you know I’m super into automating what I can. deciding once, as Queen Lazy Genius says.
and while the past teacher in me loves alllllll things play - sensory play, seasonal books, play invitations, and toy rotations - the past teacher in me also loves to think of ways to simplify and automate what I can.
i haven’t taught in years, and I swear my brain still thinks in terms of lesson plans and school years.
anyway.
enter the monthly themes.
and I’ll say it: themes make everything so easy. (the themes also make my teacher heart happy.)
here’s five reasons we love having monthly play themes.
1.) we don’t really rotate toys.
you know we have some favorite toys that are . I rarely - if ever - rotate these out because they’re always being used.
and while rotating toys every week works for some - and that’s great! - it didn’t really work for me. but I loved the idea of a toy rotation.
so what works really well for us right now is we have a foundation of favorite, open-ended toys that are always available. and then each month, we rotate in a few themed activities and books.
(having KK’s favorite toys always out also meant I had a little more flexibility with themes.)
a monthly theme adds an element of novelty to our play areas (with minimal work on my part) and a monthly theme means I’m really only rotating once a month (PRAISE). so while creating themes had some work up front, it totally pays off over and over again, IMO.
2.) there are a ton of ideas out there.
an overwhelming amount.
themes give me a starting point instead of starting with a massive, debilitating blank slate and reinventing the wheel over and over again. I’m not racking my brain and scrolling Pinterest for ideas on what we’re doing, week after week. I now know, for example, that in June we will do insect-themed activities and I can skip all the other tempting swipe-ups on social media and let’s do that activity from last June again because that was fun and oh look! we already have the supplies for that from last year!
and instead of all our kid things sitting in big, boring piles, things - like WaterWow activities and insect figurines and reusable sticker pads and and ocean books and playdough stamps! -are saved for certain months. so we're not buying new things over and over because the things we already have are exciting. (and when we are buying new-to-us things, we’re buying intentionally. but more on that next.)
themes give me the best direction when doing a quick toy rotation, themes give me permission to hit a certain topic really hard, themes allow me to use and reuse what we have in new and engaging ways.
(for the same exact reasons, I love dinner themes and meal rotations. themes simplify my life incredibly.)
3.) we acquire new things with more intention.
before, I’d buy new things for KK - anything that other people swore by, anything that promised lots of play, anything. and then I realized there had to be a better way. the clutter was already overwhelming me, and I only had one child - and a young child, at that.
monthly themes make us more intentional.
now, anything I buy, anything I spot on our “buy nothing group,” anything I find thrifting, anything I see on sale - everything is now extremely vetted. does it this item coordinate with a monthly theme? if yes, does this new item enhance our theme in any way, or could we go without it? and if this item doesn’t coordinate with a theme, does this item have potential to be a favorite, open-ended toy that is kept out in our play area?
we’re no longer wasting money (and space!) on random toys. everything has a purpose.
similarly, now when thinking about what to ask grandparents for for KK’s birthday or what Mr. Valentine should bring or what should go in KK’s Easter Basket or what to put on Santa’s wishlist, I have a very clear set of directions: is there anything we’d love to add to our upcoming monthly themes?
a book we’d love for May? materials for a certain art project or play dough activity in August? that perfect set of Etsy printables for September?
because I love to be intentional with gifts. and if I already find such joy in creating a Mr. Valentine basket for KK, what makes it even better is knowing that I could also use said basket as an opportunity to include, say, a new set of stickers or Dot Markers or activity that aligns with, say, February, March, or April’s theme.
monthly themes make us more purposeful with what we bring into our home.
4.) themes work for all ages (and timelines)
this was my big motivator.
before our monthly themes, I was feeling burnt out. (which should say a lot, given that my past experience as an educator means I love planning and I love play.) I was rotating toys every week with no clear direction and while, yes, KK was engaged, I struggled to see how this would work for our family long-term.
and it occurred to me: if we were able to have more siblings, how would our small-ish space handle multiple ages and multiple interests and multiple levels of random toys? and more importantly, will I be able to continue doing a weekly rotation from scratch if/when there are more babies in this house? i already felt overwhelmed.
we needed a new system.
whatever works best for you and your family is fantastic.
but for me, monthly themes felt like something I could keep doing if/when our family grows. because I didn’t necessarily want to be tied to rotating toys every week. and because while right now I create activities in our monthly themes for KK’s current age (2), our themes could also definitely work when KK’s older and when KK potentially has a younger sibling or two, especially because a lot of activities and materials cater to a wide range of ages. it felt very doable and it felt very inclusive.
all that to say, if a weekly rotation or weekly themes work better for you and your family, go for it.
monthly themes just felt right for me.
5) themes take care of Future Haley
and like I mentioned previously, creating the themes and planning the activities now is such a gift for Future Haley.
(could our themes change in the future? sure. no problem. but the big gift is that we implemented the system of monthly themes.)
and the bigger gift is our twelve tubs in our garage: one for each month. and in each tub lives anything I loved for that month’s play. and all Future Haley has to do is grab the tub for this month’s play.
(and, additionally, if Future Haley discovers any great thrifting finds or sales for, say, September’s activities, there is a definitive spot to put said finds. same goes for those aforementioned gifts. everything has a purpose, everything has a spot. BLESS.)
and, if/when KK gets a sibling and we’re in the throes of pregnancy or newborn or nursing or navigating life with multiple kids in general? pull out this month’s bin of activities. KK retains her daily rhythm of play with that lovely dose of novelty, all with minimal work from me. (even better that each month’s bin of activities include some easy, quiet, engaging activities like sticker books and coloring books and matching games and play dough activities and dot marker activities and Water Wow books and and and and.) BAM.
(edited to add: these activities SAVED us when we added Joey to the family!!!)
you’re welcome, Future Haley. YOU’RE WELCOME.
but all in all, monthly themes bring me a lot of joy. and that’s really all that matters.
below is a list of our monthly themes - as well as our favorite activities - for each month.
because while it’s a huge request from y’all, it’s mainly so I have a resource to reference each year as KK gets older and as we hopefully add more siblings. i can’t wait to continuously add to these lists as we discover more favorites.
and wow, does this make the teacher in me so happy.
like I’ve said before: identify your favorite parts of motherhood, and lean into them hard. life’s too short.
january - winter
february - love
march - farms
april - rainbows
may - flowers/gardens/birds
june - insects
july - oceans/beach
august - things that go
september - apples
october - Halloween-y
november - pumpkins/fall
december - Christmas-y
Want to know our year-round favorite things?
Follow me on Instagram - I’m always sharing peeks into our home and our daily life on my stories. I’m always tweaking our home and our routines and our systems to best meet our current needs in our current season, so my Instagram has the most up-to-date photos.
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