Simple Back To School Organized Desk for Kids

Learn how to help your kids keep an organized school desk and get the free printable labels to make this job even easier! 

I’m a naturally organized person. I make use of bins and baskets to make my home run smoothly and keep it tidy. But not all the little people I gave birth to seem to have inherited this organization gene from me.

We are a homeschooling family. There are many books and papers involved in schooling at home. Each of my kids has a desk to do their school work and create.

Recently I have noticed a lack of organization and the desks have become a place of clutter rather than a place to work. It would be easy for me to swoop in and get those desks cleaned up and organized. But that would not solve the problem. The desks would soon become cluttered again.

I needed to create a system of organization that my kiddos can implement themselves and keep their desk space clear and clean.

Organization to me is about having a specific place to put the things you use. It also involves purging the items you don’t use, need or love.

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Step #1: Access The Items

Take inventory of the items on the desk. Decide which items can stay at the desk and remove those that don’t belong.

My daughter loves to read and write stories. She has piles of notebooks and library books all over the house. Of these 2 items the library books do not need to be at her desk. And not all of her notebooks either. These items will be removed.

All our library books are kept in the living room in a basket. I ask all the kids to put away library books into the basket.

We used Ikea magazine files to put all her story notebooks in and now have moved them into her bedroom closet. I have asked her to keep only her school notebooks at her desk and personal notebooks in her room.

This reduces the clutter and keeps her organized on school days. It also helps me find the correct notebook I need to be looking at to grade.

Step #2: Organize The Space

Now that you know which items will stay you can decide on an organizing bin or basket that will work with the items and the space.

What’s on my Elementary Kids Desks:

My two older kiddos have a lamp with pencil holder attachment at their desk. They also have a desk organizer to hold their notebooks and folders for school.

• Lamp- Organizer Task Lamp from Target
• Desk Organizer– This holds notebooks, folders, and their Bible and devotion book.
• Pencil/pen holder or pencil case

What’s on my Kindergartner’s Desk:

For my kindergartner I am using a portable wood bin I had bought at Michaels. Inside the bin are 3 tin buckets from the Target dollar spot.  After school each day I put the wood bin on top of our book shelf where it is not accessible to little hands. This prevents any coloring or cutting without being supervised 😉

• Lamp- Organizer Task Lamp from Target
• Desk organizer
• Pencil/pen holder

If you need a portable homework station you can create a simple one using a dollar store bin or a basket. 

Check Out these ideas for homework stations on Pinterest:

Step #3: Label The Bins

Labeling your organizational bins will help aid your kids in maintaining their desk space. They will know exactly where to put the note book and the pencils when they are done using them.

Step #4: Do A Weekly Declutter

At the end of the school week have your kids go through their papers and desk and remove any unneeded items. Recycle homework papers and file any school papers you want to keep.

Having a system in place for our school space is helping to keep an organized school desk for my kids this school year. It’s also a plus for mom who likes to keep the school room tidy!