Create your own Tag List!
Design and make a colorful tag list for your books, toys, or projects using paper, markers, and stickers, practicing sorting and organizing skills.
Step-by-step guide to create your own tag list
Name Tent Tutorial: How to Make Custom Name Tags for your Classroom!
Step 1
Clear a flat workspace and lay out your Materials Needed where you can reach them.
Step 2
Choose 4 to 8 categories you want to tag like books toys or projects.
Step 3
Write the names of your chosen categories on a scrap paper so you remember them.
Step 4
Use the ruler and pencil to draw tag shapes on the paper (rectangles or fun shapes).
Step 5
Cut out each tag shape carefully with scissors.
Step 6
Punch a hole near the top center of each cut-out tag.
Step 7
Color each tag with a different color to match one category.
Step 8
Add stickers or small drawings to decorate each tag.
Step 9
Write the category name or a short code on each tag in clear letters.
Step 10
On a clean sheet draw a small copy of each tag to use as your master list.
Step 11
Write the meaning or category next to each drawing to complete your master tag list.
Step 12
Thread a piece of string through each tag hole and tie a loop so you can attach it.
Step 13
Sort your books toys or projects and attach the matching tag to each item.
Step 14
Take a photo of your finished tag list and share your creation on DIY.org.
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
If I don't have a hole punch, ruler, or colored paper, what can I use instead?
Use the edge of a hardcover book or a straight cereal box as a ruler, trace tag shapes freehand or with a cookie cutter, color plain printer paper with markers or crayons for colored paper, and make holes by carefully snipping with scissors or poking with a thick needle then reinforcing with tape where you would have used the hole punch.
My tags tear when I thread the string or the cut shapes look uneven—how can I fix that?
Prevent tearing by using thicker paper or gluing two sheets together before you cut, reinforce the punched hole with a small piece of tape or a paper reinforcer before threading the string, and make even shapes by drawing tag templates with the ruler and trimming slowly with sharp scissors.
How can I change the activity for younger children or make it more challenging for older kids?
For preschoolers, pre-draw and pre-cut larger tag shapes, let them color and add stickers instead of using the ruler and punch, and for older kids add small photos, short codes on each tag, laminating, or a numbering system that matches a detailed master list on the clean sheet.
What are some fun ways to extend or personalize our finished Tag List?
Personalize it by adding mini photos or icons to each tag, laminating tags for durability before threading the string, creating QR codes on tags that link to item photos or care instructions, or arranging the master list on a magnetic board to make swapping tags easier before taking your DIY.org photo.
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Facts about sorting and organizing skills
🧠 Designing and sorting tag lists helps build executive skills like planning, attention, and categorizing information.
🎨 Kids often work best with 3–5 color categories — a handy rule when designing a clear, colorful tag system.
📚 Many libraries use color-coded stickers or tags on spines to help readers find books by topic or reading level.
🧷 Self-adhesive stickers were popularized in 1935 by R. Stanton Avery, making labels and tags super easy to use.
🏷️ Tags (metadata) let computers and apps sort and find thousands of items in seconds — the digital version of your paper tag list!
How do you make a tag list for books, toys, or projects?
What materials do I need to create a colorful tag list?
What ages is the tag list activity suitable for?
What are the benefits of making a tag list with my child?
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