Your Guide to School Supply Organization
Take a little trip down memory lane with me…you’re walking next to your mom, and as she meticulously checks off the requirement list, you’re throwing all of your new school supplies into the cart. I don’t know about you, but I always loved organizing all of those supplies again and again, as the first day of school grew near. Now that I’m a mother, the first day of school still brings back many of those feelings of anticipation, but they also edge into the frantic if I don’t spend a bit of time preparing in advance.
One hack I love for keeping all supplies in one accessible place, is creating a rolling cart that has all the essentials. This cart can easily move to wherever your child is working - whether it’s homework time, or you’re an every day homeschool family! This idea can be adapted for all ages of school children and would work well for all types of school supplies!
As with most organizing projects, it’s best to begin by first deciding a few things about where you’ll be working, and then choose the best storage, furnishings, and containers to fit that space. We chose a Target Utility Cart for our needs because it was affordable, available, and had the rolling wheels we needed for transporting it from room to room. To start, spend some time gathering up all of your child’s school supplies, and dump them onto the kitchen table, making piles of like with like. This might seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually a really important part of the process, as it allows you to see exactly what you have, what you might need, and edit out anything you no longer need or use.
Once you finish that task, you’ll know what you’re dealing with! This should help you create a plan for organizing all of those items. Pro tip: use cleaned tin cans from the recycling bin (hit with a coat of matte black spray paint) in order to create cute containers, at no cost. After assessing the remaining supplies, (cart measurements in hand) head to Target for a couple of inexpensive containment bins.
Now you can fit things into the cart, creating logical categories. By this point you should be feeling like a professional organizer! The final step is to add some labels for clarity and ease. Labels are cute of course, but they also serve a purpose. They help our kids stick to a pre-determined, well-functioning system, which in turn helps us keep our sanity when it’s time to clean up or look for something specific. And to be honest, almost all kids love an easy to follow and predictable system!
Additional Organizing Options:
If you happen to have multiple kids working at the kitchen table, supply caddies like these can be used in the center of the table, but can be tucked elsewhere when it’s time for family dinner together.
A storage cart with drawers can also work really well when you have multiple children doing schoolwork in your home. Teenagers can typically be set for success with a desk in their rooms, but if space is tight, utilizing vertical space with things such as peg boards, shelving, or cork pin boards can help keep them on track. And it goes without saying, that plenty of good bins with clear labels are always helpful in any stage of schooling.
Back to school season can be a stressful time for both kids and parents. Keeping school supplies organized might seem like a small task, but it can really help everyone keep a clear mind when you’re starting to get into the groove of school again - it’s one less thing to worry about in the midst of a busy season!
Do you have a specific way that you like to organize school supplies? We’d love to hear what it is!
