More Spring Cleaning Tips for Children’s Ministry
16. Combine a lounge area and storage closet.
Do you have a lounge space for volunteers? Even if you have a separate supply closet, you can have a little shelving in the lounge for the most commonly used supplies. That way if a volunteer wants to improvise last-minute, they can easily access what they need.
17. Alphabetize your supply closet.
Who doesn’t love an easy, alphabetized closet? Sorting bins alphabetically makes it easy for anyone to find what they need.
18. Use portable storage solutions.
Maybe you’re in a mobile church and have been a little jealous seeing all these huge supply rooms. Don’t worry, we have tips for you, too! The RezKids team from Colorado also organizes a couple of satellite campuses with rented space. Those have no room for numbered bins, but the team uses portable storage on wheels that maximizes space, like the one seen here. How about a TV cart that unfolds to reveal storage? The RezKids team has found brilliant storage resources at portablechurch.com.
19. Plan ahead.
Jessica of Louisiana is #ministrygoals. When a family emergency took her away from ministry last year, lessons weren’t prepared, so her team had to scramble. In January, she decided to take action and organize her supplies for the entire year.
This small closet contains 53 lessons’ worth of supplies. All are bagged and labeled by week and ready to go. Jessica efficiently packed all that on the bottom shelf, leaving the rest of her small closet to fit organized bins of additional toys and supplies. For easy-to-prep curriculum options, click here.
20. Maximize small spaces.
Finally…got a small closet? As an editor for Group, I need lots of children’s ministry supplies on-hand so I can test the fun experiences we create. But working remotely in Maine, I had to fit all these in my tiny office closet! It measures at a whopping 15 inches deep by 21 inches wide.
Here’s what I did: Get bins that fit just right into your closet (measure the shelves before you buy bins!). Think of categories to fill the bins so you don’t have empty space. For example, instead of putting pens, colored pencils, crayons, and markers into separate bins, I made a “stuff that writes” bin.
Here are more ideas on making the most out of minimal space for your ministry.
Using the spring cleaning ideas in this article, you too can have a photo-worthy storage solution. Whether you have a small closet or a big room, use these tips to maximize your space and make it feel tidy and inviting.
But we have one more special gift to launch you into spring cleaning: a master list of all the supplies you may want to keep handy. (And if this feels like a long list for a small supply closet, just remember that I fit almost all this stuff into my 15×21-inch closet!)
After your supply closet is organized, you’ll be ready to organize even more ministry stuff…and get into more spring cleaning! Got some big messes to clean up? Check out these awesome hacks for common ministry messes.
This article was originally published on ChildrensMinistry.com, © Group Publishing, Inc.
