Papers, Pencils, and Crayons Oh My! We all know how quickly Art Supplies can add up. Let me help you get those Art Supplies Organized! De-Clutter: Step 1: Round them Up! Pull out all of your Art Supplies. Step 2: Group like items together: Adhesives (Tapes, Glues, Staples, etc.) Dough & Dough Supplies (Cookie Cutters, Rolling Pins) Paint & Painting Accessories (Brushes, Sponges, Cups) Paper Writing tools (Crayons, Pencils, Pens) Stamps & Stamp Pads Scissors & Punches Collage & Craft Materials (Glitter, Foam Shapes, Stickers, Pipe Cleaners, etc.) Step 3: De-clutter your Supplies. Discard Broken, duplicate, worn out, and Unwanted Supplies. Step 4: Now that you know what you have left, You can start organizing your Art Supplies. Your first step is deciding where you are going to store your excess are supplies. To stay organized you will need to assign your items a "home". Find a Home for your Supplies: Try and keep all of your Art Supplies together. If Space is a premium, keep items grouped together by type. For example: All of your Painting Supplies together, all of your Adhesives together etc. As much as Pinterest leads you to believe Organizing is about "looking pretty", it's really more about how quickly you can find (and put back) the items you are looking for. You can use a variety of Baskets, Bins, or boxes to organize your Arts & Crafts materials. Again, you don't need to spend a lot on these items consider re-purposing items you have, or using recycled items. Consider housing your Art Supplies in a Closet, Cabinet, or Drawers. If you are Short on Space Consider a Vertical Storage option-Such as Pegboard, an Over the Door Organizer, or an under-the-bed storage box. No matter which storage option you choose, make sure it is accessible. Using clear storage allows you to see your materials easily. If you don't have clear storage, consider labeling your storage to make your items easier to find. You can find some links to FREE labels here. Organizing Inspiration from IKEA IKEA doesn't disappoint when it comes to finding options to store your Art Supplies. The Bins in the TROFAST line make it easy to sort and organize your Art Supplies. They even have wall mounted bins for the items your want to keep stored away from little hands. Are you short on space? One of the great features about this Raskog Cart from IKEA is that you can have a "Mobile" Art Center. Stock it with commonly used Art Supplies or Writing Supplies and return it to your closet or another room. Tips for Adhesives-Tapes, Glues: Create your own DIY Dispenser, or an area for all of your adhesives! A fun DIY tape dispenser Over the door storage! Tips for Dough & Dough Supplies Keeping dough in plastic bins will help prevent it from drying out! Keep all of your dough supplies in plastic drawers! Store dough supplies in plastic bins and label them to make them easier to find and put away Tips for Organizing Paint & Painting Accessories Use bins, baskets, and trays to corral all of your like items together Be sure to swing by your dollar store for some low cost baskets and bins Tips for organizing paper You can use Magazine Files (Such as these FLYT ones from IKEA) to store paper-either vertically or Horizontally. Store Construction Paper in a File Cabinet Make your own paper rack from Wire Shelving Tips for organizing Crayons, Pencils, and Markers Scissors and Punches These Sterilite drawers can be added to cube storage to maximize your storage space (They hang over the front just a tad). An over the door organizer is great for scissors, punches and smaller items. Stamps & Stamp Pads Collage & Craft Materials Consider reusing containers you have on hand to organize your craft supplies. You might want to check out .... Short on space? Don't have a dedicated childcare Space? Find tips on creating learning spaces in a shared space here. Check out some Art Spaces from other Early Childhood Educators
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