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Oh teacher friend, momma friend, anyone who works with kids friend – the struggle is REAL! How do we keep all those toys organized?!? What I really mean is, how do we teach the kids to keep those toys organized so we don’t spend precious hours doing it ourselves???
When I became a mom I had dreams of an organized play room. One where everything had a place and toys were easy to find. What really happened was a few bins that toys got thrown into with no rhyme or reason. The only way to know what toys were there was to dump them all on the floor! I found though that over time, toys would get buried in the bins and my son would lose interest in play time because he couldn’t actually ‘see’ what toys he had.
I tried many different organization systems. I scoured Pinterest and purchased organizational systems from the experts. But nothing worked for us. One day it dawned on me that I needed an organizational system that works for my son, not me, not the experts, but the master toy player in my house. I started watching how he played, listened to what he asked for when it came to toys, and pretty soon I had an ah-ha moment. We needed an organizational system with toys organized by “topic” that had visual labels so my non-reading toddler son could see the toys he had.
And just like that, almost instantly, play time and clean-up time were revolutionized. My son was now able to see the toy categories that were available and choose what he wanted to play with. When it came time to clean-up he knew exactly where toys went because all he had to do was match the pictures.
I found that using real pictures, instead of cartoon looking images, helped my son make the connections from the labeled bins to his toys. No, there are not pictures of every single toy my son has. Instead, there are toy categories and he sorts them. Not only is he happier at play, but clean-up is a breeze and he’s learning sorting and organizing skills too!
After seeing such a change in my son’s playtime and toy organization, I decided to bring my son’s toy labels into my kindergarten classroom. It was magical! Every toy or manipulative had a home and my students quickly learned how to put things away in the proper place. Now the items needed for learning centers were always in the right place. There was a drastic decrease in the amount of times I heard “Mrs. Coller I can’t find the {any necessary learning center item} I need for my center time!” My students became organizational experts!
I’ve taken that original list of toy labels and added some new ones too. I’ve added items that are commonly used in classrooms and at home. So whether you are looking to add some organization to your classroom or your home, these colorful, easy to read, easy to see labels are a great start! Here’s just a little glimpse of what comes in this set:
My hope is that these easy to use labels will help revolutionize your classroom and playroom too. It’s as easy as printing out the cards you need and attaching them to the bin or box of your choice. I laminate the labels for extra durability. If you are looking for a handy dandy laminator, here’s the one I use. I love how compact it is and it is so easy it is to use. Oh yeah – and it is super affordable too. For about $30 I had everything I needed to get started – laminator and laminating sheets. I use these laminating sheets all the time. They are perfect for things at school and at home!
So whether you are looking to start the year off with a well organized plan, whether it’s time for that mid-year change, or whether you just got a wild hair – I hope you enjoy these labels.
