The Best Preschool Classroom Organization Ideas
The best preschool classroom organization makes everything easier! Let’s face it, keeping a classroom organized and ready to go can be a challenge. However, there are some classroom organization ideas you can use to keep your room running smoothly this year.
Today, I’m excited to share some of my favorite classroom storage ideas, classroom table organization tips, and ways to keep the room organized and functional all year. Keep reading to discover the best way to organize your preschool classroom and which mistakes to avoid as you get set up this year. Plus, don’t miss my favorite storage ideas and solutions for busy preschool teachers!
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What is the best way to organize a classroom?
An organized classroom means fewer distractions for students and less time spent cleaning, resetting, and preparing for the lesson for teachers. Unfortunately, preschool classroom organization isn’t something they teach in college, so many of us begin without knowing how. So what’s the best way to get your classroom organized?
Great classroom organization ideas help teachers to be more efficient and make lessons more effective. Efficient classroom storage ideas are an important part of making the most of your space, especially with growing numbers of students.
Veteran teachers know that having lesson plans ready to go makes it easy to keep students learning and being efficient all year long. Classroom organization ideas make it easier for our students to get what they need, keep learning, and meet with success all year.
Preschool Classroom Organization Ideas
They might not teach preschool classroom organization in school, but there are some excellent classroom organization ideas you can use to get your room in order this year. I’m excited to share some of my favorites with you down below.
Organize Your Physical Space
Begin planning your classroom organization strategy by thinking about your physical space. How much space do you have? Will you be creating centers or setting up designated areas within your classroom?
Thinking about which centers and workspaces you’ll have and how many desks or tables you’ll need is a great first step when thinking about preschool classroom organization. Will you have a space for students to read quietly?
Check out the 5 pillars of reading for tips on what you might need in this classroom space.
Do you want a dramatic play station? Dramatic play and role-playing activities are fantastic for preschoolers!
Discover my favorite dramatic play ideas for preschoolers to help you set up this part of your classroom for success.
Will circle time activities be a regular part of your preschool lesson plans? Don’t forget to plan a physical space for circle time lessons.
Then, grab all of my free circle time activities for more great ideas to use in your preschool classroom this year.
Drawing a map of all the spaces you’d like to include in your preschool classroom organization plans can make it easier to set up your room in a way that’s functional and fun for everyone.
I like to use graph paper to draw ideas for my classroom before I start moving furniture around.
Organize Just One Area at a Time
Another one of my favorite classroom organization ideas is to start with just one area at a time. Organizing one physical space within my room at a time helps me to feel like I’ve actually accomplished something, even though I never have time to get it all done in one day.
Plus, it’s a lot easier to remember all the things I wanted to include or plan for in a center if I focus on just that one area until it’s complete.
Set Up Stations
Designating special stations in your classroom is a great way to make your space more functional and organized for everyone. You can set up stations based on subjects or designate special stations for student papers, busy work, and space for absent students to collect work after they return.
Here are some of my favorite preschool classroom station ideas:
- Book Station
- Absent Student Station
- Arts & Crafts Station
Themed Cabinets
How many times have you asked your kids to put things back in their places? I know, lots of times! Setting up themed cabinets is a classroom storage idea that can help solve this dilemma.
You can use the cabinets in your classroom to store various supplies, organizing them by type. For example, a math supply cabinet might contain counters, calculators, rulers, and manipulatives.
Then, students will know exactly where to go for supplies they need and where to return them when they’re finished.
Make Planning Binders
When you’re planning for your classroom, it can be easy to forget about lesson plans. However, making a plan for your lesson plans and preschool themes is an important part of preschool classroom organization too.
My favorite classroom storage idea for lesson plans is to make planning binders. I still really like to have paper copies of all my formal lesson plans and plans for substitute teachers to use in their own special binder.
For lesson plans on my computer, designating color-coded folders has really helped me keep everything organized and easy to find.
My Favorite Classroom Table Organization Ideas
Another space in the preschool classroom that really needs great organization techniques is the student tables and desks. Here are some of my favorite classroom table organization tips:
Plastic Caddies
Plastic table caddies work wonders for preschool classroom organization! You can pick these up at your local dollar store to keep supplies like pencils, rulers, scissors, and crayons in check on your student tables or desks.
Whether you label caddies with table numbers or color-code them for easy recognition, you’ll be glad you invested in these classroom table organization lifesavers!
Color Code Things
I really like color coding items for my preschool classroom. Colors are one of the first things preschool students learn. It’s easy for them to understand exactly what you mean if you say “get the green bin for science tools” or something of that nature.
Color coding books, resources, and even subjects helps preschoolers to easily identify things and their place in the room, making it more likely items will end up where they belong at the end of the day. Plus, it makes your job organizing a lot faster too!
Embrace Dry Erase
You can go through a lot of paper with preschoolers! Replacing some of your paper usage with dry-erase stickers, like these dry-erase sheets from Post-It are a great way to save some trees and your print allowance.
Plus, they’re a really fun way to practice numbers and letters with preschoolers too.
Classroom Organization Mistakes to Avoid
If you make time for proper classroom organization at the beginning of the school year, you’ll be rewarded with a classroom that’s functional, effecient, and set up in an intentional way. Taking the time to implement your classroom organization ideas and practice good classroom table organization strategies will set you up for success throughout the year.
However, it’s easy to get off track and even easier to dump everything in a bin and say, “I’ll deal with it later.” When we haven’t put good classroom storage ideas and systems in place, we’re setting ourselves up to fail. It’s easy to make mistakes and here are some of the top classroom organization mistakes you’ll want to avoid this year:
Decorating First
It’s so tempting to dive right into decorating your preschool classroom, but you really should save that step for last. Classroom organization is a lot like making a birthday cake.
Decorating the cake is the last step. If you tried to do it first, you’d just have a big mess.
Valuing Beauty Over Function
We all want our classrooms to be cute. Spending time in beautiful spaces is important and valuable.
However, the most important thing to focus on when you’re implementing classroom storage ideas is function. Don’t overdecorate without purpose or you risk distracting your students.
Be careful about cute fonts that might be difficult for beginning readers. It’s your classroom, but it’s also your preschoolers’ classroom and above everything else, you want it to be conducive to learning for your students.
Forgetting Your Desk
Another big mistake I see is teachers forgetting to organize their own desk. We spend a lot of time on classroom table organization and forget our own work table. Taking the time to make your space functional and organized will save you all kinds of headaches this school year.
Not Having a Plan for Papers
By the end of the school year, papers are everywhere! Having a system in place for dealing with student papers is a must.
There are lots of great classroom storage ideas for papers. Clotheslines for hanging student art, letter organizers for worksheets, and binders for absent student work can help get your classroom organized and functioning well this year.
What’s your favorite classroom organization idea? Do you have a great classroom table organization tool to share? I’d love to read all your great classroom storage ideas in the comments and try a few in my own preschool classroom this year too.
