Organizing... Your Children's Books

Did you know that January is National Get Organized Month? True story! If you know me (and many of you do) you know my love for all things organized. I share a lot of organizing tips on my website H.O.M.E. w/ Sarah but thought I would share some on this blog as well! For each week in January I will chose an area of my home to share with you all. Hopefully you will be inspired to get organized yourself! :)

Today's featured area of organizing: 

Children's Books.

I have a secret love for children's books.  Even before I had kids, I was purchasing these bad boys by the dozen! Isn't that what all Elementary Education majors do? ;) I also shamelessly purchase gobs of paperbacks from my son's preschool Scholastic book orders... can you relate?? So what can I do to keep this growing collection from taking over the playroom - and the entire house? Observe:

The main bulk of the books can be found on top of the 'toy dresser' out of reach from the kiddos and are categorized by the following:

rhyming

animals

dinosaurs

humor

beginner reader

numbers

colors & shapes

letters

Then I have four more bins located on a lower toy cabinet that is within reach of the kiddos. 

These categories are:

seasonal

biblical

life lessons

TAG books

I purchased these book bins from Lakeshore Learning and they have actually improved this product since I had purchased mine. Their newest model connects for extra stability and it now comes in a variety of colors! They are $4.99/each and you can find them here .

Some of my favorite books are by the author Mo Willems.

It's always fun when the parents can enjoy the book, too!

 There are so many options as to how to categorize your books - it's all personal preference and based on what you have in your collection. :)

TACKLING THIS PROJECT

So how do you get started? Follow these simple steps:

1. Collect ALL the children's books in your home, car, etc

2. Sort them according to the categories you choose

(remember to make a pile of 'retired' books to donate!)

3. Purchase the appropriate amount of book bins

4. Create custom labels, or simply use the insert the bins come with

5. Put your beautiful finished project on display!

Here is the 'big picture' in our playroom (aka the loft)

At first, I had these bins lined up on the top shelf of one of the kiddo's closet. You don't have to have them in sight, necessarily. Choose a spot that works for you and if you have very young kiddos, you might want to put one bin out at a time (or put them on display but out of reach) to avoid all of your hard work becoming undone! I can see it now... a floor made entirely of books! ;)

I should also mention there is a small bin of favorites in each of the kid's rooms for story time before bed.

And there you have it! 

Who is ready to get started on their little one's literature collection??