Toy Rotation...no, you can't have that this week?!

[Whyx]

So I always thought toy rotation seemed a bit wanky.

Always planned to just get rid of toys that were outgrown and keep current ones. I didn't mind lots of toys being out/around.

HOWEVER, my DS is 3 and the mountain of toys is just impossible. A lot of his toys were a bit old for him until the last 6mo and now he wants to play with it all constantly.

I tried a toy rotation to tackle the sea of stuff underfeet but my problem is that he can see next week's toys and asks for them. I don't have enough space to hide them away and although small items are in opaque boxes the bigger stuff is in plain site but not accessible until I get it out. He's also randomly remembered toys I've put away and asked for them. He doesn't like the idea of toy rotation (obviously) and wants everything back out.

Does no one else have this problem?! It's never mentioned in the glitzy influencer world of #shelfie.

I think it only works if you hide them and he doesn’t know where they are.
can you sell some/donate?

Let him play with what he wants to play with. Quietly lose things he never asks for.

'Yes of course you can have that, choose something to put away instead so there's enough space.'

When the exciting Christmas presents arrive hide away whatever is not in this rotation.

They have to be out of sight.

If he asks for them say "yes, it'll be fun to play with that soon won't it"

I also think toy rotation doesn't work for this very reason. Even hidden, kids know what their favourite toys are and will ask for them. If he's entertained by his train track for example and plays with it for hours and adds in houses made from blocks or a zoo or dinosaur park with plastic animals why would you limit him and his creativity just for the sake of "toy rotation"!?

You could leave everything out for a while and take away the stuff that he doesn't really play with. In a few weeks, if there's more stuff he hasn't played with, then you could swap those things with the things you took away first.

The point is supposed to be that taking things away for a while makes them feel "novel" and "new" again. I find a better way to do this is actually for the adult to play with the child and notice what they're doing and build on it. E.g "I see you've made a big house with the Duplo! Who lives there? A princess? Oh look, here are the people from your dolls house. Could this be the princess?" Etc

If he asks for one get it out and swap it

I agree with @CremeEggsForBreakfast and if he is is asking for a toy and has an idea of what he wants to do with it he is developing his imagination and creativity. He might want to play with the same thing day after day as he builds up a 'story' with it and it would be wrong to take that away and replace it with something he find less interesting in the name of rotation.