School's in once again and with the new school year comes busy mornings, lost homework, and a general sense of disarray. Really. Every parent dreads the beginning of school at some point simply because of the stress of getting them up and out the door on time every morning.
We've got the perfect solution. We took the time to gather a few organizing tips that will help you and your students get a better grip on those busy mornings. From planning what to wear the night before to keeping those papers organized so you can find homework easier, you are sure to be able to put these organizing tips to good use.
We've even got a way to make homework time a bit less stressful for you and your little ones. Sit back and relax. We've got you covered for back to school with great organizing tips that will help you to enjoy a less stressful year.
Always Plan
Planning ahead is the only thing that is going to save your sanity during the school year. If you don't already have one, create or buy a family planner. A dry erase board, bulletin board, or something similar will do the job perfectly. You can easily create your own back to school organization station and keep track of literally everything that's going on throughout the year. Include a calendar, homework schedules, and those little things that the kids need to take to school once in a while. You'll be surprised how well you can save your sanity when you are completely organized.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – The36thavenue
Create a Snack Station
Organizing lunches is another way to protect your sanity. You can help yourself out for the entire week if you organize your snacks ahead of time. Instead of grabbing that unhealthy bag of chips for the kids' lunches, you'll be able to easily find and include something a bit healthier. This is also a great idea for sending along, well, snacks. Put smaller bags of pretzels, Cheerios, and other healthier foods into a small tote or you can even do this in the fridge with grapes, cheese sticks, and other delicious snacks. When you're ready to pack them, just grab a bag and go.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Apartmenttherapy
Prepare Lunches Ahead of Time
Packing lunches is something that can really take time in the mornings. If you send your children to school with their lunches in tow, you can seriously cut down on the amount of time that it takes to prepare those lunches if you do certain things ahead of time. And we mean way ahead of time. Like during the weekend for instance. If it's not something that can actually be packaged a week in advance, at least pack those lunches up the evening before, maybe while you're preparing dinner. You're already in the kitchen and it takes only a few minutes to get everything ready to go for the next day.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Echoesoflaughter
Get Into a Routine
Above all, you have to get into a routine with your back to school tasks. Whether it's getting the kids ready for bed at night or making sure that they get all of their homework done, keeping everything on schedule makes it so much easier to ensure that everything gets done. You can print off these amazing schedules that will allow you to keep track of things as they get done. Once the homework is finished, check it off the list and put it back into the backpack. You get things done without stress and you make sure that everything is ready for the next day.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Theidearoom
Organize Clothing
Taking a few minutes each Sunday evening to lay out and organize kids' outfits for the next week will save you loads of time and frustration. It will only take about ten minutes per child to sort through clothing and match five outfits for the week. Label hangers with the days of the week and then put the complete outfits on those hangers. Your kids now have their clothing organized for the next five days. You will be surprised how much time you'll save in the mornings when they know exactly what they're going to wear. They simply get dressed and they're out the door on time, every single morning.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Iheartorganizing
Plan Ahead for Breakfast
Instead of Pop Tarts or some other less than healthy breakfast option, why not take a few moments the night before and plan a nutritious, hot meal for the kids? English muffin sandwiches (think Egg McMuffin here) are really easy to make and they are much more nutritious and filling than a Pop Tart. You just have to toast the muffins ahead of time, add an egg, some bacon or ham and cheese. You can pre-assemble them and even freeze them if you want. Imagine having an entire month's worth of hot breakfasts ready to go. Just pop them in the microwave. They're much less expensive than those pre-made ones you can buy in stores and they're much more delicious because you're making them yourself.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Tatertotsandjello
Make a Lunch Money Locket
How many times have your little ones forgotten their lunch money at home, or worse, lost it at school? You can take away the stress of having to drive additional lunch money to school by making a lunch money locket for younger children. This is a really easy project and one that the kids can help you with, which makes it really fun. Let them help design and decorate their lockets. They wear the locket to school with their lunch money safely inside. It's a great way to save yourself a little stress and a little money at the same time.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Spoonful
Personalize Their Backpacks
Personalized backpacks are a great idea, especially if you have more than one little one going to school. With a little time and creativity, you can make a personalized backpack that will help alleviate the stress of not begin able to find the right backpack at school or of two kids fighting over the same backpack. You just embroidery or cross-stitch the name on it or you can use paints with stencils or however you want to do it. Personalizing it will help your little one to always know which backpack is theirs and there will be a lot less stress over not being able to determine whose is whose. While you're at it, a few Command hooks near the door will help you to store those backpacks on the wall near the door so you'll see them as you leave in the morning and avoid the forgotten backpack scenarios.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Iammommahearmeroar
Organize Papers with Binder Clips
Keep binder clips clearly labeled so that you can easily organize school papers. Create a label for papers that need to be signed and returned to teacher, those that are already graded, and any homework or projects that aren't due right away. This helps you to know that you've gotten everything turned back into the teacher that needs to go and you'll be able to easily tell which papers have already been graded and which ones may need to be taken back to school. Binder clips are really inexpensive and you can hang them near your organization station to keep homework ready to go.
DIY Instructions and Project Credit – Iamacraftaddict
Stock Up on School Supplies
One of the main ways that you can lose it in the morning is when your child tells you that they are out of paper or something else that is crucial to their school day. You can avoid this stress completely by keeping yourself stocked up on everything that they'll need. Imagine not having to run out at midnight on Sunday night to get that poster board because your child forgot to tell you that she has a project due the next morning. You can even organize those supplies so you'll always know what you have and what you need to restock. Over the door shoe organizers work great for holding pens, pencils, crayons, and loads of other supplies and your stock will take up very little room.
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