When Gage was born, Hunter was just shy of 2. As Gage got older & they started using some of the same things, we had to figure out how to signal whose was whose. Hunter was starting to recognize his name around the 2 year mark, but obviously that didn’t do us any good for Gage.
To be honest, I’m not even really sure how we started having a “color” for each kid; it just sort of happened in a way. Hunter’s favorite color at the time was blue, so we’d buy him things in the color blue if we had a choice. We started just giving Gage green items (it was another common color choice for the stuff we were buying for them). Little did we know how helpful & useful this would be as we had a third kid & are considering a fourth. Mom needs structure, ya know 😉
Some things were super easy – we already had bowls in both colors, toddler forks, cups, plates, etc. Most of the items we had were bought in sets and typically came with blue, green, orange and another color. A few years back, I needed labels for their cups to send to school, so I ordered blue with Hunter’s name on it & green with Gage’s name on it. I was quite astonished at how quickly they caught on to “the blue label is Hunter’s & the green label is Gage’s.” Both boys can read and spell their own names now, but this was really really great when Gage couldn’t. He learned his colors much sooner than his name & he could recognize by color what was his.
What I didn’t realize would be an added benefit, was how easy it is for the parent to quickly spot whose is whose. If I see something laying around, I don’t have to go walk over and look at whose it is. I can quickly see from afar & call whichever kid needs to pick their stuff up.
Here are some examples of things that we’ve been able to color code so far:
Plates, bowls, cups, name labels, headphones, book bags, lunch boxes, snack cups, toothbrushes, watch bands, towels (you can either get white towels and monogram their names in their specific color or you can just buy the actual color towel; I prefer the white towel system because it’s easier to wash them all together but our pool towels follow the color system).
We also plan to use color coded luggage and packing cubes (one of our must-have travel items) for when we take trips in the future. Right now, I still pack us all together but eventually we will keep each of the boys’ stuff in their own respective colors, which makes it a bit easier when unpacking/finding stuff. I also see myself color coding their underwear HAHA. The two older boys are pretty close in age/size, so it would be so nice not to look at the tags every time you’re grabbing some. For now, characters are life & we’re in the phase where whatever gets them to potty in the big potty is most important.
Now, this color coding doesn’t work in all circumstances. The big boys Amazon Fire tablets come in these great drop-proof cases, but the only colors available when we bought them were blue & yellow. In typical first child fashion, Hunter gets the blue & Gage gets the leftover yellow 🤣. Same with their nighttime cups – they come in a 2 pack & the colors are blue & orange. Again, Hunter has blue & Gage gets the orange. I’m thinking Beckett will inherit some blue stuff as Hunter outgrows it. By default, poor Beckett will get orange for all of his stuff or whatever is left in the pack (poor kid!) 😂 … who knows what color will be left if we decide to have another baby & it’s a 4th boy 🙈
Does this sound like something that would work in your family? Would it help you to stay more organized? Do you want to see more tips like this? Drop a comment below & let us know!
