Is your family in the back to school rush? As you're purchasing new school supplies, planning for extra curricular activities, and more, here are a few tips to keep your family organized, clean, and healthy!
Organizing School Supplies
Before you go out and purchase all new school supplies, have your kids help you gather their supplies up into one pile. This will help you figure out what you need and what you already have.
When you go shopping, make sure each of your kids has a pencil case that will fit into their backpacks.
After shopping, organize each child's supplies so that they can easily find what they need for their classes. For example, if there are special supplies for art or math, put all of them together. Check out the way Organization Junkie re-used a plastic water bottle to organize special supplies!
If you take supplies out of backpacks at night, have one place for all of them to go. This could be a shelf on your bookcase, a drawer, or even a filing bin!
Wipe down pencils, scissors, and other supplies each night using a wet wipe that kills germs.
For germ killing power during the day, pop a hand sanitizer into each child's bag. We love our Hand Sanitizer Spray for it's child-friendly formula and clean scent!
BONUS: With a spray, your kids won't accidentally get too much at once.
Organizing Clothes
Getting ready to buy new outfits for school? Here are a few tips for sorting through current clothes and organizing the new stuff too!
Help your kids go through their clothes and pull out anything they don't want, haven't worn in a year, and might be too worn out to put on anymore. Sort these clothes into what you can donate, what you can pass down to younger siblings, and what you need to throw away.
Next, put any clothes that are meant for another season into a plastic vacuum bag or plastic tote with a lid. Throw a few mothballs in before you close it up, and store it in the back of a closet or under a bed.
Finally, store the clothes your kids will wear this season by type. Pants together, shirts together, etc. This will give you the best idea of what they have and what they need. It will also help you during laundry day to find out who is out of underwear before it's too late!
Did you know that we offer organization services for Northwest Indiana and Chicago? Contact us to get a quote!
Organize Your Kitchen
This may not seem like it fits with back to school tips, but stick with us! When your kitchen is well-organized, it makes meal prep and packing lunchboxes much easier.
If you have a pantry or closet for dry goods, try to store similar items together. For example, all your canned veggies in one spot, all your pasta and rice in one spot, plastic bags and measuring tools in one spot, etc.
In your fridge, keep similar items together too! Have a shelf for drinks, a space for condiments, a drawer for veggies (most refrigerators have a "crisper" drawer for this), a spot for deli meat and cheese, etc. In the example below, they used a turning tray to store their condiments!
Create a routine for keeping lunchboxes clean and fresh. When your kids come home, have them empty out their lunchboxes and include washing them in your evening chores. If it is a fabric lunchbox, wipe them out inside daily and once a week throw them in the washing machine.
Ask For Help!
If you're overwhelmed with getting your family organized for back to school, don't be afraid to ask for help! You can call our cleaning pros to come out and get you set up for a clean, organized school year. Don't wait - book today before we fill up for August!