Organizing your Preschool manipulative and supplies

One thing to do when thinking about starting a preschool in your home...

 is WHERE are you going to hold it?

 

Preschool is different than Daycare in many ways.

Preschool is structured.

Having a designated space and place helps the children

come in and be ready to learn.

 

I designated my preschool space- in my basement family room.

I have been gathering things and dumping them in this space for weeks.

 

Today I decided to tackle that area and start setting up my preschool.

 

I brought everything out- so I could see what I have and group like objects.

I bought this shelf at Deseret Industries and am going to store my supplies here- to keep my preschool area clutter free. This is a utility closet that is located near my space. I like that is easily accessible to my preschool space. I don't have to walk far to change out toys, books and manipulatives.

 

 

Then I went about grouping "Like" objects. Wood fruit- a Melissa and Doug Sandwich game

and two small puzzles. I am going to put them together in my storage room/shelf.

That way- they will be easy to find- when I want to pull them out to use in May for my theme: Green Gardens. (I know all my themes- because I am going to be using Funshine Express. If you click on the link- it will direct you to their site and the themes I'll be teaching this year.)

 

(I found this Melissa & Doug puzzle NEW for $2 at Savers!)

 

 

In this picture I just wanted to share an inexpensive way to store preschool manipulatives. When I buy sheets and blankets- I always keep the plastic bags. They are great for storing stuff in general.

 (I use regular plastic bags too- as seen in the above wooden fruit picture.) That way you don't need very many baskets- in your preschool teaching space, just rotate out the toys every so often and store the ones not being used.

 

Here is my filled storage shelf- you'll notice I have stacks of books. I went through all my books and organized them by theme. Once again- knowing your theme's before hand is very helpful! (The bottom shelf is just family games- I had to move them off my black shelf in the family room to make space for preschool toys.)

If you already have a lot of books- going through your stash is a good way to think of themes you might want to do for preschool. I love snowmen. It's a novelty for our family- so I have a lot of picture books about snowmen and you can bet- I will include them in my preschool this winter!

I really want to get organized this summer- so once school, hockey, work, busy life starts- preschool will be less hectic. I want to prep now- so I can really just enjoy spending time with the little ones, when they come over for preschool. (Not stress over... where is that book, or toy, or game I wanted to use?)

 

The preschool space isn't done yet. But my supplies are now organized! I am glad I went through everything - because it helps me know what I have and what I still need to buy.