I do a lot of crafts with my kids, and we all enjoy it. But crafts require so many supplies! And they take up a lot of space. So for the first Kids Craft Corner of 2010, I wanted to focus on organizing craft supplies. The key to organizing arts and crafts spaces is to understand what supplies you and your kids specifically use most often, and where you are going to do your projects.
When my 5 year old son first got a desk in his room, he did some drawing in there but now it's not used much. We also have a desk in the playroom, but it's turned into a dumping ground for finished artwork. About 99% of our crafting is done at the kitchen table, which means 99% of our craft supplies are sitting on or around the kitchen table! This does not exactly help with my efforts to keep my kitchen neat and clean. And it makes cleaning up for visitors frantic!
I considered moving our arts and crafts supplies into the playroom, but with a 2 1/2 year old in the house, and the fact that I host a lot of playdates here, I decided that was not a feasible solution. So a few months ago, I got a big basket and put all our craft supplies and paper into it. I set it on the floor next to the kitchen table, and it kept all our supplies neat and tidy. I thought it would work great!
But then we got more paper and new markers and stamps. And then we added tissue paper and yarn and paper towel rolls and all sorts of other materials that would be fun to use in a craft project. And the kids were having a hard time finding a pair of scissors or a glue stick at the bottom of the basket.
So this weekend, as the new year dawned, I decided to get organized. I went to the store and got a cabinet with three shelves and doors that close! The kids and I put all the art tools on the top shelf: scissors, glue, crayons, markers, Do-A-Dots, watercolor paints, colored pencils with sharpeners and erasers, and more. Then we put all the collage and crafting materials on the middle shelf: stamps, paper rolls, tissue paper, yarn, and a tissue box full of future collage items. And finally, we filled the bottom shelf with paper and workbooks.
So far, the cabinet is working great. Both kids can get into the cabinet and get the supplies they need. It's less frustrating for them since they can more easily find what they need. And my kitchen table is clean because the kids now know where to put the arts and craft supplies when they're done. I want to organize the middle shelf a bit more, perhaps with smaller baskets. But I'm going to wait for a while and see how we end up using the cabinet before making too many adjustments.
If you're overrun with arts and crafts supplies, I highly recommend getting organized. It feels great!
Julie -

































































