The first thing that comes to mind when deciding on where to put your homework station is the work space. Will your kiddos have room to work? Will it be a quiet place to study? Will there be any distractions? You also need it to be functional, fun and easy to look at. Whether you are at the kitchen table, in your kiddo’s room or in the dining room you’ll need a place that will work for your family. We had a big empty wall in our piano room, and it fit two desk perfectly for my two younger school age kiddos. We decided to turn that space into a homework station (or school room, as we call it). This space has become a functional, fun place for my kiddos to work, read & create. Let me share our 10 must-haves we used to create a functional homework station for our family.
1. Plenty of workspace.
Whether your kiddo is working at a desk or at the kitchen table, make sure they have plenty of room to work and spread out. I try to keep the desk (or table) free of clutter, so they have access to the entire workspace to do their homework or create their next big project on.
2. Handy paper storage.
I know a lot of work gets turned in over the computer, but that’s not always the case. Paper is still important! Especially for those math problems. Am I right? I love having handy paper storage in our homework station. I love this one I found at IKEA that has several different slots. I use ours for construction paper, white copy paper, notebook paper, cardstock and graph paper. I hung the paper organizer low, so my kiddos can easily grab whatever they need, when they need it.
3. Use clipboards.
I love clipboards! They are awesome and so versatile. I love hanging one clipboard up by my kiddos’ desk. It’s a great place to hang schoolwork that they are proud of or study notes or multiplication tables and more. I’ve always wanted to make a clipboard wall. I haven’t found the time or the space to do that yet!
4. Inspiration quotes.
I know school work isn’t always the most favorite thing for my kiddos to do. Sometimes it’s hard to keep your kiddo pumped and excited about tackling their homework assignments. One way to keep them focused (besides nagging!) is to have some inspiration quotes around your homework station. Right now our quote is “Work hard, then play”. We use this fun felt letterboard to display inspiration quotes in our school room. This letterboard is so easy to change up & switch around. My daughter is the one that comes up with the fun sayings we use. The quote before this one was “You can’t be a smart cookie with a crumbly attitude.” So true!
5. Baskets for storage.
I use baskets all throughout my home. I use them in my bathroom, in my kiddos’ rooms, in the kitchen & in our school room. They are great for keeping things out of sight. I use them to store books and extra supplies.
6. Rolling cart.
Rolling carts are amazing! I have them in my laundry room and craft room, too. Using them in our homework station seemed like a good idea, as well. We use ours to hold books, mason jars holding smaller items like paper clips, brads, rubber bands and clothespins and extra school supplies.
7. Jars for storage.
I don’t know if you are like me, but I love school supplies! I love the bright colors, & plus they are so fun to look at! So, use them as décor in your homework station. The best way to do this is to use jars. You can find these huge jars with lids at most department stores in the kitchen aisle. I use these jars to hold school supplies, magnet blocks, Legos & more. They help keep the homework station organized. It’s easy to find what your looking for.I love how it helps make our school room bright and colorful, too.
8. Cubbies (or lockers) for extra out of sight storage.
Some school supplies look super cute displayed in jars & out in the open, but some need a more discreet spot to hang out. ha! I love using the cubbies on these desk to store things out of sight. They are perfect for holding folders, textbooks & papers. I also put little fabric bins inside the cubbies to hold extra supplies like glue sticks and pencil sharpeners. In the future I’d love to add full size lockers in our school room. Wouldn’t that be cool? Just think of all the storage, too!
9. Wall shelving for storage & display.
Remember when we added open shelving to our kitchen? Well, we liked it so much that we added some open shelving above each work station in our school room. These shelves are so easy to make! Basically, you use a 1x12 board cut to length. Sand and stain the boards, attach the shelf brackets to the wall (preferably in the studs) and then place your boards on top & screw into place. These shelves are great for storing extra school supplies, pictures, inspiration quotes and more. I just love them! It’s fun to change them up and have new looks all the time.
10. Hang a calendar.
I saved the best for last! A huge wall calendar is a must in any school room or homework station. For our school room, we have a weekly calendar. Our monthly calendar hangs in the kitchen for the whole family. This weekly calendar hangs near our homework station. It has a spot for each day of the week. We can write in assignments, field trips & other classes and activities. It also has a spot for a to do list. This calendar is a dry erase calendar, which makes it so easy to erase each week & start over. If you have two kiddos using this spot like I do, assign each kiddo a color. Write all their activities in that color. That helps keep the calendar organized & easy for your kiddos to pay attention to what activities belong to them.
What is a must-have in your school room or homework station? Let me know in the comments below. How do you keep your kiddos motivated to do their schoolwork? Do you have any fun quotes we could use on our letterboard? I’d love to hear them.
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