This may sound silly

[nowimscrappin]

But how do you organize your crayons, colored pencils, and markers.

 

I haven't found a way I like, and I have stuff everywhere.

 

Colored pencils are in a ziploc and the sound of my child digging through to find the right color, which is NEVER on the top, is one of those "fingernails on a chalkboard to me" sounds.

 

I try to keep markers in boxes, but then I have seveal boxes, so off to the ziplocs with them.

 

Crayons I have some in their original boxes, some in a tupperware, some in a ziploc.

 

Obviously I don't have a good way to keep these supplies accessible and not driving me nuts.

 

Who has a way they love to manage crayons, markers, and colored pencils?

[MerryAtHope]

I use a larger, rubbermade bin that is big enough to hold all of one kind of art supply (just markers, etc...).

 

You may find that some of the markers are dried out but that the kids never throw them out. I used to have my kids go through them once or twice a year and make a mark on a piece of paper. I told them if they wouldn't want to use that marker because it's starting to dry out, they should toss it.

 

You can do the same thing with crayons--if they crayons are half-sized etc... and there's a larger one of the same color, they should put those broken ones aside. You can melt those down for crafts or find another use for them, but just keep a nice set together--that might make for less digging through, too.

 

HTH! Merry :-)

[lorrainejmc]

I organize mine in tupperware or the original boxes, then put them all in a plastic tray (cat litter tray, never used, we don't have cats:lol:) I keep paints in their own tray, pencils/crayons in one and scissors/glue/tape/sharpeners in another.

[Hedgehogs4]

I have the 120 crayon "tower" which keeps the crayons in place. For markers and colored pencils I use the plastic "spacemaker" boxes with the snap lids. I guess I don't mind the sound of digging for pencils, except in church. :001_smile: The boxes stack neatly on top of each other and stay in a cabinet where all their craft and drawing stuff is.

[ErinD]

Deb on the blog Not Inadequate showed some really cool sorta old-fashioned-looking plastic octagonal candy jars she'd found (she included the link). They looked great and fit neatly on top of a bookshelf. I keep thinking I should buy some.

[Scuff]

We have several pencil cups of various sizes. This works when it works. If I let them be creative without oversight, it ends up all over the floor.

[kwickimom]

I use a cleaning caddy like this I got mine at Walmart and it has smaller compartments. I was planning on using old plastic kool aid containers or cans io jars to seperate the markers, pencils, etc in the big compartments, but the one at Walmart was perfect.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Here's how we do it.

[blondeviolin]

All of our craft supplies are organized in Really Useful Boxes.

[Karen in CO]

I have a shoe sorter for misc. things like paint brushes, glitter pens, craft sticks, felt pieces, pipe cleaners, various scissors, hole punches, glue sticks, and so on. I keep crayons in their box, markers and pencils, paints, and things in zippy bags in a plastic bin.

[Kuovonne]

I have only two kids, and no little ones.

Each kid has a pencil box with a set of 24 crayons, 24 colored pencils, and a pair of scissors.

We have no communal colors, and we don't do markers.

About twice a year the kids get new colors (crayons and colored pencils) and I encourage them to throw out all the old ones, even the colors that are pratically unused.

 

Limiting the number of crayons & colored pencils automatically limits how much digging they do.

 

This method has worked well for us for three years.

[Lori D.]

Right now, with school supplies on sale everywhere, consider getting several plastic pencil box (less than $1/each) -- one for markers, one for colored pencils, one for crayons. I am thinking of ones that look like this one. They stay contained; they stack; a different lid color = a different item inside. And this could be expanded to include another box with miscellaneous supplies often used (glue sticks, scissors, 6" rulers, index cards, hole puncher, stickers, stampers, etc.). This has worked great for us!

 

In the older grade levels, we have one for white board markers, and one for pencils/pens/erasers/protractor/compass. Colored pencils and felt markers are used so very rarely in high school here, that they are in another pencil box in storage. And crayons are now in the far distant past...

Edited August 25, 2011 by Lori D.

[----]

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[craftyerin]

I saw this and thought it looked brilliant. I don't have any doors in a well-placed location for it, though.

 

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/08/our-new-schoolcraft-supply-organization/

[nowimscrappin]

I saw this and thought it looked brilliant. I don't have any doors in a well-placed location for it, though.

 

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/08/our-new-schoolcraft-supply-organization/

 

Believe it or not, I have one of those on the back of the door of the closet in my laundry room, we call it the art closet. Its across the main floor from the dining room, where we do schoolwork, and in 1st grade, she's going to use them a lot, so I want to keep them handy.

 

But, my googly eyes, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, pipe cleaners, glitter glue, watercolors and other items like that are in a shoe organizer on the back of that closet door for when I need those!

[JessaMae]

The kids each have a pencil box in their desk with one set of colored pencils (or crayons), a glue stick, a pair of scissors, and some regular writing pencils.

 

For extras, I use a shoe organizer - it would normally hang over the back of a door, but I have it nailed on the closet wall. One pocket is for crayons, one for colored pencils, one for erasers, one for pencils, etc, etc. It works great for us. If the kids run out of something in their box, or are doing a craft outside of school, they know where to find the supplies they need AND where to return them. :)

 

It also helps me to see easily when we are getting low on something.

[mystika1]

Tackle box....portable and full of sections to separate all of our stuff.

 

HTH,

 

Penny

[Kuovonne]

I put a strip of masking tape around each marker, pencil, etc... and marked each dc's with a different color. Now I know that if a marker with a blue stripe is laying on the floor then dd8 needs to pick it up.

 

Oh my goodness. Thank you for sharing this. I didn't want to admit it earlier, but I also individually label my kids' crayons and colored pencils. Instead of using colored tape, I just put the kids' names on each crayon and colored pencil. That made a *huge* difference in our house. Before when we had communal colors, I'd find crayons everywhere - sofa cushions, under the desk, wedged between books, in the cupboards, etc. Now the kids put their crayons away in their own boxes, and if one is out of place, we know immediately who was the irresponsible one. Back when we did markers I even labeled both caps and markers.

[BatmansWife]

I have something similar to this (ours have all the same size bins; the smaller size ones). They work great for holding glue bottles, glue sticks, rubber bands, rolls of tape.... I also use a Pampered Chef Tool Turn-About for pencils, colored pencils, markers, pens, scissors, paintbrushes, rulers....(the blog is not mine....I just tried to find a picture of it being used in a similar way); this is on my dd's desk. Right now our crayons are in a big basket with a handle (I recommend getting a crayon sharpener). Those divided veggie trays, with a lid, are nice for little odds and ends too....like buttons, dice, counting chips, teddy bear counters....

 

I saw this and thought it looked brilliant. I don't have any doors in a well-placed location for it, though.

 

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/08/our-new-schoolcraft-supply-organization/

 

I had this in our old house and it worked great. I also had a 2nd one that had all the kids undies and socks in it (that was years ago...when my teens were toddlers).

Edited August 26, 2011 by ~AprilMay~

[LAS in LA]

Tackle box....portable and full of sections to separate all of our stuff.

 

:iagree: We use a cool old metal mechanic's toolbox with several little sections for glue sticks, pencil sharpeners, crayons, etc. BTW, this isn't just a Louisiana thing -- we started doing this in Illinois! :001_smile:

 

The colored pencils, regular pencils, and pens which we use every day are in Waldorf-style felt pencil rolls. The kids picked out fabric backing and ribbon and they were easy to make (or I couldn't have done it!). They feel a lot of ownership for their pencil rolls and therefore take good care of them and keep them neat.

[deerforest]

We have a ton of these that we use for just about everything:

 

http://www.landofnod.com/kids-shelf-storage/kids-storage-and-shelving/top-box-3.5%22/f6019

 

I like that the tops don't snap shut because she never had problems opening them on her own even from a young age. We have one full of crayons, one full of markers, colored pencils, etc.

 

We have a dedicated craft room (separate from school room) where we store it all. She has free access to it all, and it's much easier for her to put stuff away in the big containers.

 

I have a lot of specialized art supplies that I share with her too--like watercolor crayons and pencils, pastels, etc. Those are in a bin.

 

I also have a lazy-susan like thing I got from Pottery Barn Kids years ago where we store a bunch of often-used pencils and pens on her drawing desk.

[Holly]

I use a cleaning caddy like this I got mine at Walmart and it has smaller compartments. I was planning on using old plastic kool aid containers or cans io jars to seperate the markers, pencils, etc in the big compartments, but the one at Walmart was perfect.

 

This is what we use, but ours are very small. We bought them at Family Dollar. They have 3 compartments and are about 9" square. I have one for paints and brushes and another for crayons, color pencils, scissors and glue. They are stored in a cabinet high enough up to keep my littlest away.

[weaver_67579]

got it from Wal-Mart. It is fabric and has all kinds of pouches on it. I have seen similar ones at Michaels crafts

[elise1mds]

I'm cheap. I reuse the big plastic Folgers coffee containers. I can't fit the lids on, but still... they're accessible, and I can pick out the ones that are broken, unsharpened, etc. at a quick glance.

[alpidarkomama]

I have a tall (3 feet?) cabinet of plastic drawers that are removable. each drawer is about 4 inches tall and maybe 10 x 12. I have separate drawers for permanent markers, colored pencils, regular markers, other drawing supplies, scissors/tape/glue/rulers, etc. It works great for us!

[Carol in Cal.]

If you want something cheap and effective that is just the right size for markers, consider Skippy peanut butter jars. They are plastic, see through, free, and stackable. When DD was young, I used one for each type of thing--one for markers, one for colored pencils, etc. They seal, which is Really Useful for transport, but when you take the lids off they function like pencil cups.

[Lori D.]

Just wanted to add: the other advantage to using these pencil boxes is that the students don't seem to need to dump everything out onto the table or floor -- they just reach in and if the desired color is on top, they take, or they just push the other coloring implements around (still in the pencil box) until they find the color they want. They also seem to put each one back in the box after use and pick out the next color. So, the pencil box seems to also increase responsible neatness. :D

[Food4Thought]

If you want something cheap and effective that is just the right size for markers, consider Skippy peanut butter jars. They are plastic, see through, free, and stackable. When DD was young, I used one for each type of thing--one for markers, one for colored pencils, etc. They seal, which is Really Useful for transport, but when you take the lids off they function like pencil cups.

 

This. (Only I choose Jif because I'm choosy. ;)) Peanut butter jars and the cute little metal pails that go on sale at Target and Wal-Mart around this time are other great containers of choice. We have several different marker sets (Crayola washables, Sharpies in all colors, Flairs) and multiple sets of colored pencils (cheapies and not-so-cheapies). Each set has its own little pail or jar, and the kids know how to sort them. Also, I kind of like the look of bouquets of color pouring out the top of our homeschool shelves.

 

Crayons are the only things we have in a shoe box, although we each also have our own special boxes of crayons that are kept separate too. We're a little crazy about our coloring supplies.

[kolamum]

Normal wax crayons are in a large plastic bucket on the shelf.

Twist Crayons are in a metal pail on the shelf.

 

Colored pencils are stored in a 3 mini drawer set as:

 

Regular colored pencils

Watercolor pencils

double ended colored pencils.

 

The drawers are JUST big enough for the length of the pencils.

 

 

Regular pencils are kept in a seperate jar on the shelf.

 

 

When we need something I can say, "Get the ... bucket and bring it to the table." Simple as.

[desertmum]

I got some food containers from Ikea. The lids are easy to take off. One containers for crayons and pencils, one for markers, highlighters (for ds drawings -not school work) and glitter gel pens, one for 3-D markers and puff paint. One big shoe box for scissors, tape and stuff.

[Mommy22alyns]

We have a drawer cart from Wal-Mart and sort our sundry supplies in it. Crayons are in one drawer, in a few original boxes, colored pencils are in art boxes and in another drawer, markers in still another. Glue sticks and tape share a drawer.

 

Regular pencils are in a little bucket from Pottery Barn Kids.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I use the shoe box size plastic containers. I can usually get them for $1. The lids snap shut so they don't spill when carried but the pop off with a tug. I have one for crayons, one for markers, one for colored pencils and one for pencils/pens/erasers. They stack easily on the counter top, book shelf or in a cabinet.

[Woodland_Mom]

I used to use the large neck ball canning jars (quart size). I had them arranged on a shelf. The kids could see through the container and find the color they were looking for easily.

 

Now we store all of our coloring items in the plastic pencil boxes that you can get at Target for under $1. I like clear best, so I can easily see what is in the box. We have 8 boxes for: markers, colored pencils, dry erase markers, glitter glue pens, etc. The drawer is close to our school table. When we need somthing we just pull it out. The box is portable, the kids can see the items in it easily, and they can share it easily.

[rcom]

Deb on the blog Not Inadequate showed some really cool sorta old-fashioned-looking plastic octagonal candy jars she'd found (she included the link). They looked great and fit neatly on top of a bookshelf. I keep thinking I should buy some.

 

I just had to look that up. Here's the link: http://notinadequate.com/2011/06/14/containerage/

 

I have a lazy susan on our activities table, I meant to buy these pencil cups from Ikea to go with it. Maybe those candy type containers will work better because then I can easily put them away.

 

My kids also have their own pencil boxes with their own pencils and erasers, etc. Their supplies still get spread all over the place, especially because they have a toddler sibling that manages to get into EVERYTHING fast :-)

[annlaura]

I just have two littles, so on the wall above their little table, I hung a dowel rod. I have all different colors of the tin pails from the Target dollar section hanging from the dowel on s hooks. The boys can just reach into the pails, or get them down to take to another table. I keep crayons, colored pencils, dry erase crayons, chalk & eraser, glue & glue sticks, and magnetic letters here. Markers, scissors, and paint brushes have pails on a high shelf because of the 2yo.

[raceNzanesmom]

Here's how we do it.

 

That's what I use too except our marker box is bigger. Small plastic with lids.

[MeganW]

Colored pencils are in a ziploc and the sound of my child digging through to find the right color, which is NEVER on the top, is one of those "fingernails on a chalkboard to me" sounds.

 

I just had to laugh, because that makes me insane too! I truly thought I was the only weirdo in the world who hated that noise!!!

[JZMom]

 

I switch out the buckets for holidays. :) I've also done the dowel on the wall with these, but this works better with our current set-up.

[ChrissySC]

I saw a Montessori (sp?) method that divided items by color in soup/veggie cans. The cans were sprayed/painted the color. The colored pencils, crayons, and markers were added to the can. I thought this was neat. :) I am not sure if it is simple enough for us though. LOL

[ChrissySC]

I remember seeing a link to a picture of the dowel on the wall with the buckets. Does anyone remember which thread it was or have a link to it? I've been searching but can't find it. :confused:

 

This is an ikea item that I saw for silverware? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40116744

[nov05mama]

 

That's ours. It works fabulously! It's changed a little since I took this picture, but the buckets are held on with magnets (stuck to the lazy susan) and can easily come off for portability. Scissors and glue/glue sticks, rulers, etc are in the small container in the middle.

[nov05mama]

I remember seeing a link to a picture of the dowel on the wall with the buckets. Does anyone remember which thread it was or have a link to it? I've been searching but can't find it. :confused:

 

Do you mean this?

http://pinterest.com/pin/73982161/

 

[JZMom]

 

the buckets are held on with magnets (stuck to the lazy susan) and can easily come off for portability.

Smart idea! Mine tip over at times.

[JZMom]

I remember seeing a link to a picture of the dowel on the wall with the buckets. Does anyone remember which thread it was or have a link to it? I've been searching but can't find it. :confused:

I don't know where it was posted, but here is my old one.

 

[kristamaranatha]

We use empty baby wipe plastic containers, one each for crayons, pencil crayons, markers and pens and pencils :)

[Sushi's Mom]

Here is a great blog with tons of craft organizational ideas. Even though it is for crafts, you can get a lot of ideas that can be used in your school room.

 

http://craftystorage.blogspot.com/

[AdamsFamily]

I did not go through all the posts, so this may have already been mentioned:

 

a three drawer sterilite organizer.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Wide-Organizer-Set-of-3/10877954

 

Mine is about a foot tall and fits nicely on a bookshelf. One drawer for crayons, one for pencils, and one for markers. I got this idea from another friend several years ago and love it!

[Stratford]

I use a larger, rubbermade bin that is big enough to hold all of one kind of art supply (just markers, etc...).

 

You may find that some of the markers are dried out but that the kids never throw them out. I used to have my kids go through them once or twice a year and make a mark on a piece of paper. I told them if they wouldn't want to use that marker because it's starting to dry out, they should toss it.

 

You can do the same thing with crayons--if they crayons are half-sized etc... and there's a larger one of the same color, they should put those broken ones aside. You can melt those down for crafts or find another use for them, but just keep a nice set together--that might make for less digging through, too.

 

HTH! Merry :-)

 

Ditto this except that I use the shoebox size sterilite containers.

[desiraejb]

All of our craft supplies are organized in Really Useful Boxes.

 

 

This is what I use, too! They've been on sale alot at office depot and staples over the last few weeks and I fell in love! The lids go on easily and w/ my littles, I don't hear 'HELP!' all the time. They fit in my son's desk drawers perfectly. One for pencils, one for crayons, one for colored pencils, one for abc manuipulative set, etc. I also have a larger one that I use for my dd2's tot work each week. I throw everything in and she just digs. One thing I found is the 0.2liter box will hold a 24pk crayolas, but not a new set, they need to be worn down a bit. lol

 

I'm also a fan of any plastic jar (PB, Mayo, etc), coffeemate containers, and the nestle quik containers (yellow rectangles). I reuse that stuff any chance I get.

[BatmansWife]

Where do you all find the cute little pails? I have a lazy susan (with railings around it...if that's what you'd call it)...it's not really being used for anything right now. I love the idea of putting the little pails on there. Is there a place on-line with reasonable prices??