Organizing for back to school is essential to help busy families during the school season + to create enough time to have a stress free holiday season. The key to getting organized for school days is planning ahead plus getting back into daily routines – which can become a little challenging after a relaxing summer break – but it is possible with our top 5 organizing tips for you today!
1. Create A Communication Station
Having a centrally located communication station can help keep everyone “in the loop” as to what is happening during the month – where, when, and type of event. A communication station can include: 1. A “month at a glance” calendar – which can be a decal, a dry erase board – or even paint an entire wall with chalkboard paint. The communication station should also include: a bulletin board (for memos), bins for chalk, dry-erase markers, push-pins, clips, a clock – set 10 mins ahead to keep everyone ahead of schedule) and a file box (to store school papers such as permission slips – see how and get printable tabs at iheartorganizing.com).
If you want to keep on your phone, too, see our post yesterday on AWESOME NOTE – a great IPhone time management and *To Do* organizer app.
With so many BTS supply sales happening at this time of year, shopping for these supplies should be easy on your budget. This communication station can also become a new routine, perhaps a place to hold a monthly family meeting – to discuss upcoming events, (tournaments, school plays, games) and even share some of life’s triumphs from the past month or goals for the upcoming month. Getting kids use to this type of communication routine can also be very valuable to them later in life by helping to improve their social skills in our tech heavy world.
I really like these lunch & snack storage ideas from iheartorganizing.com!
2. Keep Your Refrigerator Organized To Save Stress and Time.
Having the refrigerator well stocked with fruits & veggies, already washed and cut and organized is the key to cutting back your stress during all the early morning rush times. Designate a day (for example: Sundays) to plan the week ahead: clean and chop fresh produce for your children’s lunches and after school snacks – even prepare & freeze meals ahead of time so you can stress-less during the week – in between all those important meetings, ballet classes and soccer practice.
Turn on your children’s favorite music and let them help cook and organize { by color! } so they learn the benefits of healthy eating, early on, and enjoy the feeling of contributing to what goes into their own lunch boxes.
Using time saving services like Amazon Prime to grocery shop can help you, as the parent, too.
Washing off fruits & veggie right after they’re bought or delivered can help give your produce a longer life (for ex: strawberries in the store container will start to rot in three days vs. if they are cleaned and stored in your own container, they can last a week, sometimes even longer.), which in the long run, will help cut costs on your grocery bill by stopping the weekly rotted food purge.
Ziploc baggies + sealed containers + bins can not only help organize the refrigerator’s perishables (cheese sticks, apple slices, carrots) but these totes and baskets can help organize dry-foods snacks in your pantry as well (sunflower seeds, trail mix, dried fruits, raisins, cereals and nuts) and all are healthy snacks for both adults and kids.
3. Back to School Closets Organized
From seasonal storage of coats to sporting goods and kids clothing – closets need to be cleaned out from season to season. Kids grow, and grow out of clothing from one year to the next, so why not collect all those summer clothes or some of last years school clothing and take the best of the best to a kids consignment shop, and the balance bring to a church thrift store?
You can not only get a few funds in return to put towards new clothing & supplies for the new school season, but you’ll also be helping out other families and their budgets. The process of closet cleaning for back to school and the fall season can be a project you can all do together (so they can learn how to do, too!) plus kids can personalize this space for their rooms.
For small kids, recycling CD as closet dividers with days of the week outfits can help parents stay on track during the BTS season – while tweens and teens might enjoying creating an outfit moodboard with magazine tear-outs or Pins they see online. This can be inspirational & motivational to them in the morning, by getting them excited about what they’re going to wear to school. To get more tips, click this link: Kids Closet Organizing from Easy Closets, to watch a video – excellent info to adjust your child’s closet as they grow too!
4. BTS Organize the Mudroom / Entry
Having a main entry point for kids to drop off or collect their back to school supplies (backpacks, coats, jackets, sports gear, shoes, boots) can help in the morning rush during the school season. If everyone has an assigned space, mornings should be void of “where’s my…??!” Hooks are fantastic and can help keep these items (coats, backpacks, and later: scarves) organized and off the floor.
Cubbies, trays, baskets and bins can help keep footwear stowed away – even a storage bench can help perform double-duty is a small space, adding storage for shoes inside, plus a place to sit to put on foot wear. The area – be it an entry or even a mudroom – can still be fun and personalized with name plaques or even simply initials. To help keep the area organized, turn it into a game and reward those who keep their space neat beneath their feet!
5. Create a Study Station & Craft Corner
Everyone will have some type of homework to do – from solving math equations, to studying for a big test to reading and writing a book report. Discuss ahead of time an agreed location for this study time, so it won’t get disrupted when dinner rolls around. Formal dining areas, which usually only get used at the holidays can perform double duty throughout the year since this area usually includes: 1. a large work surface (the table), 2. comfortable seating (the chairs), 3. overhead lighting (the chandelier) – but a breakfast nook can also work too (and be near the kitchen – closer to parents).
Also, have handy a craft cart, or keep craft supplies organized and tucked away – repurposing a clear, over the door shoe caddy as in the picture above- a perfect way to hold scissors, glue, markers, pencils, watercolors and the like.
If you’re tight on space, with a little ingenuity and an empty spot in your hallway, you can combine areas and still stay organized for back to school. I love the smartly designed hallway mudroom and communication station above. For additional tips to help keep your family organized, you may also enjoy these two previous Hadley Court blog posts: Small Space Design Tips for Apartments and Dorms and Time Saving Laundry Tips for Back to School Parents!
A few simple changes can help make a big difference in getting you and your family out the door in the morning, productive in the evenings plus organized and on track during the weeks of the back to school season. Do you have an time saving or organizational tips to share? We’d love to read them!