a bowl of uncracked pecans.  He was making people out of the pecans.  I have always been a big believer in simple toys, but I didn't realize that even an overabundance of simple toys (even wooden ones...gasp...even WOODEN BLOCKS) could overstimulate a child.  I am not going to say that we are eating rainbows and pooping butterflies (thanks Horton), but things are just a little freer.

We still have the toys, and on rainy days it is pretty nifty to be able to say let's go find a new toy to play with, so all in all it was a win.