I have several mini-systems that work for me – I thought I would share them with you over the next little while.

We like to Notebook – Notebooking is a very simple way of writing about what you have learnt. It can be as simple as a drawing or even something from clip art with a sentence written underneath. It can be a piece of artwork – something drawn about what you have learnt, or a collage, or a photograph. You can use predesigned notebook pages – which often give your child space to write and space to draw but we prefer to create out own from scratch. This gives the kids an opportunity to incorporate either art or computer skills into their learning processes.

We love coloured paper and Jessica has organised the shelves very orderly – making it easy to get the paper you feel like using. But I have noticed that this shelf doesn’t stay tidy for very long – it seems to be hard for the younger two to get paper easily. If they can’t get to it easily they resort to plain ol’ white paper!

This year we created a new system which is working very well. We took a couple of presentation folders – one folder for each colour tone (bright, pastel, and iridescent) and separated the colours in the plastic sleeves. The leftovers (for we didn’t use a complete ream of paper for each folder) are now kept in the cupboard but we only need to go there when our folders run out of a particular colour.

The younger children can reach for these folders, take them to their desks and have a complete choice of colours without messing up the cupboard! In the back of each folder there were enough sleeves for the kids to insert their scraps which is then helpful to have handy for those times you only need a little bit of colour.

I have always found that the more organised art and craft supplies are the easier it is for the children to be creative. And to be honest – if they can keep the supplies tidier the easier it is for me to accept their creative messes!

If you have younger children it is a great way not only to store supplies but also to limit supplies and choices.  This would work for scrapbooking and card making supplies or for worksheet and activity pages/books.

We also use presentation files for the girls to store their craft patterns – teddy bears, dolls, embroideries etc. Which by the way – Nomi has just made a Teddy Bear – this was her first time using fur, joints and glass eyes.