Setting Up An Organised Art and Craft Space For Your Children.jpg

Setting Up An Organised Art and Craft Space For Your Children

I have had many readers send in questions about how to set up and organise kids art and craft supplies. The system we use really needs work, so I sought out someone who could help us all!  

Owner and Director of Clutter Rescue, Helen Butler is an Accredited Expert Professional Organiser who works with Mums to organise and declutter their space and time. Today Helen is going to take us through the process of how to create an easy to use, organised art and craft area in your home.

You can see more of Helen’s work by visiting the Clutter Rescue website to sign up for the FREE five-day mini organising course, designed to help you look (and feel) more together, give you more time and an organised space so you never have to grovel for help again (or hire a live in housekeeper). You can also join Clutter Rescue on Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

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Coming from a primary school teaching background and having a young family I ‘get’ children’s art and craft stuff!  If your household is anything like mine it can take twenty or thirty minutes to get all of the art supplies out – and then they only get used for five or ten minutes!

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aim to have an organised art and craft station somewhere in our home – because if we do it makes our lives so much easier when our gorgeous children decide to let their inner Picasso loose!

So how do you create an easy to use, organised art and craft area in your home?

  • The first thing you need to do is gather all of your art and craft supplies together.  Yep, everything! Pull out every last bit of scrapbooking paper, glue, googly eyes, wool, string, colouring-in pencils, pens, sticky tape and everything else and put it all in one place.
  • Now it’s time to sort. Put all of the paper together, paint together, embellishments together, fabric together – you get the idea! – in separate piles.  This will help you see everything you have and get an idea of the amount of art and craft supplies you need to store.
  • Now it’s time to be ruthless. Go from pile to pile and cull anything that is scrunched, broken, seen better days or just won’t get used by your budding artist.
  • After you’ve gone through this process you should have an idea of what needs to stay – and this is where the fun begins!  It’s time to get in and organise all of your supplies.

If you know you suffer from distraction-it is and are likely to go off track while organising and decluttering this episode of Clutter Rescue TV gives you ideas on how to stay on track.


Stop Getting Distracted When Organising – Clutter Rescue TV {Please click through here if you cannot see the video.}

The next thing you need to do is take a good look at the space you want to set up your arts and craft area. Do you have bookshelves? Cupboards? Drawers, desks or storage boxes? Have a really good look around and be honest with yourself and your art and craft stash.  Do you actually have space to store all of your supplies – or is some of it going to have to go?  Remember you only have the space you have and need to work within these limitations.

Now it’s time to work out where your different art zones are going to be and start to arrange and containerise your art and craft supplies.  This is the fun bit!

So what are some ways you can store each art and craft item?

  • Pens, pencils and scissors that need to be accessed regularly can be stored in tins, cups or something similar on your child’s desk or shelf nearby.
  • Another great way to store these regularly used items is in a caddy similar to what you might use to store your cleaning chemicals.  These caddies have a handle, separate compartments for your supplies and can be easily moved from one place to another.
  • Extra pens, pencils and scissors can be stored in a tub, pencil case or even an over the door shoe organising system.  Ideally any extra art and craft supplies you have would be stored away from the main art and craft space and only accessed when the stash close at hand gets used.
  • Rubbers and sharpeners should be stored in a bowl or small container without a lid.  This makes it super easy for little fingers to access when they need it.  Again, store a small amount of each in the main creativity zone and store extras on a shelf or in a cupboard out of reach.
  • Paper, cardboard, glue, paint and embellishments are all varying sizes, from very small to quite large.  The easiest way to store each of these is in plastic tubs or containers of varying sizes, on a shelf or in a drawer that is away from the main creative zone.
  • In-trays are great for storing a variety of different coloured paper and easy to access. Drawers or pigeonholes can be used just as effectively and make it easy to store all sorts of paper and cardboard.
  • Drawer dividers or small boxes are great if you are storing a variety of different items in one drawer.  They also make it easier to see what you have and keep items separated.  (Steal this idea for other areas of your home as well – it’s a sanity saver!)

If you are using containers or plastic tubs it’s important to label each one.  This makes it easier for your little artist to see what is in each container as well as where to return things once they’re finished.  You can label the container in a number of ways

  • With a printed name label,
  • A photo/picture of the item, or
  • My favourite – one of the actual items from inside the container glued on the outside.  This looks really lovely when you see neat boxes lined up on the shelf with a cute craft supply stuck to it!

When it comes to creating the zones in your art and craft area you need to think about what is used a lot and what isn’t as well as what’s safe for children to access on their own.

Use your shelves and drawers strategically by putting regularly used and safe items down low for your budding artist to access without help, and items that are unsafe or you don’t want accessed regularly up high.

If you are using a large table in a craft zone make use of the space underneath the table as well.  Large baskets or trugs can store everything from wrapping paper to foam pieces, either under a table or beside existing shelves.

One of the most important aspects of any arts and craft space is the final product – and how to display it all!  Use your vertical space strategically for special art pieces and rotate them regularly.  Any extra art pieces you want to keep need to be stored appropriately – check out this episode of Clutter Rescue TV on how to store and manage your children’s art collection.


How to Organise Your Children’s Artwork – Clutter Rescue TV {Please click through here if you cannot see the video.}

Whatever system you use the most important part of organising your art and craft space is to make it a fun space for your child to be.  Encourage cleaning up after art projects are finished and help your children return each item to its rightful home once they’ve finished with it.  This will ensure the space stays organised and under control – and help your child develop pride in their workspace.

How do you organise the art and craft space for your kids?