Summer is upon us! With a new season come new needs for organizing. Here are twenty things you can do to keep things running smoothly throughout the season.
- Designate a spot for wet bathing suits and towels. Ideally, the bathing suits hang near where they are removed, and the towels are somewhere near the door to the home or the washing machine. If you have a pool, consider hooks or a free-standing rack nearby.
- Set up a container or two outside for small play toys such as buckets, shovels, bubbles, balls, etc. A mesh bag, laundry basket, or large bucket with a few holes drilled for drainage all work well.
- Decide where bicycles should be parked. Hanging them up is probably too much work for the busy season. Instead, allocate a section of the garage or some other covered space. Additionally, tell children where to put their helmets, and label each helmet clearly. Helmets can be hung from the handlebars, hung from a hook, or placed on a shelf near the bikes.
- Keep a few extra towels in the car to cover the seats when riding home in a wet bathing suit. Another handy item is a zipper bag for carrying wet bathing suits home if you change while you are out at a pool or beach.
- Label everything with your name so each item is easier to locate in “lost and found”: reusable water bottles, towels, goggles, hats, toys, pool bags, etc. You can write on items with a Sharpie™ or even use return address labels for items that won’t get wet (e.g. golf clubs).
- Give older children a beach/camp/pool bag of their own for their water bottle, goggles, toys, and snack. Mom shouldn’t have to carry everything.
- Set up a spot for “outdoor dining” supplies: plastic dishes, cups, stemware, grill tools, paper products, etc. It’s nice if they can be near the door that leads to the dining area. Another option is a weather-proof bin that lives near your outdoor dining surface. If you use a charcoal grill, consider getting a bin with a lid that will keep the charcoal dry.
- Establish a shelf or bin near the door for sunscreen and bug spray. This way, family members can step outside to apply the products and tuck them back in place before heading off. It’s also a good idea to keep an extra one of each in the glove compartment or center console of your car for those “out and about” needs.
- Designate a rack, tray, or bin for sunglasses near the door. Move winter supplies out of the mudroom/entry if you need the space. This is a good time to remove singleton gloves & mittens, stained items, torn pieces, and garments that no longer fit. Snow boots can also be removed until the fall.
- Fill a bucket with sand for storing garden tools. This is handy when your tools are damp. Just stick them upside down into the sand and it will help to keep them from rusting. If you are short on shelf space, garden and work gloves can be hung with a clothespin that has a hook.
- Consider a new “summer chore” list. Summer – when children may be less programmed than during the school year – is a good time to teach children a new skill: how to run a load of laundry, how to water the garden, how to cook a dish or a meal, how to clean a space in the house, etc.
- Set up a box or bin in the garage or on the floor of a closet for “clothes to donate.” When a family dons a garment from last year and it no longer works (too small, missing a button, no longer appeals, etc.), tell them to drop it in the box. Non-clothing items can go into the bin as well. When the container is full, toss it in the car and drop it off at a local charity or schedule a pick-up (e.g. www.scheduleapickup.com). This is also a handy place to place items that didn’t get used or worn over the previous year. If the parent wishes to retrieve an item from the bin for use by a future child, he or she should do so quietly. We want to encourage children to let go of whatever they no longer want!
- Create a summer calendar where family members (who are old enough) can see what the plan for the day is. Add activities, vacations, camps, special events, playdates, meal out, etc. If summer reading or supplemental learning is a part of the day, record this on the schedule as well. Your calendar can be anything from a giant dry-erase board on the wall to a digital calendar to which family members have access.
- If you are going on a driving vacation, pack a pop-up hamper or two. These are helpful to corral dirty clothes, hold toys, tote linens, and more. Also handy to have along are a couple of nightlights for those times when you are moving around in the dark in an unfamiliar space.
- Clear your bulletin board and files of anything that is no longer relevant or no longer important. This creates space for new things on the horizon.
- Take advantage of warmer weather to do a deep dive into your storage unit. Pull everything out, get rid of whatever you no longer need/want, and reset the space. Add shelving if you don’t have any (simple plastic shelves or rolling wire racks work well).
- Cull your toy collection. With kids playing outside, now is a good time to sweep through accumulated toys, art supplies, craft kits, etc. Remove what is broken or not being played with. For more tips on organizing children’s spaces click here.
- Make sure you have a well-stocked first-aid kit. Another smart idea is to enter the poison control hotline (1-800-222-1222) into your cell phone.
- If you are traveling, conduct the “two weeks and counting” plan:
- Confirm all travel reservations.
- Make dinner reservations for when you are away. If you wait until you arrive you may find that the restaurants are already booked. The same applies to extra excursions, event tickets, museum tickets, etc.
- Arrange for care of your home, pets, and plants.
- Renew prescriptions so you have enough to last for the duration of your trip.
- Start eating down your perishables.
- Establish a packing area where you can place whatever you think of that you might want to bring along. For more information on packing for a vacation click here.
- Tag photos with a keyword or two to make them searchable and easily organized, such as “beach trip 2021” or “Sarah’s 3rd birthday.” Remember to back up your photos to a hard drive and/or cloud storage. Remember, posting on social media is fun, but it isn’t a backup.
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Summer is meant to be enjoyed and always goes too fast. What summer organizing tips do you have to share?
So happy it is finally summer as it is truly my favorite season. That said, thanks for the summer cleaning/organizing tips and will definitely keep these in mind for this upcoming season now 🥰
I think you and I are kindred spirits on summer, Janine! Have a great one with your beautiful family!
You have fabulous tips here, Seana! I can’t think of anything to add. My favorites here are having the donation box for the family and then quietly removing something that could go to another child. The thought being that if a child notices you going into to ‘fix’ what they have done, they get the idea that their efforts are not good enough. I also like the idea of going through the accumulated information on the bulleting board and/or refrigerator. Clear it off to make room for the next ‘school year of stuff. Time to get out and enjoy summer!
Oh yes, good addition Diane. Clear the refrigerator as well!
What a great list! Just want to add that extra towels in the car are also good for when that car seat has gotten blazing hot from the sun.
So true – especially if you have leather seats LOL!
I love this list of tasks that makes life easier this summer! You have curated a list for everyone!
Thanks, Ellen. Summer is my favorite season. Anything that lets us enjoy it more is worth it!
Great tips for families! My own summers these days do not include kids or water sports. But they do include outdoor concerts, the kind with picnics on the lawn. I keep a backpack stocked with everything I would need, and extras in case my companion(s) forget theirs or didn’t think they’d need it: utensils, napkins, wipes, garbage bag, sunscreen, insect repellent, travel Scrabble, compact umbrellas, flashlight, water, etc. I use a collapsible wagon to haul camp chairs, food, drinks, blanket.
There was a season in our lives when we were picnicking a lot and that is such a good tip! We would keep a bag with those kind of supplies so all I really needed to do was add the food and drinks. Travel scrabble – we could hang!!
I love the idea of having a bin for the sunglasses near the door. My kids always forgot their sunglasses when they were younger. This tip would have worked great for them. Thanks for sharing these great tips! I’m definitely going to share this post!
Sabrina Quairoli recently posted…Why You Should Not Store Bed Linens in a Bathroom Closet
Thanks for sharing, Sabrina! My kids always forgot sunglasses as well. Helps if they are sitting there in plain sight!
I love that we’re at the point to talk about summer. It’s only been summer for about a week, but I feel the shift. I’ve already taken several trips where sunscreen, baseball cap, swimsuits, and beach chairs we’re needed.
Having a list for traveling helps a lot. And bringing snacks and possibly a cooler is helpful too. The other thing that’s always amazes me is how little we actually need when we travel. It’s great to think about applying that concept to home too.
I love all of your suggestions for embracing an organized summer. They include some prep for playing, relaxing, and getting things in a calmer way.
Cheers to summer! It is my favorite season and want it to be as light and stress-free as possible!
I didn’t know about storing garden tools in sand. I always bring mine indoors rather than leave them on the balcony so it would be great not to have to take them in and out every time I need them.
I keep mine in a bucket of sand and it really does help keep them from rusting and getting dull!
What a complete list, and such a perfect set of task goals for the business family during the summer. As a singleton who doesn’t do the beach/pool thing, not that many apply to me, but I’m seeing many things to help advise my clients who have this kind of lifestyle. And now I’m off to check my first aid kit!
Julie Bestry recently posted…Noteworthy Notebooks (Part 6): Get Smart (Notebooks)
It’s funny how all of the sudden you need antibiotic ointment or a bandaid from some summer adventure and then realize you don’t have it! Happy summer fun!
Such good ideas, Seana! The bucket of sand for damp gardening tools is one I’ll use today!
Lucy Kelly recently posted…Do you have an inventory?
It is so quick and easy, and it does help keep the tools in good condition.
Oh, we are so living this right now. I love the two weeks out plan.
Hope you have something fabulous on the horizon!
Excellent advice. Things are different in the summer and having designated space or containers is a must. The two week vacation plan is a very good idea. It can save a lot of heartache when you arrive. Never take anything for granted.
Hope you have some fun things on the horizon this summer, Dianne!
Love the tip about bringing along nightlights on vacation. I’m adding that to my packing list for our getaway in August. And I’m going to add ‘learn to do a new chore’ to Bennett’s summer bucket list! He’ll be none too thrilled, but oh well! 😉
I hope you are going somewhere cool and fun in August! I think kids start to get bored in the summer, so maybe you can find a chore that will feel more like a neat thing to know how to do. Worth a try anyway, right? I know that having competence builds confidence, so in the long run it is a gift to teach kids how to do all these things.
Great tips. People don’t realize that just a few hours of organizing for the season will save them so much time. I didn’t know about the garden tools in the bucket of sand. I have to do that.
Janet Schiesl recently posted…My 5 Focus Essentials
The bucket is a handy little tip. I’ve got my sheers, a trowel, scissors, and a spoon in there.
Love all of these ideas! I have special bins in one of my storage closets that are for picnic supplies—and of course, they are labeled!
I hope you have many fun picnics this summer, Marcia!