We are already on Day 5 of Organizing Your Home to Promote Literacy! Where has the week gone? To review days 1 thru 4, simply click HERE or on the image above. Enjoy Day 5! Today, my focus is on sharing some of my favorite writing tools as well as how to keep them organized. Please note that this post contains affiliate links.
Containers, Containers, Containers
*Reduce, reuse, and reorganize! Some of the best containers are those that you can recycle. My new favorite is a peanut butter jar. Wash it out super well first (I ran mine through the dishwasher). Use it to store glue sticks, scissors, pencils, you name it. By keeping them organized inside, you have a ready-made container that you can take anywhere! And I really like it because: 1-it has a screw-on lid, and 2- it’s super easy to see what’s inside.
Currently in our schoolroom, we also reuse plastic coffee containers to store our markers. I have also been pleased at how well the plastic French’s Onions containers work in organizing, too. One more container I use for our fatter crayons is a cake icing container (like a Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker).
*Dollar Store Finds
The next best place to find storage containers for those writing tools is the dollar store! My favorite storage containers from there are the see-thru shoe boxes (with lids). I also bought a few plastic bins for our crayons, markers, and colored pencils (as seen in the picture above).
*Don’t Forget Target (or Wal-Mart)
I bought some smaller see-thru containers at Target quite some time ago and added magnetic tape to the back. Now, I can store my dry erase markers out of reach from little hands who would just LOVE to write on every surface of the house! (The red, square magnetic dry erase board also came from Target…can you tell I like me some Target?)
Mess Free Writing (to keep your house orderly & organized)
My Absolute Favorite Mess-Free Writing Tools Are:
- Magna Doodle
- Aqua Doodle
- GloDoodle– definitely one of my top faves (and MBug, too). I found ours at Toys R Us for much cheaper!
- Crayola 2-in-1 Doodle Board
- Color Wonder– Markers, paper, and coloring books
- Crayola Explosion
Organizing so Kids Will Want to Write
*Space to Write/Create: Just like it’s important to find a cozy space to read, it’s also just as important to organize a space for kids to write. Fill it with colored paper, envelopes, craft scissors, stationary, stickers, stamps, and Post-It Notes. Oh, how fun! Another tool all my kids LOVE is our foldable lapdesks. They can store almost anywhere, have storage inside, and travel!
There are so many fun kinds of writing utensils out there that you can include as well. Some of my kids’ favorites are gel pens, Crayola Window Markers, Window Crayons, and NOW Crayola makes washable dry erase markers.
*Integrating Writing Into Play- And lest you think this has to be just one spot in the house, writing supplies can also added to play spaces.
Do you have a play kitchen? Leave a pad of paper and pencil there so kids can take your order or write down a phone number. Create a post office setting in which your child can write letters and mail them! You can even decorate a special clipboard for your child as a birthday or Christmas present. Clip on a piece of paper to make writing portable, even for outdoor play!
*Creating White Boards- I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t like to write on dry erase boards. There are lots ways you can make your own dry erase boards. In the classroom, I used shower board. Melissa also gives a great tutorial on DIY white boards.
*Puzzles and Mazes
If you have a child who’s a bit resistant to writing, disguise it! Print off mazes and puzzles and slide them into plastic sleeve protectors within a notebook. Give him a dry erase marker and let him “write” away. I took apart the mazes and puzzles from our Puzzle Buzz subsription to make our notebook, but there are several places online that have free puzzles and mazes.
And just since we’re on the topic of writing, here are a few more ways I’ve tried to make writing FUN for my kiddos (some of these ideas overlap with mess free, because a mess avoided makes for a happy mama!).
Now, it’s your turn: What are some of your favorite writing tools and ways to organize them? I’d love to hear your ideas!
For more organization ideas, click on the image above! There are some GREAT ideas here! If you enjoy these activities and printables, I would encourage you to follow along in one or more of these ways so you don’t miss a thing!~Becky
[…] When you still need a container, but don’t have a recycled container that will work, head to the $1 store. Seriously. You’ll be amazed at the cute and colorful containers they have! You can see some of ours here. […]