5 Easy Organization Tips for Back to School!
August and September traditionally mark the months for back to school for most families, and ready or not the chaos of back to school is upon us again! Let me show you some great ways to cut down the craziness of the back-to-school transition period. These ideas are simple to implement with just a little bit of prior planning. Try adding one or two each week until you have a an established routine.
Tip 1: Get a great start to your week by organizing school clothes. Have your kids help you pick out their clothes and place them in a convenient place for their age level.
1. Days of the Week Closet Organizers by Uncommon Designs
This method can be used for all ages, but especially great for older kids. You can find the tutorial on how to create these easy closet organizers in the post.
2. Shoe Holder Clothing Organizer by Building Our Story
This method is great for younger kids with smaller clothes. Censie from Building Our Story added stickers to make the dividers specific to the days of the week. Cute, and easy!
3. Storage Bin Clothes Organizer by Mama Loves Littles
Cassandra used cardboard to make dividers for each day of the week from leftover boxes. You could use this method with various size bins. Great idea!
You can see how we organized our boys’ entire closet using hanging organizers here. An organized closet is always helpful!
Tip 2: Organize school lunches and containers so you or your kids can grab and go.
1. School Lunch Station by Design Improvised
This method of storage allows you to keep school lunch food separate from your everyday food and snacks. This is great if your kids tend to eat the “school food” all weekend! 🙂
2. Organizing Lunch Supplies by Tidbits
Cami’s lunch supplies organization is perfect for storing containers and everything else you need to start packing your lunch. I love the disposable miniature container idea to store peanut butter and other small items.
3. Lunch Storage Ideas by How Does She
These roll-around carts are perfect for organizing snacks, supplies, and small books.
4. Snack Station by Moms Always Finds Out
Place a container in your refrigerator to store all the items you need to grab for lunch and head out the door.
You can find all of my great pantry organizing tips and ideas here.
Tip 3: Have a designated place to hang bags, coats, scarves, shoes, etc.
1. Mudroom Hooks by Jamie Costiglio
Jamie shows us how to hang hooks to create the easiest mudroom space. This tutorial is so simple and can be completed in a very short period of time.
2. DIY Mudroom Storage Bench by Jen Woodhouse
Having a simple bench with some hooks above the bench is perfect for backpack storage. You can build a similar style bench with Jen’s building plans, or find a bench to purchase. The shelf with hooks are commonly found at craft stores.
3. Built-in Drop Zone
You can see our family’s mudroom area here Mudroom Makeover: From Messy to Magnificent. It honestly looks more messy than magnificent on most days, but it does serve its purpose of corralling the bookbags, coats, and shoes.
Are you ready for a mudroom makeover, or a complete build? You can find great mudroom ideas here.
Tip 4: Establish good habits by having supplies organized and an easy place to store the family schedule.
1. Homework Supplies Caddy by The Idea Room
Use a small caddy to hold all essential items that your kids might need to complete their homework. This helps to foster independence in elementary-aged children.
2. Shoe Organizer Homework Supplies by I Can Teach My Child
A shoe organizer is great for storing a wide range of school supplies. The clear organizers make for the best choice with organizing these types of items.
3. DIY Chore Chart by 36th Avenue
A chore chart can be a great way to encourage kids to complete their tasks for the day. You can find several free printables in this post for chores.
4. Kitchen Command Center by At Charlotte’s House
Consider installing a family command center! Start with a calendar white board and work from there adding items to help you get organized. Hanging a clipboard is also a great idea to keep papers contained and neat.
You can find lots of command center ideas here.
Tip 5: Plan your weekly dinners to help make a smooth transition into your evening routine.
1. Dry Erase Weekly Menu Board by Make and Takes
This idea is genius and can be created in about five minutes! This is a framed piece of scrapbook paper with dry erase marker written on the glass. So simple!
2. Monthly Meal Planning by A Bowl Full Of Lemons
Planning the family meals for a month will also help you when grocery shopping. Using a dry erase board allows you to easily swap meals around if necessary.
3. Recipe Binder by Abby Lawson
Do you frequently print recipes you find online? Recipe books are not as common as they used to be, and what many of us have now are random recipes floating around our kitchen. Do yourself a favor and put your recipes in a binder as soon as you print them out. Abby made her binder super cute! You can find her free printables in the post if you love this idea.
I hope that you love these easy to accomplish tips to help make your school year better! 🙂
You might like these other ideas for the school year:
60 Fun Back to School Ideas
Top 5 Healthy Back to School for Parents
Clever Back to School Tips for Parents
DIY Dorm Room School Supplies
DIY Lazy Susan Homework Station
Back to School Party: S is for Smores
10 Great Ideas for Homework Stations
