Why Does My Child Dump Out All the Toys?

Understanding messy moments and the learning behind them

You’ve just tidied up the toy baskets… and in less than a minute, your child has tipped them all out again. Sound familiar? For many parents at Te Ōki, this behaviour can feel frustrating or confusing—especially when it happens over and over again. But the truth is, dumping toys is a completely normal part of early learning and development. Even behaviours that feel challenging often have developmental roots. Check out our post on understanding behaviour in the early years for more insight.

Let’s unpack what’s really going on when tamariki dump, tip, scatter, and spill—and how it’s actually supporting important brain development and learning.

What’s the Why?

Dumping toys isn’t about being naughty or making a mess. It’s often connected to something called play schemas—repetitive patterns of behaviour that help children explore and understand the world around them.

One common schema behind dumping is the "trajectory" schema—where children are fascinated with movement: things flying, falling, crashing, or rolling. Another is the "containment" schema, where they are testing what fits where, what fills up a space, or what happens when something is emptied.

At Te Ōki, we see these behaviours as dispositional learning in action. Children are experimenting, problem-solving, and developing working theories about how objects behave. It’s an early form of scientific inquiry! This kind of repetitive, hands-on play is exactly what we mean when we talk about learning through play.

Te Whāriki reminds us that "children develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical, and material worlds" (Exploration | Mana Aotūroa). Dumping is one of the ways they explore those worlds.

What’s Developing Through Dumping?

🧠 Cognitive development Children learn cause and effect: “If I tip this out, it makes a noise. If I drop it, it bounces.” They’re also learning about space, weight, quantity, and volume.

🤲 Fine and gross motor skills Lifting, tipping, scattering—these actions involve coordination, strength, and control.

😌 Sensory regulation The act of dumping or scattering can be calming for some children, helping them regulate their sensory needs.

💡 Working theories Dumping helps build theories like: “If I empty this box, I can fill it with something else.” These ideas are the foundation of problem-solving and curiosity.

How We Support It at Te Ōki

At Te Ōki, our kaiako observe and respond to children’s play patterns. If we notice a child dumping frequently, we might:

• Provide large containers and loose parts that encourage dumping in purposeful ways.

• Set up outdoor play with sand, water, or natural materials that invite filling and emptying.

• Create tidy-up routines that involve the child, helping them see cleanup as part of the process—not a punishment.

• Redirect dumping in shared spaces by offering a “yes space” for big sensory play.

We support tamariki to explore safely and meaningfully—while helping them develop the skills to care for their environment too.

What You Can Do at Home

If dumping is happening a lot at home, try these strategies:

✅ Create opportunities for purposeful dumping: Set up baskets of soft blocks, duplo, or socks that your child can dump and refill without damage.

🧺 Involve them in real jobs: Get your child to help sort laundry, unpack shopping, or organise drawers. These activities meet the same needs for movement and order.

🎵 Make tidying up fun: Use songs, visual cues, or tidy-up challenges to make clean-up part of the rhythm of play.

🧘 Breathe through the mess: Remember—dumping is not defiance, it’s development. Offer calm guidance and consistent boundaries, especially when it becomes disruptive or unsafe.

A Word on Learning Dispositions

When your child dumps toys, they’re not just making a mess—they’re practicing curiosity, persistence, confidence, and resilience. These are key learning dispositions supported by Te Whāriki (Contribution | Mana Tangata), and they form the foundation for lifelong learning. These behaviours are part of developing key learning dispositions like curiosity and determination—read more about this in our blog on what your child is really learning.

Conversation Starters with Your Child

Help support their thinking and language with open-ended observations:

• “You tipped that out really fast! What will you do next?”

• “This basket is empty now—what do you want to put in it?”

• “You’re making a big pile! Tell me about your plan.”

  
  

Final Thought

Dumping is development in action. While it might seem messy or repetitive, your child is learning about how their world works, one tipped-out toy at a time. With the right support, these everyday behaviours become the building blocks of thinking, reasoning, and confident learning.

At Te Ōki, we’re here to guide and celebrate all of these stages—messy moments and all.