Sharing my easy and practical tips for organizing kids craft supplies in a small space!
There was originally an early 2000s style desk on one end of the kitchen that we removed in Phase 1 of the kitchen renovation as a quick way to update the space. Then I found this great cabinet/hutch on FB Marketplace and gave it a quick makeover to turn it into a coffee bar (more on that here). It was the perfect addition to fill in that area at the end of the cabinets. And it added a bunch of space to store all our coffee essentials. I didn’t have an exact plan for the bottom half of the cabinet, but once we started using it, it seemed like the perfect place to store all the kids’ craft supplies. We gave it a try, and it’s been the kids’ craft cabinet ever since!
This week I went through and decluttered, purged, and organized all the supplies. The kids are in and out of here all the time. I just adore how much they love to create! And, though they actually do a pretty decent job of putting things away in the right spot, I also declutter it regularly.
Here’s what I started with this time:
I follow the same basic process in any organization project.
1. Clean Slate
First, take everything out to give yourself a clean slate.
I cleared everything out of the cabinet and gave the shelves a good wipe down.
2. Sort
Then sort everything into categories – keep, donate, trash.
We keep the kids craft supplies pretty minimal, which helps contain it all in this small space. For the basics, we have coloring books and crayons/markers/colored pencils, construction paper, plain paper, kids washable paints, play-doh, perler beads, and jewelry-making sets. I switch out the little wood slice shapes for painting. And I’ll rotate things like clay, popsicle sticks, cotton balls. I also rotate seasonal items. The kids love to pick out a few crafts for fall, Christmas, Easter, and small holidays throughout the year!
3. Purge
After you’ve sorted everything into categories, you’ll probably have a “trash” pile and a “donate” pile.
Broken crayons, dried-up markers, and half-used glue sticks? It’s time for them to go. As far as craft supplies go, we didn’t have anything to donate – they craft hard around here. But you may have unused crafting goodies, or supplies the kids have outgrown, that you can donate to local schools or daycare centers.
As far as keeping their crafts goes, we usually keep things for a while. We hang them on the fridge, or the kids display them on the art shelves in their room. And, after a while, we rotate new pieces in. If I get a special request to keep something, I’ll store it in the kids’ keepsake box (we have one for each kid). Some of those, I’m sure we’ll keep forever. But, other than the keepsakes, I toss everything. There’s just no way I could keep every single one of their creations. The constant struggle of motherhood – always trying to find that balance of holding on and letting go at the same time 💜.
4. Organize and Put Away
Once you’ve narrowed it down to all your “keep” items, it’s time to organize and put it all away.
I love these small plastic bins [HERE]. I use them for everything – toys, craft supplies, in the shop, you name it. They’re the perfect size for grouping small items – not too big to have way too many things in them, not so small that you can’t fit all of one category of things in them. If that makes sense? That sentence seemed more clear in my head. But you know what I’m saying. I think.
Ok, I feel like I need to confess – this might not be the most “organized” thing in the world, but it is 100% the most practical. I don’t sort the markers, crayons, and colored pencils. They all go into one bin, and that’s the “coloring bin”. There’s no way I could keep up with how quickly the kids mix them all up. Plus, they like to have all their options when coloring! So maybe it’s not picture-perfect organized … but it is picture-perfect functional 😉 .
These vertical tiered trays [HERE] have been the best solution to organize coloring books, construction paper, stickers, dry erase boards, etc. Rather than stack them all in a pile, each tier has its own category so it’s easy for the kids to find what they’re looking for.
Ahhh, so much better.
It might not seem necessary to follow a process when it’s a smaller organization project like this. But I used that same basic process any time I’m tackling a decluttering and organizing job. And, I’ll tell ya, it makes it so much more manageable! Especially on those bigger decluttering jobs, like the kids’ room and toys, which can get overwhelming quickly.
What are your best tips for organizing kids craft supplies? Any special tips or tricks to help manage the chaos?
Sources
| Tylynn |
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