Are you getting ready to dive into all things flexible seating? Maybe you’re already all in, but struggling to deal with ALL THEIR stuff… or maybe you’re a few years in and need some easy, better tips and tricks! No matter where you are in your flexible seating journey, you’re going to learn some easy hacks for storing and organizing ALL things flexible seating. Don’t miss out on the must have freebie too!
How Do I Store Flexible Seating Options?
One of the biggest questions I get asked by teachers is where to store all the wonderful new seating options they have! Obviously, regular desks and chairs are much easier to store and plan because it’s familiar and we’re used to it. But in all actuality, it takes up SO much space! When you get all your flexible seating set up and organized, you’ll find out that you have much more room and things will be better organized!
Let’s start with some easy favorites that teachers love and typically have for flexible seating!
Lap desks – These are easy to store and stack really nicely together. I often find a corner to stand them up in so that students can easily unstack what they need and go.
Clipboards – I love to stash these in a basket. Even better, stash a couple baskets around the room so that students are’t all gathering at one location when they need a clipboard.
Scoop Rockers – My favorite way to store these is with the Large Dot Basket from Big Lots. It is the perfect size to hold 6 scoop rockers and fits nicely in a corner.
Yoga balls and Wobble stools – For both of these options, I like to store them under a table. They can be a little more diffcult to store since they are oddly shaped so keeping them under a table does pretty nicely. I would also highly recommend yoga balls with legs attached to the bottom so they don’t roll away. I’ve found out the hard way that those can be quite a pain to store and organize.
Crate seats – Crate seats are also easy to store under tables. We keep them at our low table for students. They are one of my favorite flexible seating options because they can be used for storage themselves! Check out how to make them HERE!
When you are getting ready to organize all these seating tools, make sure to spread them out. For example, my basket of clipboards is in a different place then my scoop rockers and my scoop rockers are in a different spot than my lap desks. This keeps areas from getting too congested by students, as well as gives them different easy-to-store homes around the classroom.
If all else fails my number one backup storage solution is baskets, baskets, and more baskets! Got clipboards you need to store? Put them in a basket! Got wobble cushions that don’t have a home? Put them in a basket! By simply having an excess supply of baskets, everything is bound to have a home and stay better organized because of it!
What About Supplies?
Along with storing seats, storing supplies can also cause a lot of chaos and anxiety. We are going to specifically cover what to do with student supplies in the next section, but what about the rest like pencils and crayons? The first thing you need to ask yourself is do you want to go the route of community or individual supplies? I honestly like a mix of both. This way students always have what they need, but that they can also easily get what they need when they need it. I LOVE using the 3 Drawer Sterilite Bins for everything. They are kept all around the classroom and are used for student supplies like pictured below, small group bins, and so much more! Students can easily have access to what they need so they aren’t interrupting me to get it.
As you can see from below, students can get whatever they need when they need it. It keeps everything organized and easy to access and again, they don’t have to disrupt any teaching moments! I also label everything like below so that students can visually see or read the label. Grab the labels HERE!
When deciding to implement flexible seating options in the classroom, the organization of all things has to be thought about thoroughly. These are questions that help you begin to think through and plan out how different a flexible seating classroom looks.
- Will you have individual or classroom supplies? A combination of both?
- Where will students store their materials, books, folders and such?
- Where will you store different seat choices?
- What system will you use for students to access seats and materials?
Let me help you think through ALL the things with this FREE checklist!
Where Does All Their Stuff Go with Flexible Seating?
As far as organizing individual supplies, book bins and portable pencil boxes with personalized name tags are our classroom go-tos. I love THESE bins from Lakeshore. They are big enough to keep everything that students need access to on a daily basis. From folders, pencil boxes, books, and more, it can all fit! In their pencil boxes, they can store their pencil, crayons, scissors, and more. We use THESE portable name tags in case they need extra support spelling their name. It also contains other tools to support them too!
We also use numbers instead of labeling things with their names. I prefer number organization because it doesn’t have to be relabeled each year for students. You can also call numbers when students need to get or return supplies. As you can see from above, the connect and store bins fit nicely into bookshelves. This keeps everything organized all year!
One important thing to remember while getting everthing set up for students is to remember that many students will not have had experience with flexible seating. So it’s important to take it slow and set up all the expectations for where to store things and how to access needed materials. It will take some time but I promise you’ll enjoy it better because there will be no more messy and unorganized desks!
How Do They Choose Their Flexible Seating?
The last question I get asked a lot by teachers is how students choose their flexible seating each day. Now there are A LOT of answers to this question. I have actually tried quite a few ways and spent a lot of brain power during our trial and error phase. My favorite way to have students choose is pictured with the chart below. When each student comes in for the day, they grab their number sticker and place it in one of the squares next to the flexible seating option of their choice. We use Velcro Dots so that students can easily add and remove their numbers as needed.
Again, I prefer numbers so that they can be used year after year. There are boxes for the number of flexible seating options we have in the classroom. If all four squares are gone from an option, students know that none are left for the day and that they need to pick something else. This way helps alleivate a lot of fighting and keeps everything organized!
Where Do I Start?
When I was getting started with flexible seating, I was so overwhelmed and lost. I had no idea where to start or what to look for. But have no fear! I’ve created this jam packed Flexible Seating Bundle so you don’t have to scramble for resources or put a modge podge of random things together. Instead, you’ll have EVERYTHING you need to begin flexible seating from DAY ONE with students! Included in the bundle you’ll find detailed lesson plans, parent information, editable anchor charts, and SO much more. Check it out HERE! Want more tips and tricks for successfully getting flexible seating up and running? Check out the Ulimate Flexible Seating Guide!
I really hope you enjoyed learning more about how to successfully implement flexible seating in your classroom! Stuck on planning and want help? Got specific storage questions for your classroom? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll be glad to help answer them! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Flexible Seating Setup Checklist FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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Hi
where did you get the basket from to store scoop chair/rockers and do you know the size
Hi! I got that from Big Lots!