One of These Things is Not Like the Others

Don't you feel sometimes that everything you really needed to know, you learned from Sesame Street? Being kind, sharing, having fun while you learn… You might not have thought about how you were also learning organizing skills. Let's have Cookie Monster refresh our memories in this clip:

For our Kindle readers and others who may not be able to watch the video, here is an easy-to-remember link to it for viewing on YouTube later: http://budurl.com/cookiemonstersong, and here are the transcribed lyrics to this song:

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

(Thanks to "Tiny Dancer" who has a Sesame Street lyrics archive here.)

Learning to make sets of things and differentiate how things are alike and different– that is some basic organizing mojo right there. When you are sorting through your things and then deciding how to store them, you generally want to PUT LIKE THINGS TOGETHER. It really helps.

In bathrooms, we often organize extra supplies by parts of the body, like teeth care, hair care, nail care, skin care, and so on. In kitchens we sort by type and function, like food preparation, lunch making supplies, or baking equipment.

Here are some great ways to think about sorting that you can choose for your projects:

• Color
• Function
• Size
• Type
• Name/Alphabetical
• Chronological
• Priority

You know this. Put it into practice. As Cookie Monster says, "You so smart."

(Thanks to my good friend KJ McCorry for reminding me of this Sesame Street concept and telling me her amazing stories about using it to teach people in Africa.)

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