Whether you’re planning ahead for the school week, daycare, or just need clothes for hanging out at home, it’s so helpful to have your kid’s outfits organized and laid out in advance. Since I made our kid’s weekly outfit organizer, the ‘getting dressed’ step in our morning routine has been seamless.
Any chance I get to create a “system” that adds organization and order in my life, I take it. I wanted to find a way to make getting our kids dressed in the morning an easier process. We have two under two, so we’re still at a pretty easy stage as far as morning routines go — no school morning rush or battles over independence. However, we’re not morning people and I wanted to find something that would, at a minimum, encourage us to change our kids out of their pajamas.
The solution? A weekly outfit organizer that hangs in both of my kid’s rooms.
I work outside the house 4 days a week, so it’s up to my husband to get the kids dressed in the morning. And although he’s actually pretty good at giving the kids matching outfits (we all know the stories of dads sending their kids to daycare looking crazy) I still like to be involved and help pick their clothes. I like to think that’s my way of helping out in the morning even though I’m not there.
I used to try to lay my sons outfits out each night, but that didn’t always happen. I needed a place to organize a week’s worth of outfits so that I only had to worry about this chore once a week.
Making my kid’s weekly outfit organizers
I looked around online for an outfit organizer but everything I found took up a lot of closet space and was just kinda ugly. I was looking for something that could hang against a door or wall (not on the closet rod) and didn’t scream “I’m made of bright primary colors because I’m a product for children!!!”
I scoured the internet and finally, I found this 6-pocket hanging organizer that was the closest to what I was envisioning. It’s not perfect, but it would work just fine with a little tweaking!
I loved that the pockets were small, but big enough to fit a toddler’s full winter outfit. I love the clear windows so that you can see what’s inside. The only problem was it had 6 pockets, which didn’t make sense for a full 7-day week or 5-day school week. I still don’t know what to do with the 6th pocket, so I’m leaving it empty for now but I’ll probably just cut it off the bottom.
If you don’t want to cut up your organizer, you could label it Saturday/Weekend or maybe shoes, socks or another item you need planned out for the week.
For the labels, I used my Cricut and standard white vinyl. I apologize I didn’t take any pictures of the labeling process, but it’s pretty self-explanatory if you’ve ever used a Cricut. All I did was cut and adhere labels in pretty handwriting font for each day of the week. Very much The Home Edit vibes.
(Looking back, I realized this isn’t the easiest font for young kids to read. I’ll likely change it in the future before my oldest is starting to read and getting dressed himself. But for now, I like it!)
The organizer came with metal hooks that allow you to hang it over a door (which work great for these photos) but I wanted it on the wall so I used command hooks instead. I just stuck these on the wall where I wanted my organizer to hang inside their closets and it’s been super sturdy so far.
Using the weekly outfit organizer
When it comes to actually using the weekly outfit organizer — that’s the best part! I like to pick out my kid’s outfits as my husband is giving the kids a bath on Sunday night. I bring my phone with me so I can check the weather and our calendar in case there’s any reason for special clothes. Usually there isn’t, but I’m sure it’ll be more common as our kids get older.
I pick out a shirt, bottoms, socks and anything else they’ll need to wear for each day, throw it in the pocket, and that’s it. Don’t forget underwear for the older kids of course! We’re still in diapers over here.
(If you have older kids who want to pick their own clothes, make this something you do together each Sunday. It doesn’t matter who is picking the clothes, as long as you’re planning ahead and everyone is prepared for the week.)
This process only takes about 5 minutes per kid and it allows me to actually have fun when picking out their outfits. My kids have some really cute clothes and I’d be lying if I said I don’t like playing dress up with them while they still let me. It’s way more enjoyable to plan their outfits when I can take my time rather than rush while trying to get out the door.
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