How do you organize markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, scissors?

[Meadowlark]

I should add that we're transitioning to being a public school family, so I'm looking to the future and doing some cleaning out today. It seems like there are markers/crayons/colored pencils ALL over my house. I'm so tired of it and doing some serious minimizing. I want the kids to have access to the stuff if they want to color/be creative, but I want it organized. I've tried a tray type thing from The Container Store with separate compartments, but everything always got all messed up. I do NOT want them each to have their own supply...

 

Just curious what you all do? I have a sunroom off of the kitchen with cabinets so I'm thinking I'd put it all there. Just not sure how to organize it.

[MercyA]

I like organizer totes with handles, like this or this.

[Amy in NH]

We have a plastic-drawer thingy that sits on a shelf.  Each drawer has it's own item.  Top drawer holds regular pencils & erasers, the middle is for pens, and the bottom is for colored pencils.  We have a tall metal cylinder (cookie tin covered with construction paper) for scissors.  I might get another set of drawers to have a separate drawer for markers, and another for crayons.  Maybe keep the scissors in the last drawer if you don't have a tin.  The drawers easily pull out to use at the table.

 

Next to our drawers on the shelf we have a paper-filing rack where we store different types of paper.

 

He who messes it gets to clean it.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Amy in NH

[marbel]

The short answer to the question:  Badly.

 

 

Longer answer:  Mason jars and souvenir coffee cups are great for holding pens, pencils, markers.  When my daughter came home with a 100+ set of colored gel pens, my initial reaction was annoyance because I knew they'd be scattered everywhere.  But I had some extra half-pint mason jars around, so we organized them by color and set them on a bookcase. They are lovely and accessible at all times.  

 

I also like these small IKEA storage boxes. 

 

I celebrated the day we threw out the last of the crayons. I never figured out how to store them well, beyond throwing them all in a box.

[Vintage81]

I keep pens, pencils, colored pencils, scissors, glue, and markers in a utensil caddy that has 6 compartments. Something similar to this...

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-and-Gardens-Utensil-Caddy/55149820

 

It's small enough to where it doesn't get too messed up and it's portable.

 

I keep a larger bin of crayons, large enough to fit several boxes worth. Before we start each school year, I go through and get rid of broken crayons or ones that have been heavily used. During "back-to-school" sales, I stock up on new boxes of crayons. 

 

I also keep a bin for construction paper and bin for paper scraps. 

[Farrar]

We have a moveable basket bin that has all our everyday items: a cup of colored pencils, pencils, scissors, and colored pen markers (the Papermate flairs) as well as calculators and rulers on the side of the basket. It looks nice enough to sit out just because it's in a pretty little basket (it was originally meant to be a coffee cup holder basket of all things). It has handles and can move to the floor for someone to sit and color. It has a place on the shelf if we need the table to become more formal.

 

For everything else, we have a single bin of each item - glue, tape, markers, sharpies, crayons, paints, paintbrushes, sharpies. Those sit on an accessible shelf in the schoolroom/dining room. There are some other special items out - there's a cup of board markers out with the portable whiteboards. And there's a little bin of office supplies as well. Down in the basement there's much more elaborate art supplies. Those are always a bit of a mess just because they're less used.

 

I am just super anal about putting everything back in the right cup or bin. I think if you want it to be organized, you have to be to some extent. Like, if we have kids here doing art and projects (which is not uncommon) and they put the sharpies in the marker bin, I sit there and resort them. Which is not what my personality is like at all, but otherwise it would be utter chaos.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I have a pencil box for each item and they all stack in the closet. They are currently all empty and we spend a good part of each school day looking for pencils, pens, crayons, or markers. 🙄😒

[alisoncooks]

We keep some things in mason jars on the kitchen table: pencils, colored pens, colored pencils, scissors. All the jars are on a tray, in case I need to clear the table quickly.

 

On a shelf we have a shower caddy with glue, glue sticks, spare pencils, etc.

Markers and crayons are each in a clear, plastic shoebox.

Larger plastic totes are in a closet, holding random supplies.

 

In other words, we have a little bit of everything everywhere. :p

[AK_Mom4]

clear plastic shoe boxes that have lids and stack on the shelves.  My shelves stay neater now that the kids are all older, but it has always been pretty easy to grab the box you need because they were clear.

 

[zoobie]

Send the kids to boarding school? I have no idea. The crayons and markers multiply in the night and wander the house.

[HomeAgain]

I have a tabletop organizer from Lakeshore Learning.  It has places for crayons, pencils, colored pencils, markers, and small compartments where I keep glue, glue sticks, stapler, hole punches, rubbing trays, and tape.  Through the middle are spaces for scissors, and there are three trays underneath: paper, colored paper, large paper.

 

It's very, very handy.  It was expensive but worth it to us over the past 7 years.

[MyLife]

So, we have upstairs and downstairs art supplies 😳 Upstairs, we have several sets of small plastic drawers. Each drawer holds a different supply...So, one drawer for pencils, one for pens, one for glue, one for scissors, etc. Downstairs, we use an over the door shoe holder. Each pocket holds a different supply...So, one for markers, one for glue, etc.

[Guest]

We had something like this, with 4 drawers, IIRC.   https://www.containerstore.com/s/office/paper-file-storage/drawers/stackable-desktop-drawers/123d?productId=10024247&country=US&currency=USD&utm_source=tcscompshop&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=google&cid=cse:PLA

 

One drawer crayons.
One drawer colored pencils.

One drawer "connecting stuff"--staplers, glue, brads, tape.

One drawer drawing tools--rulers, erasers, compass, triangles.

 

Pens and pencils were in cups.

Hole punch on top of the stack of drawers.

And my little oddity...a big kid-cup beside the drawers to save all the punched holes from our years of homeschooling.  It was the confetti we threw at him at his graduation.  :0)

[Seeking Squirrels]

I have no idea. When we moved last summer I put together a medium sized moving box and told MIL it was for all the loose pens/makers/pencils/crayons. She was skeptical of my choice for size of box, clearly thinking I should have set out a pencil box instead. By the end of the day it was nearly full. I actually never unpacked that box here. I intended to go through it and organize or discard but instead I just dug out what we needed and left the box under a desk in the corner.  :o

 

I like this thread, it's giving me some ideas for next school year. 

[umsami]

We have a cabinet in the kitchen that has become the school supplies cabinet.

 

This year, after wanting one for 10+ years, I ordered this off of Etsy.  I love it.

 

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1168554405

[Guest]

I shove it out of sight into little boxes that fit into Ikea trones on the wall.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

We have a plastic-drawer thingy that sits on a shelf.  Each drawer has it's own item.

 

This. We actually have 4-5 of these that stack, and each one has three drawers (maybe 4?). All the craft supplies are organized into drawers with labels, so everyone knows where everything goes. It makes a tall stack (probably 5 feet!), but you probably won't need so many. Then again, I keep hearing about all the projects PS kids have to do, so maybe you will!

 

We have these:

 

http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=404&ProductCategory=186&section=1

Edited March 25, 2017 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Alessandra]

We have carts from the Container Store, like this:

 

https://www.containerstore.com/s/silver-3-tier-siena-rolling-cart/d?productId=10025137&q=Cart

 

Each shelf will hold either three Container Store shoeboxes (six per shelf if you stack them) OR one CS large shoebox and one regular shoebox. The large shoeboxes are the right size for 8 1/2 x 11 paper or workbooks. I keep the lids off the top boxes. In one box I put pencils and so on. My favorite pencil containers are from WalMart, oval black plastic for about 99 cents. I like them because I can fit 8 of them into a regular shoebox.

 

I used a bit of wire around the joining parts of the cart to make it sturdier.

 

Btw, Talenti ice cream containers make good holders as they are straight sided.

 

Shoe box. I like the straight sides:

 

https://www.containerstore.com/s/closet/shoe-storage/bins-boxes/our-shoe-box/123d?productId=10001753

Edited March 25, 2017 by Alessandra

[clementine]

https://www.amazon.com/Snapware-Tainer-Storage-Container-Medium/dp/B004497GXC

 

We use these, but I know I didn't pay that much, so it must have been a different brand - I'm thinking they were from Michael's craft store or Walmart.  

[zoobie]

We have a cabinet in the kitchen that has become the school supplies cabinet.

 

This year, after wanting one for 10+ years, I ordered this off of Etsy. I love it.

 

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1168554405

The link doesn't connect. :)

[Loowit]

Each of my kids has their own pencil box/bag that they keep their own stuff in.  They have their own pencils, colored pencils, erasers, etc.  Everything else is kept in/on my desk.  I have a number of small clear plastic storage containers that sit on my desk that hold pens, highlighters, and other items like that.  I also have a few in my drawer that hold the glue, glitter, and other miscellaneous items.  When I was a kid my mom gave us each a drawer in the dining room that we could keep stuff like that in and that worked well.  I would love to do something like that but our current house lacks much storage space.

[Ausmumof3]

We throw ours all over the floor, stash them down the back of the couch, feed them to the dog or budgie, use them for inventions... It works so well!

 

Ok actually I do have a basket and jars they periodically get sorted into but they spread. Each kid had a pencil case in their rooms they can keep their special stuff (from birthdays etc). However if they are left around they go in the communal basket because my brain has no space for who owns which pencil.

[ktgrok]

Crayons are in a plastic pencil case thing with a snap shut lid. 

 

Colored pencils are in a pencil caddy thing...the kind you put on a desk to hold pens/pencils. It's a bigger one, so holds all the colored pencils. 

 

Markers are in a turnstile that came with the markers. (pip squeak washable markers....great investment..something about being able to see them all at once means they get used AND somehow they tops get put on, which is a first.)

 

Everything else is in one of those over the door shoe organizers on the door from the kitchen to the garage (they do most of their art at the kitchen table). I LOVE using it for that...it holds scissors, pencils, erasers, tape, glue, hot glue gun, stickers, paintbrushes, etc. And it's clear, you can see everything. 

 

I think what helps is that each thing, as far as crayons, markers, etc are in very different containers. Makes it harder to "accidentally" put things in the wrong place. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Old peanut butter jars are great for upright markers--they are deep, clear plastic (see through), close easily, have straight sides, and are not breakable.

[HTRMom]

I had a less common method and love it. A jar/holder in every color. All the red markers, crayons, highlighters and colored pencils are in the red jar, etc. I find it easier for my little kid to sort himself, and it tends to encourage more multimedia exploration. I have them all on a tray so that I can get out the whole thing easily. Paints and pastels are separate. I have one basket for scissors and glue. Paper is stored in a bankers box, all on its side so you can pull the one you want. (Printer, notebook, construction, sketch.)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eos]

Welcome, Well-Organized zombie!

[Elizabeth86]

51 minutes ago, Eos said:

Welcome, Well-Organized zombie!

Aww I know. I hadn’t seen meadowlark around in forever.

[vonfirmath]

On 3/25/2017 at 10:59 AM, Meadowlark said:

I should add that we're transitioning to being a public school family, so I'm looking to the future and doing some cleaning out today. It seems like there are markers/crayons/colored pencils ALL over my house. I'm so tired of it and doing some serious minimizing. I want the kids to have access to the stuff if they want to color/be creative, but I want it organized. I've tried a tray type thing from The Container Store with separate compartments, but everything always got all messed up. I do NOT want them each to have their own supply...

 

Just curious what you all do? I have a sunroom off of the kitchen with cabinets so I'm thinking I'd put it all there. Just not sure how to organize it.

I have a cabinet in the front room. Colored pencils are in one pencil box. Crayons are in another. Markers are still in their original box. We get out what is needed

 

Note: Kids will need their own colored pencils and maybe even crayons to take in to school. Both my middle schooler and high schooler are supposed to carry colored pencils in their backpacks everyday. So when they have homework needing it, I have them use their supplies in their backpack. That way I can also have a glance if I need to replace anything/if the supplies have gone AWOL.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by vonfirmath

[Heartstrings]

I have our day to day items in glass mason jars, the kind with wide mouths.  All of those jars sit in a metal container to keep them pretty.  Except crayons, crayons live in a wipes containers next to the pretty metal container, ruining the asthetic.  😝  I think I have 5 jars: Thick markers, thin markers, colored pencils, dry erase stuff, sharpie stuff, pens/pencils.  Extras are stored in clear boxes in a cabinet.    We have a little caddy that has glue sticks and scissors in it next to all of that for when we need that stuff.  Extras of that are also in clear boxes in a cabinet.  

My youngest is 7 and we’ve had this set up for a few years.  I was worried about glass jars but it’s been fine.  It’s honestly not a struggle to keep up with it all anymore because it’s easy to get to, easy to put away, easy to get to extras.