A big thank you to Apologia for sponsoring this series…
We all can use a little organizing of our school supplies this summer, right? And it’s even better when you can do it for free or very cheap. Some of the best ways to organize your school supplies {crayons, scissors, glue sticks, pencils, etc.} are probably right under your nose already. No need to purchase a thing! How’s that for frugal? Other supplies can be bought for very cheap. Here are some of frugal ways I’ve organized our school supplies.
Recycled Products
Recycled products make the best containers for school supplies. For starters: they’re free!
My favorite recycleables are cake icing containers, individual plastic applesauce containers, coffee canisters, baby food containers {glass and plastic}, peanut butter containers, and fried onion containers. You can also use larger containers
like this old animal cracker container.
The best part about many of these containers is that they come with lids. It makes them easy to stack when you want to save space. But it also means you can transport them easily. If you are teaching mulitple children, split up the products into different containers for each to have their own. If you school all over the place, you know the importance of transporting supplies. Containers with screw-on or snap-on lids make the perfect containers for throwing in your bag for a field trip or co-op!
We also have several containers from Melissa & Doug or IKEA products that we reuse over and over {like we did with the numbers activity towards the end of this post}. These come in handy when you get out those small manipulatives. Another useful resource are the take and toss type of plastic containers you get when you buy packaged food products at the grocery store, like lunch meat. These are great because they also have the snap-on lids, which make transporting supplies a breeze.
We also have a special place in our schoolroom where I keep extra recycled products for sensory play, like we did with our Learning Resources Family counters. The kids especially like the see-through containers, like coffee creamer containers and parmesan cheese containers.
More Frugal Finds
When you still need a container, but don’t have a recycled container that will work, head to the $1 store. Seriously. You’ll be amazed at the cute and colorful containers they have! You can see some of ours here.
Zip and seal kind of bags make great containers for those loose school supplies {like buttons or counters}. I like to use these bags because I can cram fit a bunch in a bigger container to save space!
What are your favorite frugal finds for organizing your school supplies?