School Supplies Storage and Organization

Everywhere you look, pens, rulers, pencils, and markers are lying around. And yet, when your child needs something, you either spend 5 minutes searching for it, or you find the marker or pen that doesn't work anymore.

Does this sound familiar? It's perfectly normal—organizing school supplies is a challenge every parent faces.

Nevertheless, in this article, we're going to give you our tips and tricks for better organizing your children's school supplies. This way, your son/daughter will have no more excuses for not starting their geography homework because they can’t find the right pencils.

Without further delay, read the article to discover our advice and make your life easier.

Declutter Unusable School Supplies

The first step of any organizing task is to declutter what no longer works and what neither you nor your child need.

Indeed, it's pointless to organize clutter, and that includes the clutter of school supplies.

Get rid of dried-out pens and markers that no longer work (you can check out the pen and pencil decluttering mission for more details on that), as well as empty glue bottles, broken scissors, paper that's too crumpled to be salvaged, etc.

Of course, many school supplies can be used year after year. But some won't be needed in the near future.

So don't throw away everything that can still be useful! Older school supplies from the end of the school year are the perfect items to use at home during the next school year, allowing your children to have the appropriate supplies at home for their homework and projects without breaking the bank, because we all know how expensive these supplies can be!

Get the Necessary School Supplies for Your Home

Once you've decluttered the unusable supplies, it's time to make sure your child is ready to tackle homework and school projects every evening by getting the necessary school supplies.

The school almost always provides a list of supplies you need to bring for your child's class, but you also need to have some of those same types of items at home.

Homework time can be challenging enough without having to hunt for a pencil with an eraser or a glue stick to attach a piece of paper to a worksheet.

General Principles for Organizing School Supplies

Once you have all the supplies, it can seem like a lot, and it can easily become a mess if you're not careful. That's where organization comes in.

Here are some general guiding principles to keep in mind when organizing and storing school supplies at home.

Gather School Supplies in One Place

It can be helpful for both you and your children to gather all school supplies in a single location. They will know where to find what they need without having to ask you where this or that item is, or go on a hunt through several spots in the house to gather things before they can start.

It also makes cleanup easier, since they can put everything back in the same place once homework is finished.

The only caveat we have regarding this organizing principle is not to be overwhelmed with supplies in one spot. If you like or need to store a lot of school supplies, in bulk, you don't need to keep every single pencil, for example, within your child's reach at all times.

Instead, keep a good selection of supplies they'll need together, like a few pencils and pens, as well as markers, scissors, and glue, and the surplus of each type of supply can be stored in a more distant location. Then, simply restock the small assortment as your child uses up supplies from the storage area.

Choose a Storage Location Close to or Convenient for Homework

Think about where your child normally does homework or school projects and, if possible, keep the supplies near that location. This makes it easier for your child to access the supplies and put them away once finished (and thus avoid leaving them lying around).

Separate Supplies into Categories for Neatness and Easy Finding

If you simply gather all the different types of supplies into one big pile, it would quickly become jumbled and disorganized. That's why, whatever organizing method you choose, make sure there's a way to keep the different categories and types of supplies divided and separated. For example, in separate small containers, with drawer dividers, or in different organizational drawers.

Use Plastic Organizers Inside Your Cabinets

Another organizing idea is to put your school supplies in a single cabinet. One of the big advantages of this method is that you can then hide the supplies from view, only opening the cabinet doors and accessing them when needed.

Creating a school supply cabinet is simple: just free up some space in a cabinet, hopefully one near where your kids do homework, and then place the items inside.

To organize them inside the cabinet, the easiest way is to use plastic storage drawers to sort and separate the different types of supplies. It's also very helpful to label the drawers.

Keep Drawers in Order Using Dividers or Small Boxes

As with a cabinet, if you place supplies in a drawer, they'll be hidden, but again, you don't want to just toss them in haphazardly because the space is usually too big and everything will get mixed up.

Instead, use low, open containers to hold the different supplies and keep them separated and categorized. Similarly, you can also use drawer dividers for the same purpose.

Use Mugs or Other Small Containers as Holders

Finally, if you don't have a drawer or cabinet available, or if you're not close to where your children do their homework, you might consider making a homework cart where you can bring school supplies to them.

Now It's Your Turn!

You now know how to best organize your children's school supplies, so why not get started right away?

Why not check out another article on our blog now?

Daily Family Organization: How to Optimize It?