If you're like me and an organized soul through and through then you understand the absolute rage that school papers cause when they come home every. single. day. Is there anything more madening than finding a place for all of these and staying organized? I think not.
I have used a number of systems through the years to organize the mountains of papers that come home. They're special and you often don't want to just toss them out, but they pile up so fast that it quickly becomes unmanageable. So I have a solution for this madness! And it's so simple and straightforward you'll be wondering why you didn't do this years ago!
PS. it's not too late. My oldest son is in 5th grade, and while I regret not starting this sooner, I am happy to start it now! So no matter the age, it's not too late to start!
And this is such a simple straightforward project! One you'll be glad you did no matter when you start it!
Things you'll need (clickable links for what I used):
2. File folders with the hanging hooks
3. PDF printable pages for all the years
5. Stickers or label for the names on the front
6. Picture for each page
I searched and searched all of the options before I landed on these. They are the cheapest I found, great quality, clear, have a lid, and come in a pack of 4! Even if you don't have 4 kids (I don't) these are still the best bang for your buck and you could totally use the boxes for other things besides just file storage.
There are of course sooo many options out there for these. But I'm a lover of the earthy tones and these deep green ones had my heart!
I didn't love the layout of any of the printable pages I found, so I created my own! They feel more balanced to me. I also felt like some of the questions would change as your child gets older. So at 7th grade a few of the questions change. And again at 10th grade there's a slight change!
I like to print these at office depot and I chose 60lb cardstock paper for mine! They have a quick 20 minute turn around time so I love being able to pick up same day!
Preschool through 5th grade all have the same questions.
After 6th grade I change a few of the questions to make it more age relevant because some questions felt like they only applied to younger kids.
After 9th grade I add in a question about college, if that's something your child is interested in, or if they're not at that time you can just leave it blank!
Tabs with grades (optional)
You don't need these, but they are included as a bonus with my printable! And they make it so much easier to find which folder you are looking for! So take the extra step and print them out and you'll thank yourself later!
I tried photo stickers first and they weren't strong enough with the texure of the folders. So I remembered I had these from a different project and they were perfect. They say they are removable... but I think that's maybe from a wall? Becuase these papers are for sure securely stuck to the folders with these! I just used one in each corner of the page.
I also use one of these dots to secure the picture of the child to the page!
pro tip: use tweezers to take of the paper backings!
Photo corner stickers (optional)
Another fun idea is to use these photo corner stickers! I love how it makes it feel a little more unique and fun! The paper is then removable, which you might like. I think I would secure it down on the top and bottom still with an adhesive dot, but it might not be necessary!
Stickers for the front of the box
I am obsessed with these varsity style stickers, and I think they are especially perfect for this project since they're school memory boxes! I found mine at Hobby Lobby, and they have so many letter options. But I founds some similar here.
Picture for each page
Some of these will obviously be blank until you reach that year. But I went back and was so gald I had ordered school pictures each year! However, some of mine weren't quite as big as I wanted. They really changed the size of the wallet size prints and made them smaller and that's so sad becuase I think that 2x3" size is the perfect size for these pages. But I did use a smaller picture on some of them, because that's what I had, and it still totally works!
If you take first day of school pictures, I think those would also be so cute for these pages!
I hope you're excited about this fun and easy project that will help you stay on top of all of those school papers!
HAPPY ORGANIZING!
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