Guess I'm the odd man out here..? Huge fan of the hoop thing. Use it daily. I have about 12 bins of play sets sorted together on a single shelf unit (with the hoops) by theme (examples: Mr Potato Head sets, kinex, farm set with animals, block sets, dinosaur kit, medical themed...etc.) small/numerous pieces with most. I have a full array of other toys placed in other locations all around the daycare that each have full access to and must share, socialize with (they only use the hoops with the 12 bins). They simply grab a hoop, sit down, play, put all the little pieces back in the bin & bin & hoop back when they're done. I love that the babies learn very quickly not to surpass the hoop, frustration is zero (from the big ones) and that the pieces get all put back together.