As a book lover, I don't mind spending a small fortune making sure my kids have a variety of books available to them at all times. Because I'm raising them bilingual, most of these are in Spanish, but we also have a substantial amount of bilingual books and, of course, books in English. Both my kids have bookcases in their rooms and in the playroom, which I thought would be enough to keep their books organized. Unfortunately, the bookcases always seem to be in a state of disarray no matter what I do.
That's why I decided to go in search of ideas to better organize their books and I found some great ideas!
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1) Separate them by language. The first thing we need to do is divide our books by language: Spanish, English, bilingual (and even some in French).
2) Make them accessible. No matter how you decide to organize them, make sure your children have easy access to their books. Otherwise, they won't go for them. Also, don't put them way too high or it'll be hard for them to reach them and put them away.
3) Use baskets. For small board books, use baskets (or bins) and give each one a specific category, such as animals, colors, numbers, transportation. Put a picture of each category on the bin or basket to make it easier for your toddler to put them away where they belong.
4) Use stickers. For all other books, you can use different color stickers on their spine to identify their category. Ask your kids to help you divide the books into different categories and to choose what color sticker will identify them. Then explain how the system works.
5) Reference books. The best advice for dictionaries, children's encyclopedias and other special books is to keep them on a top shelf, that way your kids have to ask you for help if they want to use them and you can keep them better protected.
6) Seasonal books. If your kids have way too many books, one great idea is to put away those that are seasonal, such as those related to Christmas or to Easter, for example. You can put them on a higher shelf or just put them away until the holiday gets closer.
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