44 Fun Organizational Activities to Help Kids Stay on Track

Organizational Activities for Kids: Explore games, worksheets, and activities to help improve your kids’ or students’ organizational skills while having fun. Download some free organization printables for your students.

Organization means developing systems or techniques to systematically and efficiently manage time, tasks, materials, and even our thoughts to achieve goals. An individual with good organizational skills can prioritize and arrange information and commitments to stay on track, meet deadlines, and keep things running smoothly in their personal, academic, or professional lives.

Importance of Organizational Skills

Organizational skills are a key part of executive functioning (EF), which refers to the brain’s ability to plan, prioritize, and manage tasks efficiently. Executive functions help kids stay on top of schoolwork, responsibilities, and daily routines.

Without strong organization skills, children may struggle with things like losing homework, forgetting assignments, or feeling overwhelmed by tasks.

Our organizational skills don’t work in isolation. They rely on, coordinate with, and interact with other executive functioning skills to help us stay on track and accomplish our goals.

Organizational skills may involve:

• Planning – Breaking tasks into steps and thinking ahead.
• Prioritizing – Knowing what needs to be done first and what can wait.
• Working Memory – Remembering instructions and keeping track of multiple tasks.
• Time Management – Estimating how long tasks will take and using time wisely.
• Materials Organization – Keeping track of school supplies, papers, and personal belongings.

Examples of Organizational Skills in Kids

So, what does good organization look like for a child? It’s about keeping track of their things, managing their time, and following routines that help them stay on top of daily tasks. Here are some examples of organizational skills in action:

1. Keeping Track of School Supplies – Remembering to bring pencils, notebooks, and homework to school.
2. Following a Morning Routine – Getting dressed, brushing teeth, and packing a backpack without reminders.
3. Tidying Up a Play Area – Putting toys away in the right places after playing.
4. Completing Homework on Time – Managing time to finish assignments before they are due.
5. Packing a Lunch or School Bag – Remembering what needs to be included for the day.
6. Sorting and Storing Papers – Keeping schoolwork and notes in the correct folders or binders.
7. Planning for Projects – Breaking a big school project into steps and working on it over time.
8. Remembering Daily Responsibilities – Keeping track of chores and school work..
9. Writing To-Do Lists – Making simple lists for tasks they need to complete.
10. Using a Calendar or Planner – Keeping track of important dates like homework assignments, field trips, or birthdays.
11. Prioritizing Tasks – Deciding what needs to be done first, like finishing homework before playing.

Tips to Help Kids Learn Organizational Skills

Helping kids develop strong organizational skills doesn’t have to be overwhelming—simple strategies and daily habits can make a big difference:

1. Use Checklists – Encourage kids to write down tasks and check them off as they complete them.
2. Create Routines – Set up a simple morning and evening routine to build consistency.
3. Sort and Label Items – Use bins, folders, or color coding to help kids keep track of their belongings.
4. Break Tasks into Steps – Teach kids to break big tasks into smaller, manageable parts.
5. Teach them to Use a Planner – A calendar or planner helps kids track homework, chores, and events.
6. Set Time Limits – Use timers to teach time management and help kids focus on one task at a time.
7. Have a “Home” for Everything – Make sure every item has a designated place to reduce clutter.
8. Practice Packing Backpacks & Bags – Have kids check their school bags before bed to make mornings smoother.
9. Play Organization Games – Sorting games, puzzles, and sequencing activities reinforce organization skills.
10. Praise their organizational successes! – Positive reinforcement is a great way to encourage kids as they learn to keep things structured and follow routines. Don’t forget to acknowledge their efforts, no matter how small!
11. Consider reward systems for extra motivation. Sticker charts, point systems, or small incentives can help reinforce good organizational habits and make learning more enjoyable.
12. Use Social Stories – Provide clear, step-by-step narratives that show what organization looks like in real-life situations, making abstract concepts more concrete and relatable. This can help kids with learning difficulties visualize and practice organizational skills (packing a backpack, keeping a tidy desk, or following a morning routine) in a way that makes sense to them.

Organizational Activities for Kids & Students

Fun activities and games are a great way to help kids understand and practice organizational systems, making managing tasks, materials, and responsibilities easier.

We have organized the activities in the following categories:

• Core organization activities
• Planning activities
• Activities to learn to set priorities
• Activities to learn time management skills
• Materials organization
• Working memory activities

Core Organizational Activities

1. Mind Mapping Challenge – Kids create a visual mind map to organize ideas, topics, or tasks related to a subject.
2. Category Sorting Race – Given a mix of random words, objects, or concepts, kids must quickly group them into categories that make sense.
3. Information Organization Puzzle – Scramble pieces of information (like parts of a story, science facts, or historical events) and have kids organize them into a logical order.
4. Step Sequence Scramble – Present steps of a familiar process (like brushing teeth or baking a cake) in the wrong order and have kids rearrange them correctly.
5. Color Coding Exercise – Use different colors to sort and organize notes, subjects, or types of tasks to improve mental organization.
6. Index Card Organizer – Write different topics, tasks, or ideas on index cards and have kids arrange them into related groups or sequences.
7. Instruction Breakdown – Give a set of jumbled, multi-step instructions and have kids organize them in the right order before acting on them.
8. Clue-Based Organization – Provide hints for categorizing information or objects (e.g., “These items belong in the kitchen”) and have kids figure out where things go.
9. Brain Dump & Categorization – Have kids list everything on their minds (school, home, hobbies) and then sort those thoughts into categories like “urgent,” “for later,” and “just ideas.”
10. Website or Folder Sorting Activity – Simulate a digital organization task by having kids group and label files, emails, or bookmarks into meaningful folders.

Planning Activities for Kids

11. Backward Planning Challenge – Start with a completed goal and work backward to outline the steps needed to achieve it.
12. Step-by-Step Storytelling – Kids write or illustrate a story by breaking it into clear steps (beginning, middle, and end).
13. Plan a Party – Have students create a checklist and timeline for organizing a small event.
14. School Planner – Fill out a daily schedule template to plan homework, activities, and free time.
15. Roadmap to a Goal – Draw a “roadmap” for a personal or academic goal with key milestones.
16. LEGO Blueprint Challenge – Plan and sketch a LEGO design before building it.
17. Escape Room Planning – Work in teams to create their own escape room with step-by-step clues.

Prioritization Activities for Kids

18. Task Sorting Race – Sort a mix of urgent, important, and low-priority tasks into categories.
19. Urgent-Important Matrix Activity – Have students sort a to-do list by asking: Is it urgent? Is it important? Then, they place each task in the appropriate square of the matrix. (This activity is included in your free download at the end of the post.)
20. Would You Rather? Task Edition – Choose between two tasks and explain why one should be done first.
21. Homework Triage – Rank assignments by urgency and importance before starting homework.
22. Survival Priorities – Rank survival items in order of importance for a fun hypothetical survival scenario.
23. Morning vs. Night Tasks – Sort daily responsibilities into tasks best done in the morning or at night.
24. Time Budgeting Game – Given a limited time, decide how to spend minutes on a set of given tasks.

​Time Management Activities

25. Pomodoro Challenge – Use a timer to manage your homework time. Work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break (and repeat!)
26. Beat the Clock – Estimate how long a task will take, then time it to see if the estimate was accurate.
27. Daily Time Pie Chart – Color in a pie chart to show how time is spent throughout the day.
28. 5-Minute Cleanup – Race to organize a space in five minutes or less.
29. Stopwatch Homework Tracker – Time how long different assignments take to complete over a week.
30. Fast vs. Slow Tasks – Sort tasks into categories of “fast” (quick things) vs. “slow” (things that take more time).
31. Calendar Planning / Student Planner – Use a physical or digital planner to schedule upcoming events and deadlines.

And the following blog post is a great resource to delve deeper into time management for kids:

• 30+ Fun Time Management Activities and Tips for Kids

Materials Organization

32. School Bag Inventory – Empty a backpack and reorganize it with labeled sections.
33. Desk Makeover Challenge – Organize a messy desk and take a “before and after” picture.
34. Label It Game – Use sticky notes to label where items should go in a room.
35. Binder Organization Race – Sort papers into the correct folders or sections as fast as possible.
36. Lost & Found Memory Game – Have students recall where they last saw misplaced objects.
37. Sort & Store – Organize craft supplies, toys, or school materials into bins with labels.
38. Packing a Suitcase Game – Given a scenario, decide what items are needed and organize them in an imaginary suitcase.

Working Memory Activities

39. Shopping List Game – Try to remember a list of items without writing them down.
40. Simon Says with Steps – Play Simon Says with multi-step directions.
41. Copy the Order – Arrange objects in a specific order, then try to recreate it from memory.
42. Story Retell Challenge – Listen to a short story and then retell it with as many details as possible.
43. Follow the Recipe – Read a simple recipe, then try to make it from memory.
44. What’s Missing? – Show a tray of objects, cover it, and remove one. Players must guess what’s missing.

More on this topic:

• 42 Working Memory Strategies & Activities for Kids

I hope all these activities will help kids or students with organizational difficulties. 

Other Executive Functioning Skills Resources

• Decision-Making Activities for Kids
• Critical Thinking Activities for Kids
• Working Memory Activities for Kids
• Memory Games and Activities for Kids
• Time Management Activities for Kids
• Problem-Solving Skills in Kids
• Problem-Solving Activities for Teens
• Attention Games for Kids
• Goal Setting Activities for Kids