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Week 02 · My Room, My Job

Tuesday

Drawers sorted by kind
// A bed in four steps, a place for everything, a ten-minute tidy
⏱ about 15 min

Tuesday: Drawers sorted by kind

Hazel the Hedgehog pulls open a drawer in her burrow. Socks, shirts and a scarf tumble out in a tangle.

Samantha the Squirrel peers in. "How do you find anything?" Hazel sighs. "I don't. I dig."

Samantha tips the whole drawer onto the bed. "Watch. Shirts here. Socks here. Scarf there." Three neat piles appear. "Everything by kind. One kind, one spot. Now you never dig again."

What by kind means

Sorting by kind means putting things that are the same type together. Shirts with shirts. Socks with socks. Pants with pants.

When each kind has its own spot, you know where to look. You also know where to put things back.

A drawer sorted by kind takes less time to use every single day. The sorting is work once. The finding is easy forever.

  1. Pull everything out of one drawer onto the bed.
  2. Make a pile for each kind: shirts, pants, socks, pajamas.
  3. Set aside anything that does not belong, like a toy or a paper.
  4. Fold each pile neatly. Socks go in pairs.
  5. Put one kind in each drawer or each section of a drawer.
SORT IT OUT
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which things belong in the same pile?
You find a toy car in your shirt drawer. What do you do?
Why sort by kind?

A simple shirt fold

Folded clothes take less room and stay neat. Here is a fold that works for most shirts.

Lay the shirt flat, face down. Fold one side to the middle. Fold the other side to the middle. Fold the bottom up to the top. Flip it over. Done.

FOLD A SHIRT. PUT THE MOVES IN ORDER.
  • ?Fold the bottom up to the top.
  • ?Lay the shirt flat, face down.
  • ?Flip it over.
  • ?Fold one side to the middle.
  • ?Fold the other side to the middle.
WHY THIS EXERCISEFolding the sides first makes a neat rectangle that stacks without tipping.
DrawerWhat lives there
Top drawerSocks and underwear
Middle drawerShirts
Bottom drawerPants and shorts
Side shelfPajamas

This is one way to set up drawers. Yours may be different. What matters is that each kind has one spot.

Where does everything go when you empty a drawer to sort it?
What do socks go in when you fold them?
How many kinds of clothing go in one spot?
StatementTrue or false?
Sorting by kind means putting the same type of things together.?
A toy belongs in the sock drawer.?
Folded clothes take up less room.?
You should sort every drawer at once.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEOne drawer at a time keeps the job right-size. Each drawer done is a win.
Who tipped Hazel's drawer onto the bed?
WHY THIS EXERCISESamantha knows that seeing everything at once makes sorting fast.
Try it
Pick one drawer. Just one.
Empty it onto the bed and sort by kind.
Fold, then put each kind back in its own spot.
Safety first
Pull drawers out slowly so they do not tip or pinch fingers.
If a drawer is stuck or heavy, ask your grown-up to open it.

One drawer sorted, Helper! Tomorrow Hazel tackles the closet: hanging by kind, pairing shoes and clearing the floor.

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