Organizing paper is tough and organizing school papers is often one of the worst offenders. Gosh those cute little darlings of ours bring home a lot of stuff don’t they from crafts and other art projects with the younger ones to journals and essays with the older ones. We can’t possibly keep it all that is for sure but it is nice to keep some of the special items for them to look at when they get older.
Awhile ago I posted how I use memory binders in my household to preserve some of the kids more special projects, a task I involve them in when deciding what to keep and what to let go of.
The other day I ran across another neat idea that two other ladies use to organize their kid’s school papers. I emailed them both to ask if I could share it with you today. I like to provide you with options when it comes to these things and to demonstrate that there are all sorts of ways for organizing any one thing. Only you can decide what will work for your family.
Both Becca, of Blue Cricket Design, and Steph, of Somewhat Simple, (both awesome blogs by the way!) use the storage crate method for storing and organizing special school papers and I think it’s just terrific.
Here are a couple of pictures of Becca’s system:
As you can see the hanging file folders fit so nicely inside and she has a folder for each grade. It would be so easy to drop papers in as necessary.
One of the nicest things about this idea is the stackability and space saving factor as shown on Steph’s post and in her picture below:
These could easily tuck inside a closet when not in use. Be sure to read both of their posts (as linked above) for more information on where to get the crates and for creating fun title pages.
Thanks to both ladies for sharing their projects with us. Very creative and definitely Storage Star worthy that is for sure!
Kim says
I use the crates for my kids homeschool things. And I thought I was one step ahead of everyone. That’s what I get for thinking. LOL! Though I Love the ribbon but not sure if the boys would. But I will be putting their names on there. That’s really cool.
Hugs
Kim
Jackie says
This is a very timely topic for me. I am one of those mothers who has saved every paper from my children’s school years. I have just started weeding through it all. I am taking pictures of things I like, saving those I really like and tossing the rest. I was starting to put everything in a tote box, but this would be even better. I think I have all of the supplies. Thanks for the idea!
Becca Dulgarian @ Blue Cricket Design says
Thanks for the link!
Samara Link says
No kids of my own … but I think this is a great idea. Just passed it on to some mom friends of mine!
Rebecca says
My oldest is just in Kindergarten so I’m just in the beginning stages of organizing school work. I did purge some from preschool…can’t remember exactly where I put it though…oops! Love the crate idea.
Laura @ PARING DOWN says
I love the crates, too. I don’t use them for the kids’ memories – they have “memory boxes” for them. I just purchased two for my classroom to hold “in use” school papers for my students.
Sophie says
Those are awesome ideas! May have to steal this!!
Sophie
Fiddledeedee says
LOVE this idea! I use these crates for the kid’s schoolwork. I’m definitely going to add ribbons for the girls and paint their names. Awesome.
Stephanie says
Thanks for the feature- this site is so fun! But I must say this:
“WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?” YUCK!! Polka Dot ribbon for boys!? I remember being a little hesitant about the girly factor when I was buying the ribbon, but there was very little selection of wide ribbon at Wal Mart that day and I was thinking it would be uniformed and that blue and green would be ok for boys, but this is so not the case! These crates have been in their closets and out of site, but seeing them here was like a smack in the face- NO POLKA DOTS FOR BOYS!!! I have some camouflage ribbon that might be cute- maybe I will try that!
Rest assured these will be fixed this week! lol
Tiffany says
I like how Steph decorated her crates, I never thought to do that. It makes it so much nicer to look at and then it can store fabric and other treasures from my craft room.
Lynnette says
Definitely going to use that system. After seeing your pics, I thought PERFECT for all the loose papers! I think I’ll make folders for each child and that way they can just pop them in their file! Super idea! I had no idea those would fit hanging file folders! AWESOME!
Stacy says
i do something similar but in an empty file drawer
Stacy says
hmmm just had a thought that it might be a neat way to organize my office/craft room. thanks for the inspiration
Rana says
This is a great idea, right now all of my kids things are just in folders. I think I have a couple of crates that I could use for this. Thanks for sharing.
Jeannie says
I use “baby boxes”, a closed crate that has saved all their treasures over the years. Favorite toy, blanket, cards, letters, report cards, etc. Each child ended up with 2 containers by the time they finished high school. Their dad traveled alot when they were in school so we saved all the school papers for him to review. Somehow this ended up in a pile in the corner of the dining room. We let the pile build because they were so impressed by the amount of work they did. The final school day of the year we would have a special lunch and then hit the pile. The children loved reviewing all they had learned that year with comments like “Oh, I remember this!” or “That was hard to learn but it easy for me now.” as they went through the pile back to September. By then the really important projects of the year will stand out and they make their selection of what they want to save (with occasional stuff thrown in by Mom). We even review their report cards so they can remember how sucessful a year they have had. During the year they would often say “I want this for my baby box.” and we would add their treasure. They now have a full history of their lives, pictures, invites, report cards, school work, first paycheck, etc to take with them. All stored in one place. For pictures etc I always had copies make for myself and one for the baby box so as they left home their history didn’t just disappear. There are plenty of treasures to fuel Mom’s Memory box as well.
jennifer says
I liked the idea of using the crates, but that is not really practical for me. I have two under the bed storage boxes that I put their stuff in each day. At the end of the year, we go through the box and save items they want to keep. Since it is not a lot of stuff, I use 2 gallon ziploc bags to store their stuff in. They are stackable, easy to store and have labels for writing their names and grades on their – plus they are see-through.
Marcia Wilwerding says
Wow, we did this! Crates are awesome. I never dressed them up at all. However, we did have color-coded hanging files, a different color for each child.
Great idea!
Patti says
I use a plastic storage container in my son’s closet. All year long we dump stuff in it (because at the time it seems so “valuable”). During the summer, I clean it out and save only the best. He is almost through the 11th grade and we haven’t filled up the container yet! Of course, when he was small I thought I would never throw anything out but if you wait long enough, you will see the difference between every day work and something special.
Precious Crafts says
The crates are wonderful for dust-free homes. But, like Patti, I use huge storage containers so that the papers inside would be dust-free and better protected. One of these days, however, I need to go through them again with the kids, who knows – we may be able to reduce it further.