Presentation / Invitation - storage!

This has proven to be a good way to present materials and to invite children to use them appropriately.

I got this caddie at a garage sale having this idea in mind. It has worked out perfectly. The children are able to help themselves and they haven't been hording the crayons. They have been taking the crayons out one by one - sharing and putting them back into the caddie. When the crayons have been in a large container they tend to take fists full out. The sharing then becomes an issue.    Sometimes a freebies turn into treasures :)

Resource Storage

In order to keep my resources organized and easy to find I have put them into clear plastic pencil cases which I got at Office Depot for 10 cents. The small pieces go into those and the larger pages go into plastic accordian file folders.  Then those sit in plastic bins. This has worked perfect for me!

Cheap, simple and easy for the kids to see what's inside as well - so we can pick out activities they want to do.

Puppet storage

http://childhood101.com/2011/06/diy-kids-puppet-stand/
I really liked this Puppet stand - as I commented - I wish my Dad was still around - there are so many cool things he could make for my classroom! I really like wooden things in the classroom - for storage and toys!

Here is what I use for my puppets!

It looks similar to this but the legs are tubular and the wire thicker.

OK look at this rack - now I want this one!!

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/product.asp?SKU=14730834

Storage idea

Puzzle shelves are expensive and often narrow - making it hard to see what the picture on the puzzle is before selecting it. I decided to search for a metal letter stand at a garage sale - and I found one. I turned it on it's end and secured it to the back of the toy shelf with velcro - then slipped in the puzzles. Lots of space and open to view. Best of all it cost 50 cents! :)

This idea was shared here: ohdeedoh