Okay i was up until 2:30 am yesterday trying to tackle the clutter that has accumulated in my daycare space. I definitely was in over my head...my organizational skills on a scale of 1-10 would probably be something like a 4...maybe 5.5 when I have coffee....I have looked at Fly lady website....but was a bit overwhlemed....need something straight to the point....

so for those of you that are organzational pros...what are some of your secrets?

How do you organize and categorize your materials, toys, space, ect....

I have a closet of stuff , its somewhat categorized...but its not totally functional...
I have so many "trays" and baskets (for making montessori type displays, ect), they are all different shapes so its hard to for them nice and neet into each other....

If i could afford an organizational expert I would but they charge like $75 per hour

I know some of you rotate toys...when you put them away do you seperate by age appropriateness, or you mix the age groups in one bin ..i dunno , my mind is so cluttered....

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bump bump bump........ for those of you that are wonderful about clutter and organization please share tips and helps

I look at a toy and see what they can do with it, but reality of what should go and what should stay.

That time of the year for clean out and would love ideas too

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pictures, I need pictures.

then its easier for me to help you.

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I am also working on organizing my stuff. I have so much stuff because I love to be able to rotate toys based on interests, seasons, and themes. I get so frustrated because everytime I find a storage bin that I think is a good size to hold most of the stuff I buy a bunch and then when I need more I can't find them anymore. So nothing stacks well together. I have 2 sets of shelves in my downstairs closet that I use to store lose stuff or stuff I don't want in my garage (puzzles, rice bins, extra playdoh, my bulletin board sets, etc). then I have two sets of shelves in my garage for my bins and larger items. I try to separate and label my bins by theme and try to use the clear bins so I can see what's in each because there area always things that can be used for multiple themes. It's getting better but I still have a long way to go. I think I want to put more detailed labels on the bins so I can just read off what is in each one.

My biggest thing right now is figuring out how to organize my books. Books are a weakness of mine so I have a ton. Right now they are all ont he back side of the kids bookcase so they can't get to them. But when I want to change them out, it takes me forever to go through them. But again, so many of them can go with multiple theme's that I can't come up with a logical soring. I have pulled out all of the different holiday books and packed them with that holidays decorations or theme boxes.

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Organization is a very personal thing.

I used to be the most UN-organized person on the planet, but I decided to change about 20 years ago and haven't looked back. I have both these books and they became my "bibles". I have almost every book Don Aslett has written and they are life savers. Funny, easy to read and very practical. They are all on Amazon and worth every penny. Organization comes easy to me now.

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Goodness knows I'm no organizational genius, but after years of struggling I have figured a couple things out.

Clear plastic storage boxes are your best friend!! All those trays and baskets--get a big clear storage box, label it "trays and baskets" and put them all in it. Nest them as best you can and if they don't all fit, seriously consider getting rid of some.

The smaller clear plastic shoeboxes are great for keeping some types of toys and materials, as are the next size up from the shoebox ones.

Finally, another key to organization is space. You need someplace to keep all those boxes and have them be easily accesible. I like the big heavy-duty wire/plastic shelves (think garage shelving).

You need to buy the boxes first (and some masking tape and a nice sharpie for label making!). Then lay them all out and start going through your stuff, filling the boxes as you go. Arm yourself with a bag for trash and a bag for stuff you're not keeping, too. If you run out of boxes, use trash bags or piles or paper grocery bags to keep the extra piles until you go out for more boxes. And be ruthless while filling boxes! Every single thing, evaluate whether you really need it. Then once the stuff is all boxed, you have space (the space where the stuff was) for shelves or whatever other storage method you're going to use, and you can go get that and put the boxes on.

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what about bulletin board sets and seasonal stuff, how do you all keep these items from getting ruined and in a a system that allows them to be assessable. How much of it do you keep and how much do you get rid of and just buy new when the holiday comes, or do you buy on sale and put away for the following year. What is the best solution for this mess. I tried a file box, most of my stuff is to big and bulky and awkward for this. I know this has been brought up before but I welcome new ideas and old. Looking for something that works.

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This is what I have for my bulletin board sets.
http://www.shoplet.com/Trend-Save-Sy...i_sku=TEPT1021
I also use manilla folders that I taped the sides on to store the smaller pieces and just labeled the front with sharpie. I think I want to get a few more of the bulletin board folders and the storage box to put them in so that I can organize it better. right now all the parts that are too big for a manilla folder are just put in there and then I have to sort through them every time I am looking for something.

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I use that same file folder type set up except mine are hanging and an ugly green- Its not working for me anymore, as most stuff is too big and sticking out. I am bumping this again for some great wonderful ideas. I also need the motivation to get moving and cut clutter.

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I found this and just organized all of my books yesterday with these labels. I am going to micheals this week to get bins for them.

http://www.pre-kpages.com/classlibrary/
http://www.pre-kpages.com/classlibrary/

the link to the file is in the page, its a PDF..ok i found it below...but read everything on , super helpful!

http://www.pre-kpages.com/docs/book-box-labels.pdf

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Thanks for the link. I need to add some more categories though LOL! I have soooo many books. I'm wondering if my books will fit in gallon sized ziploc bags. Then I could label each bag with the theme and make it easier to find what I am looking for. I have magazine holders that I could use to sort them too but I think I would still end up with several theme's in each one. Although that might work as long as they are labeled. Might have to try that first.

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If you read more of her description , she uses those sticky color tabs to color code all of the books into their sections so the children know where to put them back. Theres only three colors but you can start mixing the colors to get different combinations.

And country I am going to be taking pics asap!!

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I just ordered one of Aslets books thanks!

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We need to know what we are working with

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I read that but I don't want to have all of the books available to the kids. I have way too many of them and they would be overwhelmed with the choices. I probably have easily 200 books if not more it's my weakness. I rotate the books monthly based on the time of the year and what our themes are and there are probably 15-20 books out at any given time. So the organization is really more for my storage and ease of finding them when I am ready to change them out.

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I've attached the image, I hope it works

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One of my cabinets

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Not sure if this is helpful or not, but this is what I have done with my bulletin board things. I have an underbed storage bin and i lay all items for the month in there small items are in manilla folders taped or inter-office envelopes. I have cut up some old moving boxes (used long sheets of wrapping paper prior too)to use as dividers and everything is organized by the month that it will be used in. My window clings, decorations, bulletin board themes, big books for that month and lesson plan ideas for that month are all in there. I am still preparing to open so I havent accumulated a lot of things for each month yet and I cant honestly say how functional this will be, but it seemed like a good plan so i went with it..Im not the most organized person, but have learned after having kids how much easier it makes things. For now i store the bin under my bed because I will be the one setting up themes ahead of time so i dont feel it needs to be accessible all the time. I also have a container in my "learning room" that I store things for the month in and a cabinet that is labeled with the days of the week that things are more broken down into. My shelves have bins and I am in the process of labeling and putting a picture on them for easy clean up.. My kids playroom is organized like this and it has been very helpful.

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Pictures! We need pictures!

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You can use the art portfolios from Michaels to store larger bulletin board items and larger posters. I'd wait until I had a 50% off coupon.

Looking at your cupboard I'd try and sort more by category. For example, instead of some craft stuff on one shelf and paint on another with music I'd group all the craft things together.

Get rid of surplus. It looks like you have a lot of containers for your play kitchen. Do you need that many? Could you mount baskets to the wall by the play kitchen to store some of those items?

This is what I do:

1. Go with the minimum of what you need. Donate or trash anything that isn't of value. Items that the kids don't play with or love. Get rid of multiples. I find my children take better care of things when there is just one or two of each thing. I have a limit of 5 soft toys for the older children.

2. Group like with like. Decide on categories and layout that work for you. Plan it on paper first and then mentally try it to see if it works for you.

Here are some ideas for categories:

Infant: soft toys, teething toys, hard toys, board books

Preschool Toys: Little People (or playmobile whatever brand(s) you have), animals, cars, other transportation, trains & table, wooden blocks, Lego, waffle blocks, musical instruments, dressup & accessories, ICT - information and communication technology - toy phones, remotes, laptops, cameras; play kitchen and food, tools, dolls and accessories

Crafts: adhesives, paper, markers, pencils, crayons, stickers, embellishments, scissors, foam, pompoms, playdoh, stencils

Sensory boxes

Bulletin boards and posters

Puzzles. I keep the pieces in ziplock bags.

Learning items: flash cards, dry erase boards, workbooks/sheets, calendar items, manipulatives - math, manipulatives - letters
If you use a curriculum you could put together binders or boxes by letter, or theme, or by what you want to cover each week/month

Seasonal:
I do something like this - Easter box: bunny ears, Easter theme books, easter crafts, egg toys, Easter puzzles, bunny toys. This only comes out for Easter.

Books:
Infant board books, older board books, teacher only books, special holiday/theme/seasonal books stay in those containers

Other books - choose what works for you - alphabetical, by season, by theme then divide them into monthly boxes. Kids have free access to the monthly box. you could add some shelving up high around the room and place the books not in use up there with shelf dividers marking each division then you only need a box for the monthly books.

Choose a balance between containers big enough to hold items and containers small enough to fit in your cupboards. Decide on what you want the children to access themselves and what you want stored. Invest in vertical storage if you don't have a lot of floor space.

Label:
colour code like items, use pictures for the bins the children have access to. Try and use the same label look to make things look tidier. Use clear boxes for things like accessories or crafts so it is easy to find what you are looking for, things like Lego can go in colored containers. Things look tidier if you keep things as uniform as possible.

Hooks: good for dress up, art smocks, accessories, purses

Your room looks good though

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