Area above the sinks.
Nature art. First, we went on a nature walk and I had the kids pick out interesting items and put them in a bin. When we got to the classroom we glued the items down on orange paper and added googly eyes.
Fall leaf coloring. Just cut out leaves with their names on them that they could decorate using fall leaf colors.
Scissor Practice bats. The kids LOVE making these. I just have a bunch of black paper with the bat shape drawn on it. Once the kids cut them out, bend the wings for a fun 3-D effect.
Hanging Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins (light up with AAA batteries). Dollar store, just hung them up with some clear string.
Mummy bathroom door. Add a few black pieces of construction paper and glue two white paper plates in the middle. Cut out black circles and give your mummy door some eyeballs.
Mummy craft. Trace a gingerbread man looking shape on black paper. Allow kids to tear short pieces of masking tape to wrap their mummy up. Add googly eyes. I may mummy wrap the whole door and hang the mummy craft along the sides.
Pretend Fall Muffins Sensory Table. Yellow Easter grass, different colors/sizes of fake fall leaves, two muffin pans, various scoopers, lids, etc. Green/Orange cups, a whole bunch of acorns, and some glitter.
Friendship bottles. When I catch my kids being good friends or making good choices, I have them put some stars or glitter in their bottles.
Quiet area + Halloween Art area.
Quiet area- Small rug, two bean bags, library shelf with books, Christmas lights, and seasonal tree art.
Halloween jack-o-lanterns- Cut out orange circles, a brown stem, and some black face pieces. The week we made these we talked about different feelings. The kids made happy, sad, or mad pumpkins. Taught the kids to curl a pipecleaner and had them glue their pumpkins to the back of a paper plate for a 3D effect.
Ghost craft- Surprised ghost craft. Have kids cut out ghost shape and black eyes/mouths. Attach white streamers to the bottom to create a fun 'wind-catcher'.
Bats- more bats, because the kids can cut some out whenever they want.
Seasonal Tree- This is out spooky fall tree. In the hole of the tree, I have a bunch of different sized googly eyes glued on.
Writing/Literacy Shelf
Journals- Daily journals for the kids that usually connect with something we learned that day.
Green Handwriting Box- First drawer is for pencils, second drawer is for 'magic erasers', and the third drawer is full of special writing buddies. (The little animals from the dollar store you can add to the tops of their pencil.) The only time the kids use this box is if they are practicing handwriting.
Glue and Scissors box.
ABC Capital/Lowercase letter match- Large bowl with uppercase letters written along the top filled with clothespins. Each clothespin has a lowercase letter written on it, where they are to clip it onto the matching uppercase letter.
Scrabble sand letter practice- Kids choose a letter or put letters together to make word and practice tracing in the sand tray.
Roll-a-vowel-letter game- Covered a dice and labeled it A E I O U. Whenever they roll a vowel they move the pompom down one star space.
Beginning sound box- Divided box with labeled letter compartments. The compartments on the left are used to store a bunch of little items that the kids can sort into the correct boxes.
Crayons, colored pencils, crayons, markers.
Roll a letter game- Used the big ABC dice from the game Scattergories and added a pencil with strips of colored paper. Kids then take turns rolling the dice and practices writing the letter. Once their strip is filled up, they make all the letter sounds for a silly word.
Color matching site words- A bunch of small jars filled with items of one color. I wrote a color name on each notecard with an empty box next to it. The kids lay out the cards and place the correct jar on the matching color name.
Handwriting paper, lined marker boards, small clipboard (to walk around the room and write words they see), and extra writing items.
Circle area
ABC Rug- I usually have a cup full of Popsicle sticks with every other letter written on it. Before circle the kids choose a stick and sit on that letter the whole time. This stopped my kids from sitting right next to each other and really cut down on distractions during circle time. My only issue with this is sometimes the kids aren't so interested in the Popsicle sticks. I may use a technique I found on pinterest and pass out quiet critters instead.
Calendar chat- With days of the week (what's today/tomorrow/yesterday) spots, weather telling, and special event cards.
Job Chart- Velcro'd job cards to a longer strip of thick poster board. I then draw a clothespin out of a pail with the kids names on it and allow them to choose a job. (If they had already been a certain job that week, they must pick a different job.) Luckily, I only have 10 kids most mornings, so everybody gets a daily job.
Rocking chair- I really only use this before we go outside and I read a book. If we are doing something at the rug, I usually sit on the G with the kids.
Easel- I use this differently depending on the curriculum. Usually I will have this as a display board to remind the kids what we talked about during circle time. Other times I leave it blank and the kids can use a dry-erase marker to practice/display their work.
Site words poster, shape words poster, color word poster, days of the week, and hundred board.
Moved some things around on Friday, but this is the new free/art literacy area. (Still have to move my posters around) One shelf is for ABC practice, and the other shelf is for free art. I use the free art shelf top for a seasonal display and use the CD player throughout the day.
