Monday, November 19, 2007

Out of the Box

Mom Unplugged over at Unplug Your Kids, has offered
up the topic "box" for this week's group project.
So I thought I would take the time to talk about some boxes
that help me in my homeschooling world.
  1. My Craft/Activity Box- this is an unattractive cardboard box left over from our library's book sale that sits under my computer desk.It is filled with large zip lock bags that I pre-fill with craft and activity ideas and all the needed supplies to produce said craft or activity to occupy Princess.Here is an example:The first picture shows a bag with a book "Five Little Monkeys", a print out of the same story with fill in the blanks and pages to color,a banana and monkey worksheet a box of small colored pencils nd a stuffed monkey.The second is really 3 bags, small holiday crafts and a bottle of glue..I move the bottle of glue from bag to bag and paperclip these bags together since they share this bottle of glue. *
  2. Princess has a rack that holds bins or "open topped boxes" in her room that holds different types of toys.The first example are her "Mega Blocks".This allows us to easily carry the blocks to wherever we are to play and she can easily put them away on her own as well.She also has one for Dinosaurs,Polly Pockets, Puppets,cars and some other toys that can be grouped together easily.
  3. For her puzzles and foam blocks we have 2 rolling plastic boxes on wheels that we roll around where we need them.The puzzles have been taken out of their original boxes and bagged and labeled and numbered.We just did not have room to store all those boxes of puzzles.
  4. In one of my storage cabinets in my kitchen, I have 5 plastic shoe boxes.One of them has all the felt board pieces in separate plastic bags.Some are homemade,some store bought (OK, more likely Freecycled).
  5. On another shelf there are two larger plastic boxes.One has all the Play-Doh accessories and one has the Moon Sand.These work well for her to keep a handle on all the pieces while she is playing and allowing her the ability to take them out and put them away on her own.
  6. The other "box" that helps me a lot is a "litter box"..no, not the ones my cats use on a daily basis,but a clean ones that has only ever been used by Princess as her "sensory" table. I put water, shaving foam,rice or any type of dry grains,and let her play.Sometimes we take it outside, sometimes we use it inside.I also have a couple in a cabinet in the living room for storage of CDs and VHS tapes with felt discs on the bottom so they don't scratch the wood.They were the only container that met my height and width requirements at the time and they work really well.

*I use a similar bag idea in a plastic tote that I use to organize my school planning that I will talk about in another post another day.

15 comments:

Wisteria said...

Your organization makes me swoon! Come visit and box my stuff! Seriously having the craft bags with everything needed to create the craft is an amazing idea. I doubt I could never get it done (I know my limitations), but wow!

Frankie said...

I love organization posts! =)

We used Ziploc baggies a lot in the past. I think your ideas are all fantastic.

Gottfredsen said...

Great Post. I may need to "borrow" some of those ideas.

Becky @ BoysRuleMyLife said...

Wow! You are so organized! Such great use for boxes!!

We made towers, a fort, and a couple of "trains" with our boxes. I love these projects!

see you next week!

Jenny said...

I love organization posts too- I'm so glad you shared all of your boxes. I particularly loved the kitty litter box to contain messy projects and the pre-bagged craft activities- impressive! :o)

Anonymous said...

What great ideas! I am always so impressed by other people's organization solutions. I am an organizer at heart, yet my space seems to be pretty untidy most of the time these days.

Using litterboxes as a sensory table and for storage is brilliant! And the pre-bagged crafts...all I can say is "wow, you are my idol!"

This was a very interesting "Box"
post. Thanks again for participating and I hope you'll join in next week for "Thankful."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Angela said...

You are a girl after my own heart! I honestly don't think I could homeschool without storage container...literally! I am impressed with how you have so many different areas going at once! I start off really well, but then somehow much of our stuff ends up in the big 40-gallon tote, waiting to be put back in their organized little boxes!

Anonymous said...

More! More! More! This post is so motivating to me. Is that a Madeline felt board set I see? Ivo would love that. You are so well-equipped, no wonder your Princess is so smart :P

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Andree said...

sooooo, next summer you can come up to vermont on vacation and organize me, ok? it's beautiful here, and never too hot! PLEASE???

Garden State Kate said...

ROTFLMBO!
My DH is most likely crackin' up at work
that anyone thinks I am organized!
He sees it more like.."what's with all these boxes?" LOL
Thank you all for your kind remarks,
but I must warn you..invitations
will be accepted.LOL

Garden State Kate said...

Amanda- yes...Madeline was a freecycle find!My DH would say I am a "clutter magnet"..lol

Cher Mere said...

I have a lot of those kinds of boxes. Including three of the last...

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

I like how organized it all looks and how well thought out all the themes are for her school.

Rockin' Moroccan Mama said...

kate you gave me great ideas. Wow i wish I was that organized.

chanale said...

Wow, you have so much fun stuff! And I admire your organization. :)

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My homeschool buddies and I are all posting pics of our "home schools" as part of our idea sharing.

Plato said...

Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child's natural bent .