If you’re like me, you’re constantly looking for creative classroom storage! See what works for me below!
Therapy Rooms or Closets?
Therapy rooms (I use the word “room” loosely here) are a hot topic for SLPs. We all know that SLPs are notorious for having to do therapy in all kinds of spaces, including but not limited to, teeny tiny classrooms, storage rooms, closets, janitor closets, the back of the library, hallways, picnic tables, common areas, teacher break rooms, the ISS rooms, bathrooms, “shared” classrooms, and more. I’m so super thankful that I have my own space (tiny as it is), that you won’t dare hear me complain. Like ever!
But because it’s super tiny and I like stuff, I have to be creative about my storage so it stays tidy and organized and not cluttered and distracting for my students. One question I get asked about quite often is how I store my printable teaching/therapy materials (like those I make and buy from Teachers Pay Teachers). I’m so excited to show you what works great for me!
Lacking in Materials, but not for Long…
When I got my first job in the “real world,” I was a traveling Speech Language Pathologist between two elementary schools. Neither had many materials, but I had already started quite the hoard of games and Super Duper materials while in grad school. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that lugging jumbo-sized bags of games and other therapy items to and from schools, private clinics, and my car wasn’t going to cut it for very long.
Printable Teaching Materials Coming Out of My Ears,,,
Thankfully, shortly after that, I discovered Teachers Pay Teachers and the art of blogs. I soon learned that I could create materials that worked for pretty much my entire caseload and not have to lug around heavy boxes and bags everywhere I went. Fastforward years later, and I now have quite the collection of printable therapy materials that I use daily, weekly, and yearly with my students.
With the amount of printable teaching materials I’ve collected, I needed an easy way to store these activities that keeps them organized and readily accessible. After trying several different options including small boxes, folders, filing cabinets, Ziploc bags, and more, I finally discovered book buddy bags, and I was quickly sold!
Book Buddy Bags:
These Book Buddy bags are amazing. They fit 8.5×11 paper, and most books fit in them as well (especially paperback). The bags also have snap closures on the top, so they stay closed (unlike a lot of Ziploc-like bags). They also have little hangers on the top, so you can hang them up if you’d like as well! You can find the affiliate link to these below:
Plastic File Tubs:
I store all of my book companions, themed-therapy packets, and stand-alone activities in these bags! Then, if the activities are seasonal, I store the Book Buddy bags in the plastic filing tubs seen below from Walmart. You can actually find these in lots of different stores as well, but I live in a small town with no Target (I know, it’s torture), so Walmart is my go-to.
For the Book Buddy bags containing year-round or stand-alone activities that don’t go in the file tubs, I store them all in an empty file cabinet drawer. They fit perfectly!
How do you store your TpT or printable teaching materials? Do you have any creative classroom storage tips? I’d love to hear!!!
