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- 1″ binders PER kid PER year
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- 3 hole punch anything worth keeping & store in binder!
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- Anything that cannot be 3 hole punch but is small enough, store in sheet protector and THEN add to binder
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- Add a note to your kiddo
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- Store binders upright in a tote; use the extra space to store other keepsakes
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- One tote PER kid
ALAS! I have cracked the code for storing my kids’ school work/artwork….okay, “cracked the code” is a bit dramatic but its fair to say I found a better way.
When my kids were brand new, I tried to be proactive by buying them each a file box for their work. Like this!
I filed their work (at least what I wanted to keep) by grade or year in hanging file folders. It seemed really promising at first buuuut I filled my oldest kid’s box before he even got to Kindergarten. At that rate, I was going to have like 12 boxes PER KID. NO THANK YOU!!
Not knowing exactly what to do with the literal hundreds of pieces of paper, I have been putting their art/school work in a pile in the guest room closet. It became a hazard to even open those closet doors so it was time to do something different. Here is what I have come up with & so far so good!
Supplies
- 27 Gallon Storage Tote for each kid
- I bought this one from Home Depot for ~$17 each
- 12 binders per kid
- I bought binders from the dollar store but it took a couple trips to get the quantity I needed. Of course, you don’t have to buy it all at once but, because I know myself, I need AAAALLL the supplies on hand PRE-EMPTIVELY if I am going to be consistent. If you want to spare yourself the trouble of multiple trips, you can buy a 12 pack of binders from Amazon relatively cheaply.
- Also note: I recommend binders with sturdier covers as you will store the binders upright.
- 3 hole punch
- Sheet Protectors
- Optional Supplies
- Labels
- I do NOT have a circuit to make custom labels but I DO have a regular ink printer. I found these handy sticker sheets. I used the Avery brand product which I found at Walmart but these are a MUCH better deal & TONS of great reviews. I will be buying these next time.
- NOTE: I used Canva to design spine labels, downloaded the design as a pdf, & then printed on the sticker sheet!
- Labels
The Method
- Each kid gets a tote with 12 binders – one binder per grade/year (note: I lumped all the years prior to Kindergarten)
- I created super simple labels (kids name & grade) for the spine & front of each binder using canva, printed them on sticker sheets, cut them out, & placed them on each binder.
- Hole punch any piece of school/art work that you would like to keep & file it in the appropriate binder.
- If there is a document that is too precious to hole punch or something that cannot be hole punched… like a small canvas or something, use the sheet protector!
- Stand the binders upright in the tote
- With all 12 binders in the tote, you will have about half of the tote left for other keepsakes (i.e. t-shirts, trophies, etc).
Ideas to Step It Up a Notch
- Write a note at the beginning & end of each year & put in the pocket of the binder
- Cuter labels for the spine & the front of the binder
- Organize the school/art work by section (i.e. art, report cards, school work, etc) using tabs
I hope you found this helpful! & good luck to you!!
Love,
Kai
