This post is part of a series on Preparing For School. The aim of this series is to provide tips on how you can get organised and support a smooth transition into school for your kids.
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Once kids start school, they become responsible for a whole new range of items that they need every day. It is worth the effort to show children as soon as they enter school to look after their things, so they can become independently organised for school. By this I mean that they can pack their school bag with their hat, lunchbox and any other items needed for that day at school.
Tips For Helping The Kids Get Their School Gear Organised
While I have taken the photos and written this post, the real credit for these tips goes to Mr Infrastructure (my husband). Both Mr I and love things being in their place and when it comes to kids, we have worked out that if you want to have any chance of kids putting their things away, they need to know exactly where they have to go.
Mr I sees it as his personal challenge to find an efficient way to store everyday items in our house. Over the last couple of years he has placed many hooks around our house and they have really helped with getting the kids organised for school. The kids know where they have to place their essential items and their dad has set it up in a way that it easy for them to do so.
School Bags
Prior to Mr I creating our bag hooks in the laundry, we could find the kids school bags in their bedroom, at the back door, in the lounge room – anywhere they dropped it really.
School Hats, Library Bags, Hair Accessories
We have two rows of three hooks at the end of the bunk beds. This is where the kids place their hats and library bags. Now that our eldest has his own room, there was two spare hooks, so our daughter uses them to hang her school hair accessories on.
Lunch Boxes
No hooks or purpose built spot for the lunch boxes, but after hanging up their bags after school, the first thing the kids need to do is place their lunch boxes on the bench, along with any notices that they may have received.
In the morning, the kids then collect their lunch boxes from the bench to pack in their bag. If any forms needed completing from the school notices, I place them in the appropriate child’s lunch box, for them to hand in at school.
Since we have made sure the everyday school items have a home that is easily accessible by the kids, there has been significant improvement in the kids having their school gear organised. This has helped make school mornings run smoother and also made my life easier, as I am not constantly tripping over school bags and looking for library books!
How do you organise the school gear in your house?
EDIT: Thanks to Cate for reminding me that new readers might find my earlier post on school mornings helpful: