When we moved into this house and saw all of the storage in our kitchen and the sets of drawers, we knew this would be perfect for Bailey's dinnerware and snacks. However, I didn't feel like she was ready for easily accessible snacks then so we created her dinnerware drawer first. Here's the set of drawers I'm talking about. There are 3 the same size and one larger one.
This drawer holds all of her everyday items like bowls, plates, cups, utensils and straws. Under the Elsa/Anna separated plates are more of the cheapo plastic plates from Walmart (like $1 per plate) and a couple of Rapunzel open plates. We stack all of her bowls in the back except for the Ariel bowl which right now also holds her Take N Toss lids. She also has two kid friendly mugs that stay in with our coffee mugs.
Having all of her dinnerware in a drawer accessible to her is great for 2 main reasons:
- She can get out her own plate/bowl and silverware.
- She can put away her own dishes out of the dishwasher.
We knew eventually that large drawer would be turned into her snack drawer and since she took a rather late nap today (she just woke up at 5:57 pm!), I decided to tackle this while I was waiting on her. PS In case you don't know her (or even if you do and don't know this), you DO NOT wake her up from a nap if at all possible. She becomes the angry monster dragon from How to Train a Dragon...not kidding...
Anywho, the first step to any organization project is to get everything out and group into how you think it will need to be grouped when put back away. So I started with this in the drawer...
...and this on the floor taken out of the pantry...
...and ended with this when I grouped all her snacks. This is where you get child/family specific. We don't give Bailey candy/cookies very often so those stay hidden in the pantry...ya know, outta sight, outta mind! So for her, gummies aka gummy snacks, fruit strips, fruit leathers, etc. are her "candy". If you notice, I have those off to the side so I remembered to put those back in the pantry to use for her special snacks.
Everything is grouped like this:
- Snacks that DO NOT need assistance (Craisins, Goldfish, Marshmallows, crackers, squeezable applesauce)
- Snacks that DO need assistance (fruit cups, applesauce cups, pudding) (Mac n cheese cups are also included here because they are just for her)
Now it's time to put everything back in the drawer! I reused the container that was already in the drawer because it fits nicely to hold the fruit and applesauce cups. Then I just placed things in there the way they fit and she could easily see and grab what she wants.
Viola! A preschooler's snack drawer! You might notice above that I also added the small Justin's almond butter packets in a small container, mini pretzels, and her yogurt cereal bars in another tall container. I had forgot to pull those out of the pantry when I started this :) She still has refrigerated snacks and fresh fruits that stay out on the counter, but I have hopes this will make afternoon snack time so much easier and fun for her.
Tips to remember for preschoolers:
- They are only semi-independent...most of the time
- They still need help opening/closing some containers
- They still make messes...mostly accidentally
- They will almost always go for the sugary things if given the opportunity so choose your snacks for them to pick wisely
- Remember every child is different, so if you have more than one child you might want to create sections/containers specifically for each child
I hope you enjoyed this organizing adventure, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
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