The Backpack Project Finale: Making the Backpack Work for Each Organizational Style

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Last week, we looked at backpack habits and tricks style-by-style for the personal styles. And then yesterday, I got sucked into the lure of back-to-school shopping, and forgot to give you part two. So today, let's take a peek into what happens when kid and backpack meet the organizational styles. For ease of reading, I've used the male pronoun in the cram and jam description (with apologies to boys). While many of my favorite cram and jammers are boys, these styles are not gender specific!

• Cram and jammers keep cramming things in, but rarely take things out. They're likely to completely disregard all the nooks crannies and pockets in the backpack and simply toss everything into the main section, creating one big pile of papers, school supplies and miscellaneous items. Disregarding the smaller spaces isn't a problem (at least they know where everything is!), unless it means your child can't find what he needs when he needs it. Using brightly colored (i.e. hard to miss) folders, binders and other containers (zip-top clear plastic bags work, too) can help him spot the important stuff. 

          The propensity to stuff may cause other problems as well, most notably papers that are 

          crumpled, wrinkled and/or torn. If the papers make it into the brightly colored containment 

          systems, this is minimized. Teaching kids to use a simple packing system (heavy items on the 

          bottom, lighter items on top) will also help. While it may not stop the cramming and jamming, 

          it will save their belongings some wear and tear, as well as teaching basic packing skills    

          (useful at the grocery store, among other places). 

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• Drop and run organizers may use their backpacks as temporary storage when they're in a hurry...then forget to take out the things that don't belong. When they're not in a rush, drop and run kiddos might actually have assigned homes for the things that go into the backpack, but when "run" kicks in, "drop" takes over and the first available space becomes the item's home. Choosing a backpack style that's conducive to this organizational style (wide openings that close with a drawstring, for example, or perhaps a messenger bag) makes it more likely things will be dropped into the right spot when these kids are on the run. Like their cram and jam counterparts, these kiddos will benefit from some basic lessons in packing skills.

• Thanks to their tendency to store things in the closest available space, I know I put it somewhere kids may find an entire stash of non-school-related items in their backpacks. They typically haven't assigned their things a home, and so while the backpack (or some nook or pocket therein) seems like a logical place to put something at the time, when it's not part of an overall system, retrieval of specific items becomes challenging. The telltale "I forgot that was there!" or "So that's where I put it!" reveals this style very clearly. Like those with the I love stuff personal style, I know I put it somewhere kids may need to be discouraged from using the small spaces in the backpack (unless they label them) because those are the areas where things tend to "disappear."

Kids with all three of these organizational styles will benefit from emptying the backpack at least once a week, particularly if their personal style is I love stuff. Not only are they likely to find "buried treasure," but regular purging of the backpack teaches them the basics of de-cluttering, as well as the benefits of managing a storage space before it gets out of hand.

What tips or tricks have you discovered that make backpacks more manageable for your child?

The Backpack Project Continues: Making the Backpack Work for Each Personal Style

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So, you've got a kid and you've got a backpack -- a matched set, as it were (or perhaps several). You're invested in the idea of organizing by STYLE, but...what does that look like?

Let's take a look at what happens, style-by-style, when kid meets backpack. First up: the personal styles.

• I love stuff kids like to keep their prized possessions close at hand. They often carry their collections with them (as you probably discovered when you tackled last year's backpack). Sometimes they keep their special items all together; other times, their treasures are scattered throughout the backpack. I love stuff kids will need help striking a balance between lightening their load and carrying all of their prized possessions everywhere they go. These kids may actually do well with backpacks with lots of small pockets because those small spaces are the perfect place to stash their treasures.

          You can honor an I love stuff kiddo's attachment to his or her things by allowing a limited  

           number of non-essentials to travel in the backpack. Springing for that special folder

           or notebook they'll actually use is one way to bring style and function together, ensuring that 

           some of the "stuff" traveling in the backpack actually has a purpose. One caveat: to make sure
           they're not just sucked in by the item itself, have them show you how they'll use it before you
           buy it. 

• I love to be busy kids may need more than one backpack or tote bag, depending on how many activities they're involved in. These kids often carry reminders of and supplies for all of their activities with them. They may have a system for keeping track of all the essentials for each activity, (or they may not), but in their hurry to leave one activity for the next, they may end up leaving things behind. Assigning specific items to specific places (in specific bags) is a must for this style.

         A planner should absolutely be on the I love to be busy kiddo's back-to-school list. If busyness

         is their default style, helping them learn to track and manage their time is a life skill they'll need 

         as soon as possible. As with anything else, the planner should be one they choose, with input 

         from you regarding function (benefits of a daily vs. monthly view, size of blocks, etc.), rather 

         than style.

•  I need to see it kids may carry their stuff in their arms despite a nearly empty backpack. Since the "homes" they've assigned for their things are often table tops, floors and other flat surfaces, these kiddos will need help selecting the "just-right" place for their things. Kids with this personal style may need to be discouraged from using the small pockets and nooks and crannies of the backpack because that's where things tend to get lost.

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I need to see it kids benefit from labeling, color-coding,  

see-through compartments and other visual cues so they can trust that out of sight doesn't have to mean out of mind. Consistent homes can help, too, but certain key items (homework folder or assignment book, papers to be returned to school) should not be placed in an out-of-the-way part of the backpack unless the compartment is see-through or labeled. These are also the kids who need a dumping ground at home so that the backpack gets emptied every day. Once they can see things, they're in good shape.

Next week, we'll look at cram and jam, drop and run and I know I put it somewhere: the organizational styles.