My Secrets to Organizing Montessori Materials
I’ve been wanting to do this post for awhile, since so many of you ask me about how to organize materials – both behind-the-scenes and in your classrooms. I’m going to share some of my favorite ways of organizing and storing materials, and hopefully you’ll come away with some new ideas (and of course, share your own!)
One thing that has been a lifesaver to me is expandable accordion files. These are available at any office supplies store in the filing section, and comfortably hold 8 1/2 x 11 in. size paper or cardstock.
I have three; the first is for Math, Language, and Science:
Inside, I’ve labeled the tabs for various materials; these are great for worksheets, memorabilia (like brochures and postcards from historic places), and any size chart or other material that fits:
Another one is for Geography, History, and Cultural:
This one is perfect for continent maps and research guides:
I was delighted to find a “half-size” expandable file at Staples:
This one holds the experiments and explanations for the Geography Impressionistic Charts, Botany Impressionistic Charts, and Forces Set 1 (all of which are printed two-to-a-page on 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, so after cutting the page in half they fit in this perfectly):
Getting back to the regular-sized accordion files for a minute – I use one to hold uncut 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of laminated materials (that’s the size my laminator uses). That way if I have a spare 15 minutes (it does happen!) I can pull out just one work and cut it apart quickly (here you can see the tops of the South America Pictures, which I need to cut apart):
Some of the materials I make, like Types of Snow, come with a full-page chart related to the topic. I don’t have room on the shelf for all these, so I keep them in the expandable files and only pull the chart out if one of my children is doing the work. Here’s the Snow chart:
And here’s how I store Types of Snow on the shelf; the little blue sticker reminds me that there’s a chart to go with it (the blue container is an Akro bin, which I’ve blogged about here):
Now it’s time to share a little secret with you (shh!). Many of the items I make come with full-page control charts, especially the nomenclature cards from botany and zoology. They look like this one from Types of Trees, and are very lovely:
However, I personally prefer to keep all the parts of a material together whenever I can, and the full-page charts don’t fit in small containers. So, I cut the control charts apart (I know!), punch holes in the corners of the cards, put a ring in them, and keep them with the nomenclature cards. Here’s Types of Trees, with the control chart cut apart (it’s got a little ring in the left-hand corner holding it together):
I know that wouldn’t work for everyone, but it does for me! I also make ringed booklets of control cards, too, if there’s no control chart to cut apart.
For displaying things on a shelf that can’t be cut apart, I use stands found in craft stores; here’s an example of a research guide on a stand:
And here’s the stand by itself; they come in different sizes and there are wooden ones as well:
For larger charts (Plant Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Six Kingdom, and Fundamental Needs), I like the large envelopes you can buy at office supply stores for legal size paper (9 x 14 in.). Here’s my Plant Kingdom Chart Set:
And the charts; I’ve added Velcro to the blank charts (and the corresponding pieces), and the Plant Nomenclature Cards are in the smaller green envelope:
I’ve mentioned before that my favorite way of storing nomenclature cards and other card material is to label them in individual baggies, then put them in plastic shoeboxes. (This is just for me in my storage closet; on the shelf I use containers to display each card set separately):
One last favorite combo: brochure holders and library pockets. I’ve mentioned these before (see the post here), but they’re so helpful I’m going to mention them again. I buy library pockets online or at teacher stores, print labels for them, and store math equations and geometry card sets in them. I love them and they save so much room!
Well, I think that’s enough for now! I’ve posted all these pictures on Facebook in a photo album (there were some extra ones I didn’t put in the blog post). You can find those at my Montessori for Everyone Facebook page. Click “Photos” if you don’t see it right away.
If you have other great ideas for storing materials, please share!
Thank you Lori. These are great ideas! I’m always looking for organizational tips for my montessori materials!
Hi, Andie! So glad you found the suggestions helpful. Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips, we all need these, thank you.
Some time ago I saw a post about a little homemade cardboard folder for storing and displaying 3 part cards in, I was wondering if by any chance that you might have shown that on your blog because I can’t for the life of me think where I saw it.
Hi, Kylie! Glad you like the ideas. I don’t think it was here that you saw the homemade folder, although in my training we would take a piece of cardstock, fold it horizontally, and then staple the ends to make pockets. We only did that for the geometry card material.
I’ve seen pictures other places of folders made from fabric or felt, like these here from PS Montessori.
Thanks for all the nice ideas. Its always nice to get a fresh idea.
This may be the most helpful blog post of the year! I have all these beautiful materials and they overwhelm ME to the point my darlings don’t really get to enjoy them!
You raise a great point, ~L~! I was thinking about that too when I wrote this post. If your materials aren’t organized, you and the children can’t take advantage of them.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great ideas….here’s one I have to add for storage: My son is still in Children’s House, so he is very curious about things in beautiful tins and boxes. Most craft stores and other places sell small tins for gift cards. They make great “surprise work,” boxes and hold your nomenclature cards perfectly. I store the work in my cabinet in baggies, just like you suggested, organized in photo boxes until I’m ready to present it, however, when the work comes out on to a shelf it goes into a nice little tin. We also have found 4×6 clear photo boxes that work well for larger stacks/sets of cards. Both travel well, so when we are “on the go,” it’s a great way to grab work to take with us while we are waiting for a sibiling at swim practice or book club. I use removable labels to identify the contents and when the work is “put away,” a new work appears in the boxes/tins.
And thanks for the tip about the library pockets (I don’t know how I missed that one)…I was just going to put an old brochure holder into a garage sale bin…but now I have a use for it!
Great ideas, Staci! Thanks for sharing.
Lori, When you have time, would you be willing to share specifications regarding your choice of home laminating equipment? It’s time for our family to make the investment in one and I would love to learn why you selected and the pros and cons of your choice. Thanks in advance…:)
Hi, Staci! I have a cute little Duck laminator I bought at Walmart a few years ago. I’ve probably laminated 1000+ pages with it with no problem. I buy 9 x 12 pouches at Staples or OfficeMax. Hope that helps!
Hi,
I noticed that your materials focused on the 6-9 age, and I’m in primary; I liked the 3 ring punched hole idea for the control chart. I noticed another person had suggested the beautiful tins, we use pretty containers as well. We try to use separate colors depending on what it is we are presenting for grammar work, compound words etc. We use trays for the 3 part cards lessons.
I especially liked the idea of the traveling accordian file with materials that need to be cut and or laminated, because we are always trying to keep our classroom materials beautiful. I think it is great that they are used so often that we need to re do them: thats a montessori classroom.
I was wondering if you could share about how you set up your classroom? I realize it will be different from age groups because of the developmental plane the children are in, but, it is always interesting to see/hear how other people do it.
maybe another blog topic.
Thanks,
Carey
HI,
I was wondering where you buy your library pockets? I haven’t had much luck finding them on the web…
Thanks
Hi, Valerie! I have bought them a few times on eBay (search for “library pockets”) and once or twice from teachchildren.com.
When I googled “library pockets” I saw lots of results, including Amazon, so hopefully you can find some.
I love the library card pockets! Wonderful idea…..my students were talking about your page of suggestions for organization…..I can see why they are in “love” with your ideas! Thank you so much!
Hi, Karen! So glad your students found the ideas helpful. Thanks for stopping by!
Lori,
What a great ideas! Your pictures add the extra visual details. Very nice and organized.
seems like I got library pocket cards at a company called DEMCO once.
Thanks for sharing all the great ideas. I want to reorganize my things, but organization and purging of old things comes hard for me.
I have found multi-colored library pockets at the Dollar Tree stores.
For a dollar a packet you can’t beat the price!
That is a great deal! I don’t have one of those stores near me but now I wish I did
Lori, can you please tell me – when you make things for home do you cut then laminate and then trim again? Or, do you laminate and then cut and leave it at that? How do you find things hold up if you do it that way? And, about what grade of cardstock or paper do you use if you do do it the second way (it print, laminate, cut, present)? I know it sounds like a silly question, but anal-retentive me has been making, cutting, laminating and then trimming. Of course it’s taking an age, and I’m getting over-whelmed with procrastinating. Thanks in anticipation…
Hi, Maria! I laminate, then cut. I used to do it your way, but that was when I was using my school’s roll laminator. The laminate was thin and we had to cut first, laminate, and cut again. Even then it often came apart after use.
Now I use 5 mil pouches in a small laminator, and I never ever need to cut first. I laminate whole sheets of cardstock (20 lb) and cut. Nothing ever comes apart, even after years of use.