Organized Instrument Storage

As I was setting up my classroom last week I was reminded of all the little "hacks" that I've come up with over the years for instrument storage that have made my life, and more importantly my students' lives, so much easier! If you're looking to up your classroom organization game and make instruments more accessible for students, I hope these ideas are helpful!

1. Hand drums & Tambourines

My hand drum solution is by far my favorite idea and I've since done the same for my tambourines as well. Click on the photo to read the blog post where I explain what I used to get this set up:

2. Triangles

Another one of those instruments that is always so annoying to store... anyone else used to have triangle beaters falling through the holes in those plastic baskets? No longer. Click on the photo to see what I used to forever detangle my triangles!

3. Boomwhackers

Attaching boomwhackers to the wall with velcro is not an original idea but I do have some strong opinions about my specific arrangement- click on the photo to see the exact velcro I used and read the pedagogical reasons I have them arranged the way they are:

4. Ukuleles

This is also nothing original or terribly unique but I highly recommend, if you have the wall space, hanging the ukuleles with utility hooks like this! It makes it so much easier for students to get the instruments and put them back quickly.

5. Recorders

My students purchase their own recorders rather than having a classroom set, but I have them keep them at school for the first few weeks while I teach them proper playing technique and get them playing their first song before they take it home to practice independently, and this is what I do when they're keeping them in the classroom. This system made the process of students finding their recorders at the beginning of class so much faster! Click the picture to see what I used:

6. Other small percussion

I know not everyone has a giant wall of open shelves like I am blessed to have in my current room, but I've developed several key strategies for how to store other specific instruments, where to place them, and other little tips over the years that have made it possible for even my youngest students to use them much more independently! Click the picture to read about some of my top tips for these:

Which one are you most excited to use in your music classroom? Which ones do you already do? What other cool ideas have you used or come across for instrument storage? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!