Organizing Classroom Centers: Easy Teacher Organization Tips
- By Deedee Wills
- Updated on April 27
- 22 Comments
Table of Contents
ORGANIZING CLASSROOM CENTERS MADE SIMPLE
If your center time has ever felt a little… messy (you know the kind), you’re definitely not alone. Let me walk you through a simple, doable way to organize your math centers, literacy centers, and all those center materials so they actually work for you, not against you. The goal? Make everything easy to find, easy to manage, and easy for your students to use, so you can spend less time hunting for missing pieces and more time actually teaching.
I’ve tested just about every system over the years, from color-coding all the things to labeling everything in sight and cramming bins a little too full. What I’ve learned is this: simple wins every time. The tips I’m sharing here are the ones I use in my own classroom to keep learning centers, word work, and math activities running smoothly without that overwhelmed feeling sneaking in.
Start the Beginning of the Year with a Simple Classroom Organization System
Before you start labeling bins or printing centers, it helps to pause and think through how you want everything to run.
A few quick questions can guide you:
- How will students get the materials they need?
- What classroom space do I have available for student centers?
- What will cleanup look like?
- Where will their finished work go?
When your system stays the same across all centers, whether it’s math, literacy, or word work, it becomes much easier for students to handle things on their own. I have written about center classroom management before, so you can read more about that.
Use Monthly Bins to Keep Things Manageable
One of the biggest game changers in my classroom has been using monthly bins.
I used to keep all of my centers in a filing cabinet and quickly turned into a bit of a mess. I was constantly digging through stacks trying to find what I needed, and honestly, I forgot about half of the activities I had. My filing cabinet was like a giant sock drawer. I knew what I wanted was in there, but I spent so much time rummaging through it.
Switching to monthly bins made a massive difference. Now, I keep each month’s centers in its own container, and when a new month rolls around, I just swap them out. It takes a few minutes, and everything instantly feels fresh again.
Inside each bin, I include:
- Math activities
- Literacy center activities
- Word work materials
- Recording sheets
It keeps everything organized and easy to grab. AND I’m reusing the same resources year after year because now I can actually find them.
I got these plastic containers at Costco (keep an eye out for them because they come and go from their inventory). You can also find them on Amazon or at Michaels.
Store Center Materials in Plastic Containers
Inside each monthly bin, I like to keep things even more organized by using simple Ziplock bags to separate activities.
I didn’t always do this. I used to toss everything into one bin and tell myself I would “sort it later.” You can probably guess how that went. Pieces got mixed together, cards went missing, and setting up centers each week took way longer than it should have.
Now, each activity has its own bag, and it makes a big difference. Inside each bag, I keep:
- One center activity
- Center task cards
- A laminated direction card
- Recording sheets, if needed
Everything students need is right there in these tidy tubs. No digging. No guessing. No reprinting because something is missing.
When it’s time to set up centers for the week, I can just grab a few bags and I’m ready to go. It also makes cleanup easier because students can put everything back into the same bag they took it from.
It’s a small shift, but it saves so much time and keeps your center routine running smoothly.
Label Everything (Seriously… Everything)
Clear center labels really do make everything run smoother, especially when you’re the one managing all the materials.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, but having picture labels on everything saves so much time when you’re putting things away and getting ready for the next week. I like to label:
- The outside of bins
- Individual bags
- File folders
Here’s what I’ve found. When things aren’t labeled, I end up second-guessing myself. I’m opening bins, flipping through stacks, and trying to remember where I put things last time. It turns a quick cleanup into a longer task than it needs to be.
But when everything is clearly labeled, I can reset centers quickly and move on. I know exactly where each activity belongs, and I don’t have to think twice about it.
It also helps when I’m pulling materials for my monthly centers or weekly activities. I can grab what I need without digging or making a mess of everything else.
When everything has a designated home, it’s just easier to keep up with. Even when the week gets busy, your system holds together and you’re not constantly trying to reorganize from scratch.
Use File Folders for Easy Prep Activities
File folders are a great way to store board games. I keep my file folder centers in labeled bins like these and they are organized by themes. They stay in good shape and are easy to find. It also makes it really simple to pull them out and reuse them year after year without having to redo anything.
They work really well for organizing board games:
- Math activities
- Word work centers
I love that everything stays together, and I’m not dealing with a bunch of loose pieces floating around. Once they’re prepped, they’re ready to go whenever I need them. If the partner game has cards, using envelopes or Ziplock bags is a perfect way to the small pieces together. If the game has a spinner, you can place it inside of the file folder. I like to use these types of spinners for partner games.
Keep Recording Sheets Organized
I cannot EVEN tell you how many times, I have used the blacklined masters then the next year, wondered were they went. Those response pages disappear for some reason. I handle this two different ways.
- Comb Binding: Comb binding is a great way to keep monthly response pages together. So if the activity is part of a larger set, it is easier to keep all of those activities together.
- Use a Highlighter: Somehow I have have stand alone activities that have a response page. You can use a yellow highlighter and write “MASTER COPY” across it. If you use yellow, it won’t show on any copies you make.
This keeps everything streamlined and avoids last-minute scrambling.
Make It Affordable (and Sustainable)
Not everything needs to be laminated. Cards that students are going to just look at (like the ones on the wall in our writing center) do not need to be laminated. These cards are not going to pass through the hands of your entire class, so you can just print them out.
Some easy, affordable options:
- Reuse plastic containers from home. I love frosting containers for card games.
- Use gallon bags for smaller pieces
- Grab inexpensive bins from dollar stores
- Print labels on regular paper and laminate only what you reuse often
Start small and build your system over time—you don’t have to do it all at once.
Make Independent Work Easy
Centers are a time for your students to work on their own. You will find you will need to differentiate your centers at times. Some centers, like your classroom library or the writing center are already differentiated for you. Students will all work to the best of their abilities. However, word work or math skills may need some differentiation. Think about how you will communicate this in your kindergarten classroom. I liked to color-code activities to indicated the difficulty.
Your system doesn’t need to use the same color codes that I used Let’s imagine it is January and you are looking in your literacy center bins. You might find:
- Blue: beginning sounds activities
- Green: blending CVC word activities
- Purple: blending CCVC and CVCC words
I use washi tape on the cards, direction cards, and ziploc bags. This is a simple way to signal the skill levels. I let my students select the skill they feel most comfortable completing.
Center Organization in the Classroom Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, your system doesn’t need to be perfect to work well. It just needs to make your life easier.
Start with one or two small changes, find what works for you, and build from there. The goal isn’t to have a picture-perfect classroom. It’s to create a space where you can find what you need, your centers run smoothly, and you can focus on your students instead of your materials.
And if something isn’t working, you can always tweak it. That’s the beauty of it. Over time, you’ll land on a system that fits your classroom and makes center time feel calm, manageable, and maybe even a little enjoyable again.
FREE CLASSROOM CENTER ORGANIZATION LABELS
To make things even easier, I’ve put together a set of free monthly labels you can use for your center storage bins. You can just print them, add them to your containers, and instantly make your system feel a little more organized.
It’s a simple little add-on, but it saves time and helps keep everything consistent from month to month. You can grab the labels below and start using them right away.
Deedee Wills
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22 Responses
Thank you for all the great blogs. They always leave me feeling refreshed and with some great new ideas. My husband on the other hand isn’t as thrilled as I am. I just added the binding machine to my Amazon cart. Can’t wait for o get it. Ha! Unfortunately we don’t have a Costco in my area but I was able to find similar boxes for $4 each at Walmart. They are clear but other than that the same.
Tell your husband I am sorry…ha! Great job with the Walmart find! SCORE!
Did you find these containers at Costco recently?
Yes, just a few days ago (Sunday to be exact!) Happy hunting!
Do you know if Costco still has these containers?
Yes, I went about 3 weeks ago and they had a bunch!
I picked some up yesterday at my Costco!!! Thanks for the tip! You rock!
Having trouble keeping the same font for the editable boxes any suggestions? I followed the steps for the editable files but no luck
Hmm.. Can you try to download it again? or you can email me and I can do some screen shares with you.
deedee@mrswillskindergarten.com
Hi! I was looking for the small group planning pages. Are they in the downloads. I just entered my email in several of them but was just checking. I entered my school email but won’t be able to check my email until I get to my desktop. Thanks! I love and use so many of your items.
Hi there! The only way they will be sent directly to you is with an email. Is there an email you could use that you have access to? Also, school emails often have a filter that prohibits these types of downloads to go to you. So if you have a different email, that might work best.
I was also looking for the small group planning pages. I’m thinking about laminating them and reusing each week. Are they in with the free organization download? Thank you!
You can find them at the bottom of this blog post:
Small group
I was hoping to find the small group planning pages so I signed up for your newsletter, but I received a writing freebie.
Is there anywhere I can find the planning pages?
Gosh! I’m sorry… You can find it in the following blog post.
Small Group Planning Sheets
Help! I organized all the printable activities, yet not sure what you have binded? Did you just bind the originals or the I can pages? Why am I so confused? Sorry. Thank you for all you do to make my life easier!
Hi there! I just put the black line masters in the bound book. Then they are easy to take to the copier if I need to make one. (FYI: I am in a constant state of confusion…ha!)
How would you recommend storing the wonderful poetry stuff? I have bins for each month but, poetry has so many great things to it that it doesn’t fit. Any suggestions? I am loving all of your things and it is making my planning sooooo much easier! Thank you!
Yes! I used sentence strip storage boxes. I put each poem on a binder ring. I used two boxes for all of the poems. The center activities all went together in one bin. So all of April (for example) would go in one large Ziplock bag and placed in the bin. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Where did you get the tubs for your center items that you don’t separate in the Costco containers for your sentences, write the room, etc.
I got some at Walmart and some at Ikea!
Hi, DeeDee,
I purchased a ton of centers after watching the webinar and have ordered the colored storage bins. I’m still confused as to what goes in them. I know they are by month so do all the literacy centers go in each month or do you have storage for each type, like Write the Room, Predictable Sentences, etc.? That would be a whole lot of storage bins. Organization is my one weakness so trying hard to get my stuff in order.
Also wondering how you bind the blacklines without it cutting anything off? (I know…crazy, right?)
Thank you for any advice and for all of your awesome products!!!
Lori