What is it with pencil erasers?
When we are doing schoolwork, nothing drives my son crazier than getting stuck with a pencil that has no eraser. Last school year it inspired numerous arguments with his sister, who has a way of making those erasers disappear faster than popcorn at the movies.
I decided as one of our back to school duct tape crafts we’d eliminate this problem by color-coding our supplies.
This year we’re organizing school supplies with duct tape.
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Add this simple idea to your back to school traditions this year and eliminate the confussion of whose supplies are whose.
Organizing School Supplies
When it comes to tape, I absolutely love the variety of colors and patterns of Duck brand duct tape. I always keep a few rolls on hand for impromptu projects like our Duct Tape picture frames.
With so many varieties to choose from, there is something for everyone when it comes time to be crafty.
Since it was an issue with pencils that inspired me to find a solution, I started with some of the new pencils we bought while back to school shopping.
I had the kids each pick out a color to mark their pencils with.
Since my goal was to color-code them, not decorate, I didn’t get super fancy. I just wrapped a 1 1/2 inch (3.75 cm) strip of tape around the top of each of the pencils. Easy peasy!
Next, I chose a fun Printed Duck Tape to claim a pencil of my own.
It seems I can never find a pencil when I need one. Now I’ll have at least one I can find.
We do a lot of homeschool work in the living room.
While books and papers usually get picked up off the floor, other supplies sometimes get left behind.
Once the kids are off and playing, it’s hard to get them to come back to clean up. No one wants to admit that the markers, colored pencils, or that glue stick is theirs.
My daughter had fun helping me mark these supplies with the same fluorescent duct tape that the kids had chosen for their pencils.
This year when we finish work I’ll know whose supplies were left behind and who needs to come back to clean up.
Also, the brightly colored tape will help both of them keep their supplies straight when they get dumped out to do work. No more arguing over whose marker is whose, or whether that sharpened colored pencil is really hers or if hers is the one with the broken tip.
I’ve taken the color-coded organization a bit further and also used it along the spines of their writing notebooks that stay in our morning basket. This time my son chose the color blue instead of the florescent yellow we used on his other supplies.
Now we can quickly tell whose notebook is whose, even from the side.
Plus, the duct tape will help strengthen the spine and make the notebooks last longer.
Finally, I even used our colorful tape to mark each student’s binders on the shelves. It makes it super easy to grab the right one in a hurry. (I think even our punctuation stick puppets are impressed.) 
While we used the tape to organize school supplies at home, it could also be used to keep supplies organized at school.
School Hack: If students are seated at tables, each table could have a specific color designated for shared supplies. This would make it easier to make sure any dropped items get returned to the correct area.
Duct tape also works great for keeping materials organized in the homework area!
We’ve had so much fun organizing school supplies with duct tape this week. And I love that the quick and easy color-coding is going to eliminate the drama.
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