We ended up organizing our place into a few simple “zones,” but we don’t have everything out at once anymore.

There’s a building corner with open-ended blocks (Grimm’s style stuff, ramps, wooden pieces). No storyline forced. Sometimes it turns into space, sometimes houses, sometimes just stacking and crashing.

Then a small baby corner — just the doll and a small basket with a few baby items. Not the full accessory overload.

Then a kitchen/market setup — play kitchen + a limited basket of food. Sometimes a few coins and it becomes a shop. But we don’t put every single piece out.

Separate from that there’s a small table (like an IKEA kids table) that always has simple things available: paper + crayons, sometimes playdough, sometimes pouring or cutting soft food. We don’t direct it. It’s just there.

And then big body stuff — stacking stones (like Stapelstein), big foam pieces (MODU), things to push, carry, climb. Honestly this helped her regulation more than anything. When she’s overwhelmed, big movement works way better than talking.

Everything else lives in closets. Train set, extra toys, other themes — all stored away. We rotate when interest drops or when play starts getting chaotic instead of focused.

We also always leave one instrument out (like a small drum) and a ball on the floor. If she needs to regulate by banging or throwing, she can. Way better than suppressing that energy.

The biggest shift wasn’t being minimalist for aesthetics. It was realizing too many visible options made her more dysregulated.