Not-so-lazy Susan

What do you get when you take an old IKEA lazy susan, add some recycled jars, and toss in a bunch of art supplies and writing utensils?

 

a colorful buffet for kids with bright ideas...

                                        a carousel of creativity!

 

I've been putting this dizzying array of art and writing supplies (along with a big pile of paper) in the middle of the kitchen table most evenings lately, usually when I'm cooking dinner. It seems to draw Jack to the table (excuse the pun) and inspire some end-of-the-day self-expression.

 

He likes that he has a big selection of self-serve materials, and I like that everything's tidy and not at all overwhelming.

 

I also love that I can easily slip it into a kitchen cabinet when we're done using it. The lazy susan makes it super-simple to retrieve specific things as needed ("I need a red crayon to color a fire truck!"). And tucking it out of sight when it's not in use is a surefire way to peak a child's attention once it re-emerges. When you keep stuff out in the open all of the time, it becomes like wallpaper, fading into the background. But pull this out of the cupboard and just watch as your kid gives drawing and writing a whirl!

Who could resist?

Comments

[Amber]

What fun!!

[adrienne]

Great idea! How did you fasten the jars down to the lazy susan? I know my kids would love this.

[Isabelle]

Great idea!!
Actually your blog is full of great ideas!
I will definitely come back :)

[Engracia]

What a great idea to settle the kids down, or even to entretain them when you need to do something that requires you to concentrate with not too much noise in the background, I will certainly be using this idea.

[Anne]

That does look really appealing! You always have everything so neatly tucked away... where do you find such perfect glass jars for everything?

[Heather Brandt]

I'd be interested to know, too, if you fastened the jars down and if so how you did it.

Thanks,

Heather

[Teresa Clark]

Love it.

[Katherine Marie]

Incredible not-so-lazy-susan!!! And are your cupboards always so clean and sparkly? OH my!

[Jan Scott]

What a great idea! I need to do something like this so I can find the sideboard in my dining room again (too much clutter on top). I love how you store your fruits as well....

[allie]

this is a nice idea for all sorts of materials - I'm thinking about a lazy susan with small baskets of building materials. that way no one is knocking over those tabletop structures by reaching over for the block basket! thanks for sharing :)

[orangepekoe]

brilliant idea. the kids will have a hard time keeping the hands off the lazy susan. so much fun!

[Melissa]

I bought this same lazy susan in November to do this exact same thing! 8 months later, and the lazy susan is still under my bed :( I couldn't decided what kind of cups to use...great idea to use jars! Maybe I'll finally get around to using ours. Thanks for the reminder!

[Cindy]

That is a neat idea! I have a lazy susan gathering dust under my china cabinet...time to put her to work! Thank you for sharing.

[mandy]

This works great just for daily things too. A caddy w/ pencils, sharpeners, post its, scissors, a calculator, ruler...all those things that kids have to get up for & end up wasting a ton of time searching. Then getting sidetracked & forget what they were searching for in the first place!

[Minnie]

Oh, thank you for the idea. I have a lazy susan that looks just like this, from IKEA for ultra cheap and I store art supplies inside little cans but make sure they are OUT of reach of my kids on a high shelf in my pantry, mainly because of my two-year-old not being ready to have these at her disposal. But I've never thought of simply putting the Lazy Susan out for limited amounts of time. I'll have to try this as my two-year-old is actually the one who enjoys drawing/painting the most. Thank you for another inspired idea.

[Indigo]

I've been doing this for about a year now. I have these types of jars in our Montessori homeschool room. :) Glad to see someone else using this idea as well.

[rebeca]

fabulous idea!

[Jennifer]

I love this idea! Im planning a new lazy-caddy inspired by your suggestion as we speak! Thanks!

[Jennifer]

Thanks for the comment, Melissa. I *love* your blog! I'm so happy you came to visit mine!

[Jennifer]

When we use jarred tomato sauce, I like Barilla marinara sauce. I save all the empty jars, and, there you have it! Free, recycled, glass goodness, perfect for many organizational projects! (p.s. I also keep and reuse pickle jars, baby food jars, glass juice bottles... I have a thing for recycled glass). Oh, and the cans from crushed tomatoes too. I reuse them in all sorts of crafty ways!

[Jennifer]

oooh. You have a good point. We just put a Lego City airplane together the other day, and we sorted all the pieces into little baskets according to color before we started building. I should have broke out the lazy susan for this job! Thanks for the great idea (we have 3 more Lego vehicles waiting to be built!).

[Jennifer]

I was planning on fastening the jars, and considered trying hot glue, velcro, etc. and I was actually holding off trying it for that very reason. But finally I put it out without fastening them at all (I guess just like you would set ot food, condiments, etc. on a lazy susan) and it worked out perfectly fine. So I haven't needed to fasten them after all!

[Jennifer]

That particular cabinet was organized recently in response to my just-turned-one-year-old emptying its contents on the floor on a daily basis. Is cabinet emptying going on in your house as well? Some days I feel like all I do all day is pick things up!

[Cindy]

That is such a great idea, I will have to so get one but I think I might keep it hidden in the cupboard until the kids go to bed!

[Catherine]

I just wanted to stop by and say firstly I found your blog last night and I really wanted to say that I enjoy the creative and fun ways you encourage writing with your children. The lazy susan is a great way of all things being easy accessed to everyone. Thanks again. Catherine:)