The key to keeping a somewhat clean space with kids is to have a very clear organization for their toys and arts and crafts. When kids feel they can actually put away their belongings quickly, it can be a game. If they feel like they will never meet the expectations, then they will let the parents clean up.
As far as arts and crafts are concerned, there are some solutions that seems very simple to implement:
• Mom's Crafty Space has an Upcycled Montessori-Styled Crayon Holder Tutorial for us which I love, not only is it beautiful, but it's also a good exercise for color sorting.
• I heart Organizing made an art caddy, using chalk paint, so it can be personalized by the kids to their taste.
• Cheeky Kitchen shared the organization of their pantry, which includes a shelf for arts and crafts, and their use of tincans with simple labels.
• A Bowl Full of Lemons brings us the over-the-door shoe organizer as arts and crafts organizer.
• One Orange Giraffe has the Portable Art Studio, which is essential a craft bucket with pockets around it. Simple, and easy to organize supplies in.
MORE ABOUT ORGANIZING ARTS & CRAFT SUPPLIES ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• A DIY Kids' Crafting Area
• Store your Art Supplies in a Vintage Soda Crate
• DIY Painted Jars
(Images: as linked above)
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Great post! Love the use of the over the door shoe organizer especially-- would work well in my Little One's teeny tiny closet! Thanks!
I like the tin cans because it allows the child to put everything back in it's place without having to worry about making sure the right color goes in the right container.
This post has some really great photos of really organized kid spaces.
If my children had to put crayons away in color coordinated bins, it would be a disaster. It would be my job to spend 10 minutes reorganizing the space EVERY time they played or even just walked by.
@1952Ranch: No kidding. And just wait until all those beautiful unused crayons are broken into bits and have the paper peeled off them.
We use clear plastic bins that I labeled with Sharpies. They are ugly, but they work.
My mom's solution:
keept all my pencils colors, crayons, sharpies, pencils etc in a tool box since i was 7... easy to see and to put away. I know its not "pretty", but kids like to carry colors around (my nieces do..) and it was (and is) usefull.
We've used the art caddy that I heart organizing blogged about for around a year. It's nice enough looking that it lives in our dining room and actually gets used every single day. Our problem is that our six year old daughter channels Edward Scissorhands and leaves little bits of cut up paper everywhere she goes. It is both adorable and slightly maddening.