As you're busily preparing for the first day of school, there's probably a long list of things on your to-do list. At the elementary level, this most likely includes things like creating a seating chart, putting together homework folders, and fine-tuning your behavior plan. As you work through all of these details, I encourage you to also put some serious thought into how you will handle all the kids' backpacks.
Classroom Backpack Storage Ideas
Many classrooms already have a designated backpack station. Maybe it's a set of cubbies near the door or a backpack rack with coat hooks or pegs. Some schools have nothing in place and students hang their backpacks on the back of their chairs.
No matter what the storage situation is in your room, there are some things you should consider before deciding where your students will keep their personal items.
Backpack Problem 1 - Accessibility
For me, accessibility is usually my number one concern. Ask yourself - Do you want the kids to have easy access to their backpacks? Your initial thought is probably, yes, of course! Maybe that's true. But let's think it through just a bit.
Pros - Having easy access is a great idea when you don't have student mailboxes. The kids can easily put their school papers and graded work right into their backpacks without much fuss. That means fewer important papers getting lost or stuffed in the back of their desks. Easy access also makes arrival and packing up at dismissal a little bit faster - and you won't have a traffic jam around one centralized area.
Cons - When your students can easily get to their backpacks, you may find that you have to monitor them a lot more. Little kids love to bring toys to school. Big kids love to bring their phones. If backpacks are right there all day long, the temptation to go get those fun things from home can be hard to resist. How much time do you want to spend keeping an eye on that?
Backpack Problem 2 - Traffic Flow
If there is already a designated place for backpacks right by the front door, you may be inclined to just use it and move on.
Pros - Morning arrival is a breeze with this set up. Students come in and hang up their backpacks before heading into the room. This works out especially well if you have late arrivals. They can come in and unpack without distracting everyone else.
Cons - This convenient spot can cause problems with traffic flow - especially if your school has small entryways. How much chaos can you tolerate? Will a traffic jam of kids each morning drive you crazy? Do you have procedures in place to prevent the same kind of backup at the end of the day?
If there is a lot of space where your students enter the room, it can be the perfect place for entryway cubbies or wall hooks. But if the majority of your floor space is inside of the room, a different organization system might actually be better.
Backpack Problem 3 - Close Quarters
This one is a touchy subject because as we all know, kids can't help what their parents do. But if you've ever had a student from a family of heavy smokers or one with a cat that doesn't use the litter box, you know where I'm going with this. If the house smells, the backpack smells. And when all of the backpacks are in a tight space, odors transfer.
Here's a true story - I once had a parent complain that I must be smoking in the classroom because every day her child came home with a backpack that reeked of smoke. Needless to say, no one was smoking in my room.
Another consideration in the elementary classroom is lice. Lice issues are handled differently in different places. In my district, they no longer send kids home for lice - just a note asking the parents to treat with special shampoo. When all of the backpacks are hung closely together - often with jackets right there too - one kid with lice can easily become 3, 4, or 5 kids with lice. So if this is a common problem at your school, it's something to consider when planning your backpack storage system.
There are no pros and cons here. If you are able to space the backpacks apart, do it.
Backpack Problem 4 - Visibility
The last thing to consider is visibility. Do you have a good view of the backpacks? Can your students see them easily? This might not seem super important, but it can be.
When I taught first and second grade, there were a number of incidents of stealing each year. Nothing major - I'm not talking grand theft. But at least a few times each year, one student would accuse another of stealing a special pencil or some lunch money. It usually involved something being hidden in a backpack. And since teachers can't conduct a search, I would have to call administration. A lot of the drama could have been avoided if I'd just had a clear view of the backpacks throughout the day and could see someone poking around when they shouldn't.
In older grades - 5th and up mostly (but sometimes 4th) - you might want the backpacks mostly out of view. This is when some girls start needing personal items and they are often embarrassed by it. It can be a really big deal to an 11 or 12-year old. A simple solution is letting them access their backpacks away from their classmates' view (especially the boys).
So think about your students' age, developmental stage, and how important it is for you to keep an eye on the backpacks.
Pros - You can keep an out for any shenanigans and shady behavior.
Cons - Students can be distracted by others accessing the backpacks if they are visible; lack of privacy for some students.
Alternative Backpack Storage Ideas
As teachers, there's no perfect solution to these problems. We have to work with the available space in our rooms. It's not like we can just knock down a wall and put up an addition.
But before you just accept whatever set-up seems to already be in place, I encourage you to spend a little extra time at the beginning of the year thinking about the different ways to manage backpacks besides the traditional coat hooks by the door.
Here are some backpack storage ideas to consider:
Cubbies or Shelves
When I was in second grade (as a teacher), one entire long wall was full of divided shelves - more than any teacher could ever dream of using. I filled a bunch of them with books. I filled more with bins of task cards, school supplies, and math manipulatives. I still had at least 20 feet of shelves left. So I decided to forgo the backpack hooks by the front door and turn the shelves into cubbies.
This worked out well because:
Each student had their own area - no inter-mingling (odors, lice, etc.)
The backpacks were visible to me.
Students had easy access when needed.
There was room for lunch boxes too.
The downside to this arrangement was that some desks were VERY close to the cubbies which was a distraction for those students.
Don't already have cubbies in your room? A couple of 9-cube organizers will do the trick and you can put them wherever you want - and easily move them if you need to rearrange your classroom.
Back of Chairs
One school I worked at didn't have any designated area for book bags. There were no hooks, no cubbies, and the room was SMALL. The only real option was to have my students hang their backpacks on their chairs.
The positives of this system were:
Easy to access
Kids could keep school supplies in their backpack instead of their desk.
No inter-mingling
The best part - Packing and unpacking each day is much faster.
The downside to this solution is space. My room was already small and hanging backpacks on the chairs made it even harder to walk around the room.
Laundry Baskets
If your students sit at tables or in groups, and you have enough floor space, this can be a good idea. One laundry basket can easily hold four backpacks. Number your baskets to match your table numbers and stash them in a convenient spot.
Why this works:
They're moveable - Don't like where your baskets are? Just move them to a new spot.
Baskets can be spaced out around the room to avoid everyone packing and unpacking in the same spot.
This isn't my favorite solution but it does work if you don't have a better way, and you can get baskets fairly cheaply at your local dollar store. Plastic storage bins without the lids can be used in the same way.
Command Hooks
If your classroom doesn't have coat hooks - or you don't like where they are located - Command hooks are a great way to manage backpacks. Why?
They are easy to move. You can change your backpack spot next year, or anytime you want.
They can be spaced out as much as you like for good traffic flow and separation between students.
You can customize the height for your students.
The downsides - You need a decent amount of wall space and Command hooks can be rather pricey. If you create a classroom wishlist to share with parents at Meet the Teacher, hooks would be a great item to put on your list!
Now that you've thought about all of the possibilities and the potential problems, you can start thinking about which backpack storage ideas will work best for you and your students. Having a good system in place before a new school year starts takes a little extra time and effort, but it will pay off in the long run. So get out your to-do list and add just one more thing - backpacks.