Many hands lighten the load--and to enlist the maximum number of hands, you'll want to make your kitchen accessible to even the smallest members of the family. Here's how.

Materials

• Three Ring Binder
• Empty tissue box

• Plastic Bins

Instructions

1. Store takeout menus and the latest pizza coupons in a three-ring binder fitted with plastic sleeves. New Englanders who enjoy subs might call this their Grinder Finder Binder

2. Store plastic produce bags in an empty tissue box.
   

3. Buy plastic bins in a variety of colors and assign one to each family member. Anything cluttering up valuable space (counter, table, or floor) gets whisked into the appropriate bin for disposal or redirection by its owner at some later date.
   

Tips:

The fridge door is a window into a family's soul. And what makes a door truly sing? Magnets, of course. Some of our favorites:

Alphabet letters. The classic, as simple as A-B-C.

Poetry magnets. Now in kid and adult sets, they let us all write like e. e. cummings (www.amazon.com).

Fractiles-7. Magnetic shapes that teach geometry--and hold the school lunch menu (www.fractiles.com).

Frigits. Make a marble raceway from chutes, spinners, and buckets (www.fridgedoor.com).

Homemade fridge art. The most expressive of all. Glue magazine photos or snapshots to magnetic sheets and then cut them out. Voila!

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• Kitchen & Bath |
• February 2002 |
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