Light Box/Table

I have been seeing a lot of great ideas using light tables and ideas on making one.  I really wanted to go shopping today to buy stuff to make one, but my laziness got the best of me today.  I sat around and read.  I think I have some kind of book addiction.  There should be meetings for people like me.  I mean, seriously, I try to find a home for every book that is disposed of in the building.  There is a kid somewhere that will read that book.  I can't stand for books to be thrown away.

So my plan for tomorrow will be to actually make it to the store and make one of the light boxes that I have been seeing around the net.  I have a few modifications to my design and I hope it works.  Fingers crossed.  I will post my results soon.

Tuesday Tidbits

It's a new month and I am changing out my sensory tables.  Today, I scooped out all the beans and rice that I had in my sensory tables and I added fake snow to one.  This is the kind of snow that you buy for a Christmas village and it is sooo cheap.  Only $2.50 for a large bag at Wal-Mart.  Yes, I broke down after 6 months and went to Wal-Mart.  I only went because I couldn't find this stuff in the other stores nearby.  Here is what the empty package looks like if you want to go pick some up to use in your classroom.

 

So the photo is giving me fits.  Sorry it's sideways.  I bought three bags of this stuff to fill my sensory table.

 

I plan to add some holiday stuff in with the snow.  I'll have to take a pic and repost later.  I was in a hurry to get to an appointment after school so this is as far as I got today.

 

I have changed the center activities that my students are working on this week to fit in with the holiday season.  This first center is one of the freebies here on my blog.  It the Penguin Color Word Match.  Students match the color word to the color.  This can be played as a concentration type game or use them as an assessment to see which color words students recognize.  If you missed the post, here is the link.

 

Another center this week is a gingerbread word family sort.  This is from my Gingerbread Math and Literacy Centers packet.  You can get it in my TPT or TN store.

 



I also have my Ten Frames puzzles out this week for my students to practice ordering numbers.  It is also from my Gingerbread Math and Literacy Centers packet.

 

I have one last thing to share.  I bought a few things at the Dollar Tree recently.  The books are dry erase and allow students to practice writing words, letters, shapes, and numbers.  The cards are matching games.  One of the games makes a picture when you have the correct match.

 

 

Yeah, for some reason the pic will only upload upside down.  Well when I figure out how to fix that, I will.  I even flipped it on my computer, but it still shows up like this.  That's what I get for taking pics with my phone. :)  It's almost as bad as spell check.  Well, I hope I have given you some new ideas.  What kind of centers are you doing this week?

 

One last thing, Tips for Top Teachers is having a giveaway and this one's HOT!  Not only are they giving away lots of classroom teaching materials, but one lucky winner will win a Nook!  Check it out and enter yourself to win.

 

 

 

Seasonal Sensory Tables

I have been changing my sand and water tables to match the season and the themes.  I know it's a little late, but I here is my Halloween themed sand table.  I put rice in the table and Halloween toys.  All the toys came from the Dollar Tree except the mini pumpkins and the couldrons.  They came from Michael's.

Today, I changed out both tables.  I left rice in the red table and added some silk fall leaves and a few styrofoam gourds that I purchased at the Dollar Tree.  I finally removed the split peas from my clear table and added brown beans, foam leaves, and stryofoam gourds in different colors.  I also added some new scoops and a few scarecrows.

I would love to see what other people are doing in their classrooms to add to the season.  Feel free to shoot me a comment and tell me about it.  Maybe I have inspired you to change out your sand table or to even create one at home for your own children.

Sand and Water Table aka Sensory Table

I have been surfing around the net and I came across some cute ideas for my sand and water table.  Yes, I'm lucky to have one of each.  I want to make sure I keep students interested in playing in these areas.  Also, I want to make my tables go with the seasons or what we are studying.  Here is what I have in my tables right now.


Sand Table:  I don't have sand in my sand table, but I am sure it did at one time.  When I moved into my kindergarten classroom this year, this table was empty so I decided to change that.  I noticed that I had lots of these puff balls in my classroom so I poured them all into the sand table.  I added a few cloth bags for students to stuff with the puffs, some tongs and a few clothespins to practice picking them up, a couple of measuring cups, and some ice cream scoops from the Dollar Tree.  The only things I bought were the orange and green ice cream scoops and the green handle tongs.  All the other items were already in my room.

 

 Water Table:  Obviously, I don't have water in my water table.  Unlike my sand table, I have a lid for my water table.  I'm going to have to purchase one for the sand table to keep little ones from playing in it when we are lining up.  I did purchase the items for this table, but they will be reused next fall.  I filled my table with split peas.  It took about 16 bags, but the bags were small and $1.08 each.  I bought two cute little scarecrows, two cute little tin buckets, styrofoam apples, and decrative cheeries that I pulled off the wires to make the smaller apples.  I bought these items from Michael's, then I bought a 3 pack of funnels at the Dollar Tree. 

Let me just say, the kids really love playing at these tables and they are popular areas in my classroom during center time.  I am so happy that kinder teachers are being encourage to do traditional centers in kindergarten now.  I plan on changing my sand table soon to fit with a Halloween theme so come back and see what I do.  Maybe I will inspire you.