Organizing Preschool Supplies

If you are doing preschool at home, or even if you are just doing
some extra preschool activities with your child from time to
time, you probably have a lot of papers and craft supplies taking
up space on your countertops and closet shelves.

It was hard for me to get excited about doing preschool
activities without being organized first, so I set out to go
through all of our supplies and set up an organized storage
system that works for me.

Flash Cards and Card Games

I store all of my boys' flash cards and card games in a small
plastic storage container. This container is kept up in a closet
where only I can get it down for them. It only took one time of
me putting all the cards back in the boxes to realize they
couldn't handle getting into this container on their own!

Art Supplies

Most of our art supplies are stored where my boys can get to
them. I purchased a three drawer plastic storage container that
works great for art supplies. One drawer holds their crayons,
colored pencils, scissors, and glue. The second drawer stores a
variety of painting supplies. The third drawer stores
miscellaneous items, such as felt pieces for the felt board and
plastic letters for the magnetic board. This plastic container
is kept near the kitchen table where my boys do their art
projects. This keeps it within easy reach when they want to color,
paint, or do some other art project.

Craft Supplies

I have a separate plastic storage container just for craft
supplies. Most of these supplies aren't used unless we are doing
a special craft project, so the kids don't need to get in there
every day. This container stores things like google eyes, pipe
cleaners, crepe paper, etc. This is also where I store the ink
pads I don't want them getting into by themselves.

Worksheets, Workbooks, and Project Instructions

If you like to collect preschool craft and activity ideas like I
do, you probably have a lot of piles of paper that need to be
sorted and organized. I purchased several plastic file folder
storage boxes for all these papers, and they have worked great so
far. I sorted my papers into categories like Christmas,
Thanksgiving, spring, animals, alphabet, etc. I combined several
categories together in one container, and then labeled each
container so I would know exactly what is in it. I also placed
all of our workbooks in these containers. It's nice to have a
place to put all those miscellaneous papers I always seem to run
across. If I cut out an article from somewhere, or photocopy an
idea from a book, I have a place to file it away where I can
always find it again. You can put away the containers you don't
currently need and just leave out the ones you are currently
using.

Preschool Manipulatives and Puzzles

Hopefully your preschooler has a lot of math manipulatives and
puzzles to play with. These items should be set out where they
can just pick up when they are bored. All of our puzzles are
stored inside of benches we have around the table in our kitchen.
When our boys want to do a puzzle, they can get them out
themselves. Our math manipulatives are stored on a shelf in our
entertainment center. Again, the kids have easy access to them
and often pick them up when they are bored. We have sewingcards,
patterning and sorting activities, and several number, matching,
and reading games. I love to see my boys reaching for these great
learning activities when they want something to do.

The preschool years are a fun time for you and your child.
Whether you are doing preschool at home or your child attends
preschool, make sure you have lots of stimulating activities for
your child at home that are organized and ready to use when you
need them.

by Rachel Paxton

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For
resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler
and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and
more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com