In my classroom, I like to keep students organized by color.  My kiddos sit in groups of four, and each group is referred to as a color.  For example, I will call the “red table” to line up, or get snack, and they know who they are.  I currently have red, orange, yellow, purple, and blue tables.  I have exactly 20 students this year, which is *awesome* and pretty much *unheard of* in my district… so we all fit into five groups.  I designate tables by using these caddies from Lakeshore:

The caddy sits in the middle of the four desks, and houses the group’s crayons, scissors {also color coded… the red table has red handled scissors, etc.} and glue.  Crayons are the only “personal” supplies in my classroom…. everything else is “community,” to eliminate the “she’s using MY glue” arguments.  Sorry for this bad quality photo:

I use slider pencil cases {that I snatch up for $0.25 each in the summer time at Staples} for my students’ crayons.  I hate the cardboard Crayola boxes that always fall apart within DAYS. So my kids keep their crayons in the sliders instead.  I don’t color code these because I have to change seats every so often.


My closet is also color coded.  I don’t have cubbies or anything, so students hang their backpacks and coats on hangers that match their table caddy:

I have five hangers in each color {hmm, where’s the 5th purple hanger in this pic?} so everyone has a hanger, plus there’s an extra, and there are no arguments.


I found some other great color coding ideas at Lakeshore, and thought I’d share:

I have a few ideas about how I’d use these cute bins.  My kiddos could store their library book bags in them {red table in the red bin, etc.}, or their journals & computer notebooks, or… there are so many uses!

These magnetic display clips would be great for displaying student work, if you have unused blackboard space, or a magnetic area somewhere.  I always cover a portion of my board with posters and charts, so if I find another place for those, I could make a “brag board” with these.

Luckily, I have a green caddy and green hangers handy, because neither of those products include purple!  I’d have to swap out my purple table for a green table, which kind of makes me sad, haha.

Does anyone else color code?  If not, how do you keep things organized?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *