Alternative Labeling Methods for Children

March 13, 2013

I was recently working with a client to design her children’s closets. Besides the sheer bliss that comes from being able to dream up an organization system from scratch, rather than having to work with that fair whether friend “pre-existing,” the task also presented an interesting challenge: how to identify the contents of storage containers to small people who may not yet be masters of the English language. Sure, a slap-dash label maker print-out will cut it for us reading folk (you can read, right?), but in order to identify things to children, you’ve got to get a little more creative than that.

Of course the easiest way to translate words into child-comprehensible symbols is to use pictures. You can DIY, download, or purchase picture labels of all sorts and styles, and then affix those to your storage bins or drawers.

If pictures aren’t your style, you can always rely upon the differentiation of the rainbow (by the way, how much does that spinning rainbow Mac wheel instantly cause you to escalate to the highest echelons of infuriation, making you seriously consider pitching your laptop across the room?). Regardless of how uniform your storage containers, you can add labels of varying colors to help your little one learn the system.

Some parents will also appreciate the opportunity to integrate actual words on their labels, while still utilizing one of the methods above as the main denominator. Throw the text in there for good measure and future developmental abilities, but throw the kid a bone by way of a shape, picture, or color.

The same result can be achieved by using storage containers that themselves differ in color or shape, and then adding text labels onto those.

And finally, you can forgo the requisite label altogether if you opt for storage that inherently distinctions itself. I’m most definitely referring here to these absurdly cute 3 Sprouts bins and
3 Sprouts boxes. I might purchase them for myself if that wouldn’t make me look like a psychopath or some brand of mentally confused.

Okay so now let’s talk: is there one single person out of the bunches reading this that has or knows a single child? Please say yes so I don’t consider this post a waste of my life. Thanks! (for everything).

Image credit: 1. (clockwise from top right) Wendy Copley, All YouSimple Mom, BHGI Heart Organizing, 2. Apartment TherapyThrifty Living, Getty Images, 3. BabbleDIY Network, BHGDwellStudio, 4. House to Home, The Land of NodReally Quite Lucky

4 Comments

  1. Nanette McKenney on March 13, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    The pictures with words approach is what I took labelling my kids toy bins. I took pics of different categories of toys and then made labels with the word underneath. I tied them to the handles of the bins with ribbons. It works well. The kids have no excuses when it is time to clean up!

  2. Laffertynyc on December 28, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    I have 3 kiddos and all the messy toys they come with. I did the (time consuming but worth it) method of taking pictures of what is actually in th container, laminating the pictures and attaching them to the front. Added words as well. It really worked for my kids and for sitters/visiting kids/etc to help with clean up.

    Greta blog, Annie!

  3. Laffertynyc on December 28, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    Great blog not Greta 🙂

  4. To Label Or Not To Label | Live Simply by Annie on April 19, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    […] – For the benefit of children (for more on this, check out Alternative Labeling Methods for Children) […]

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4 Comments

  1. Nanette McKenney on March 13, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    The pictures with words approach is what I took labelling my kids toy bins. I took pics of different categories of toys and then made labels with the word underneath. I tied them to the handles of the bins with ribbons. It works well. The kids have no excuses when it is time to clean up!

  2. Laffertynyc on December 28, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    I have 3 kiddos and all the messy toys they come with. I did the (time consuming but worth it) method of taking pictures of what is actually in th container, laminating the pictures and attaching them to the front. Added words as well. It really worked for my kids and for sitters/visiting kids/etc to help with clean up.

    Greta blog, Annie!

  3. Laffertynyc on December 28, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    Great blog not Greta 🙂

  4. To Label Or Not To Label | Live Simply by Annie on April 19, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    […] – For the benefit of children (for more on this, check out Alternative Labeling Methods for Children) […]

Leave a Comment





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