Running a fast-paced Sunday School takes more than a willing heart. Preparation and organization are keys to keeping your class in order. Organization begins with the Sunday School storage closet. Keeping supplies in order will make them easier to find and will keep them from becoming damaged. Nothing is more infuriating then reaching for a last minute craft and finding components missing. Invest a few hours and a few dollars and build a reliable system for storing ministry supplies.
Follow these organizational steps and get your group’s goodies in order.
- Start with a clean slate. Take everything out of your current storage closet. If you’re like me, you’ll need to sift and sort through what you have. Toss out anything you don’t foresee using. Place everything on tables or a countertop. If you have no current storage unit, gather all the supplies together and make a guess about what size storage unit you need to purchase. Snap a photo of your gathered supplies. Take it with you to a home improvement store. I did this and found a nice sales help person. I got a great deal!
- Choose storage bins that fit neatly inside the closet. In addition, you’ll need binders, labels and a good permanent marker or possibly a label-maker.
- Slide all your coloring pages, worksheets and printables inside sheet protectors. Place the protected sheets inside binders. It’s a good idea to have a separate binder for each subject.
- Create a label for each binder and attach the label to the spine.
- Sort crayons by size and/or color. This is a good time to separate the broken crayons from the intact ones. (Don’t toss them though because you can make cool wax place mat crafts with crayons.) Place the crayons in handled storage containers.
- Place scissors, yarn, cotton balls, glue and other supplies in plastic containers. Label the container where it can be easily viewed like on the side or on the lid.
- Arrange the stored supplies on the shelves of the storage closet. Rearrange the shelves until you are happy with the results. Use the label maker to create labels for the front of the shelves. Labeling the shelves will help volunteers put back items correctly.
Don’t let your hard work go to waste. Place a lock on the outside of your storage closet to keep little hands from invading your warehouse of goodies. Make closet organization a regular part of your room cleaning. This will help you stay on top of closet chaos and missing resources. Attach a clipboard with a sign out sheet if you share the close with many volunteers. Tracking resources keeps everyone accountable.