Organizing your preschoolers art supplies

I thought I would share some of the ways teachers organize their student art supplies. Above is a caddy that holds markers, scissors, a stapler, crayons, and glue.

This little caddy also has a side pocket where crayons are kept. The caddy would be placed in the center of the table and the supplies shared by a small group of students. This is also a good way for children to store their supplies at home.

In this classroom, each child is given a plastic baggy to store their own set of supplies. Each baggy contains a glue stick, crayons, and the child's name card. The baggies are kept in a basket on the shelf and the children find their baggy with their name inside then take it to the table to participate in structured activities the teacher has planned.

There are additional art supplies kept in the art center as well such as scissors, paint, play dough, and so on.

The name cards are always included in each baggy.

The name cards are available for children to practice printing their own name and for promoting name recognition.

The children in the Kindergarten room each have a school box that they keep their basic art supplies in.

The children have glue, scissors, pencils, crayons, erasers, and rulers in their boxes.

The kindergarten children have name cards to but they are mounted to the tables.

Each child has their own space during structured classroom activities.

Keep in mind that the supplies kept in individual containers are used for specific learning activities. There are always many other types of supplies available to the children throughout the day in the writing, creative art, science, and other centers.

Centers in the preschool classroom

When children enter this classroom, they will discover plenty of things to do and the freedom to explore because each center in this classroom was designed just for them.  At this table the children are creating paintings with the dot painters.

At the block center, a couple of boys have decided to pull out the legos. As they play with the legos, they also communicate with each other and discovering how to cooperate and collaborate.

These children have decided they would enjoy coloring a cow the teacher set out. It is farm week and the teacher has made available a variety of farm type activities in each center. This class loves to color so the teacher always provides a variety of coloring tools and materials.

The two girls decided they wanted to explore the blocks and woodworking tools. That's right - girls like blocks and tools too!

In the two year old classroom next door, this child is exploring the water table. The water stimulates her senses as she pours, drips, and splashes about.

This two year old reaches up high to paint on the easel.  Easel painting is offered everyday to these two year olds and one can see that they are quite skilled at holding the brush, dipping it in the paint, and using the entire paper to create their masterpiece of the day.

These children enjoy time with play dough. The teachers provide a variety of tools to go along with the play dough each day. As you can see here, the children each have a tray to identify their own work space.

And this child decided he would like to just sit back and enjoy looking through this book.

The use of centers in preschool is a valuable way to keep children engaged in positive and constructive activities. Centers promote independence, social skills, creativity, interests, and more. As preschoolers are given opportunities to explore a variety of centers each day, they enjoy their experience in your classroom.

Providing centers is also a useful way to manage your classroom. When a variety of interesting and age appropriate activities are available, you will find children become less bored and stay more engaged in productive, positive participation.

Four easy steps to setting up your classroom by Mrs. Myra of Centers and Circle Time

Today's guest is Mrs. Myra of Centers and Circletime. Mrs. Myra is in the process of setting up her own classroom so I asked her if she would share some insights on what she has learned about classroom set-up. I invite your comments and ideas as well.

4 Easy Steps to setting up your classroom
By: Mrs. Myra of Centers and Circle Time (guest blogger)

Dear Teacher, are you starting a new job? Have you just been given a new classroom? Have you moved to a new age group? Are you worried about setting up you new space? No fear, help is here! I have four simple steps to get you started, and in no time you'll be the proud new owner of a fabulous classroom. So, are you ready to get started?

Step 1

• Look around your classroom for any safety issues. These could be things like uncovered light plugs; ripped or torn wall paper, tears or holes in the carpet or flooring; stuff piled too high; broken toys, or damaged mats and cots
• Have broken or torn items repaired or taken care of before you go any further.

Step 2

Plan how you can get the most out of your space.

• You can use pen and paper or an online tool for help.
• Create a map of your classroom.
• You may consider how many centers do you need?
• Any health or safety issues with this particular set up?
• Plan and re-plan if you have to.

Here is a sample of how you can map out your classroom...

Step 3

Put your furniture in place.

• Use tables, shelves, and small desks to break up the room into centers.
• Keep in mind the more open space you have, the more running and wrestling you'll get.

Step 4

Add your center signs and labels.

• Get on your knees and place the name of each center in front of you (Housekeeping, Science, Blocks, etc.)
• By being on your knees you'll ensure this is the perfect height for your children to read. To further enhance their pre-reading skills place labels on items throughout the room...pencil box, bathroom, door, computer, crayons, legos, etc.

Congratulations, wonderful teacher! Now you have begun to whip that class right into shape. Are you just dying to do more? Of course you are, I knew you would be:) So I decided to add some additional ideas just for you!

Other things considered:

• Once you have your class try putting pictures up of the students and parents on your walls.
• You should always display student artwork.
• Charts can help you as well as your students...Job Chart, Birthday Chart, Alphabet Chart, Number Chart etc.

Here are a few Mrs. Myra's Classroom must-haves:

• A radio or cd player with children's music...It keeps me sane and is a must for my auditory learners.
• An alphabet train (I wont teach without it)
• Small Appliances (I am known to keep in my cabinets a toaster, toaster oven, icee maker, popcorn popper, etc) These are perfect for a cooking center/science center or a life saver for a rainy day activity.
• Food - make sure you are providing students with nutritional meals and snacks. (You'd be surprised but children will come to class hungry. Children cannot be effective learners and teachers cannot be effective teachers if their students are hungry).

Last dear teacher, do not feel the urge to run out and spend money on charts and appliances. Charts can be made with construction paper or purchased at the dollar store and appliances are always free on Craigslist and Freecycle. Now I urge you to go be GREAT!

To view more from Centers and Circle Time - click here!
Read her latest posts: My Sad Class - Establishing Centers in My Sad Class - What the Heck is Age Appropriate Anyway? - Help, I'm Drowning In Stuff!

Thank you Mrs. Myra for sharing your ideas with us.

Deborah

Promote preschool creativity through block play

Blocks promote creativity

A block center promotes a unique opportuntiy for preschoolers to be creative. Instead of creating with paint or paper, preschoolers use blocks to engage in the construction or creation of buildings, roads, farms, houses, towers, and walls. Blocks allow preschoolers to create in more than one dimension and the creativity is open-ended and hands-on.

A variety of blocks

Including a variety of blocks will help to promote creativity. Legos, wooden blocks, alphabet blocks, square blocks, rectangular blocks, blocks with unusual curves or shapes, blocks of different sizes, and blocks of all colors keep preschoolers engaged in block play and spark imagination.

Accessories expands creativity

Rotating block accessories such as cars, people, animals, trains, tracks, and tools captures the attention of preschoolers and expands thier imaginations and creativity.

Block accessories can be homemade

Creativity can be invited by adding items to the block center that are made by your students like painted shoe boxes for blocks or black strips of construction paper for roads.

Add nature

Creativity can also be promoted by simply adding items from nature like leaves, tree limbs, straw, and rocks.

Add pictures

Magazine pictures, old bluprints, posters, and photo cards of buildings and various scenes can be included in the block center to spark imagination.

Take blocks outdoors

Want to really see creativity and imaginations soar? Take blocks outside and let students have time to combine their imaginations with the natural outdoor environment and blocks.

View this blog article from Brick by Brick for a wonderful example of the potential children have when using blocks in the classroom!

Make Bulletin Boards a Priority in Your Classroom

Messy, outdated, torn, and faded bulletin boards have a negative impact on parents and students where as bright, clean, and updated bulletin boards have a positive impact on parents and students. It is easy to forget that what goes on the wall is just as critical in the learning environment as the furniture on the floor. To make sure your bulletin boards are complementing the learning environment, keep the following tips in mind…

Include your students – Let your students participate in maintaining and changing the themes on the bulletin boards. Use the space to display children’s artwork, writing samples, student photos, and group projects.

Change the displays regularly – If the edges are starting to fade and the artwork is starting to fall off, it is definitely time to freshen things up. An old worn-out looking bulletin board display can leave the impression that you just don’t care.

Plan Ahead – Include bulletin board design in with your curriculum planning. If you plan to include a unit on leaves in your curriculum, then plan to make a leaf display of some sort on your bulletin board. Connect the content on the bulletin boards to the learning that is taking place in the classroom.

Print Clearly – It is a good idea to include a simple message or title on your bulletin board but make sure you use large, clear print. Remember, your bulletin boards should be part of a print rich environment. In other words, provide print that models good writing skills.

Spell Correctly – Sometime writing sentences like “We Luv Bears” may look cute and even sound cute but in the end it is not teaching your students how to read or spell correctly. “We Love Bears” looks even better!

Designing and maintaining bulletin board displays can be a lot of hard work but keep in mind that the walls are part of the learning environment and your investment and time will be a benefit to everyone that enters your classroom.

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