Classroom Tour

I wanted to post something today that was witty and insightful. But those two things seem to have escaped me. I also have two field trips to go on...maybe that is what caused it. Two, you say? Yes...more on that tomorrow.

So for now, here are some pictures from my libraries. A little Tuesday classroom tour.

Grooved craft sticks to make homes or pens for little animals. I use mats in my classroom a lot. A concept I "borrowed" from Montessori. I love defining space and giving the children an area that is all theirs. These mats, a combination of straw(or something like it) and fabric.

Most place mats I find at Ross or Marshall's. Great price and it doesn't really matter what the color or design. I look for the ones that are a bit unusual. Right now I am on the hunt for bamboo.


Several years back, I wrote a grant and received funding to supply all the centers in my classroom with books. These are books found in the Art Center. I have quite a few, but some are put away. Some are for older children and have paintings that depict battles and such. Those books we use to show the children only specific paintings.


Nothing special here...craft buckets, books, and a drying rack.
By the way, these pictures are a few years old...we now have a sunny yellow floor to replace that white one!


Ahh...chocolate play dough!
I love using unique items at the sensory/play dough table. Here you see a vintage jello mold and a tin plate. Wonderful sensory experience and deepens the play.

Entire view of the Sensory Table. I also like to use a lot of baskets, as you can see here. This one is holding plastic and metal cookie cutters. Most baskets I pick up at Dollar Tree or other discount stores.

Yikes...too much flash! Science Center shelf, with a variety of items. Natural collections in baskets, shells, pine cones, etc. Other baskets contain magnifying glasses, kaleidoscopes, and prisms. Those wonderful blocks on the top shelf were purchased from Discount School Supply. You take them apart and fill them with whatever materials or items you like. Here they are holding beans, pasta, and seeds. I have to say that I don't like to use food items in my classroom for art or the like. In this case, I had a parent take these home while I was out for the day. He filled them all for us...how can you say no? Besides, they were very beautiful.

View of the Science Center. Love the storage shelf/baskets on the right. Those are filled with manipulative's. You are also looking at a Light Table, braided rug, rain stick, tornado tube, oh and a very hardy plant hiding in the right corner.

We do quite a lot of fine motor activities in my classroom. I have been noticing that the fine motor skills of the children are becoming less and less refined. I am not sure of the direct cause, perhaps the increase in video games and the such. Not so much coloring, drawing and so forth going on these days. This would be beading with a variety of plastic beads and pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners are great to use and the beginning of the year or for younger children.

Oh, back to Science! As you can see the Light Table with a variety of items for observation. Above it is a few simple pages of documentation. If I remember correctly it was about eating a fresh pineapple. I found out one of my children had never eaten pineapple. So forget the canned stuff...we bought a whole one. Cut it up...at ate it all! It was delicious.

I hope you have enjoyed this little mini-tour. Have a great day.

Wednesday will be all about my day of double field trips!

One more thing...I don't personally endorse products or retailers listed in this post. I in no way receive products from mentioning them. Just the places I like to go to find new items.