Cardboard and Blocks Equal Building Possibilities

Most of my groups of kids love to use blocks. Often we will put out blocks with little or nothing else. The kids enjoy creating in different ways with the blocks.

However, I try to add different materials - just to stimulate more thinking and encourage kids to expand their ideas. Of course, recycled materials make great construction materials. This time, we added cardboard pieces (from boxes) and cardboard tubes.

As is my practice, I put out the items with little direction beyond: "You can use these with the blocks if you choose."

We tried various arrangements of cardboard, blocks, and tubes.

We created structures and playgrounds.

And we even incorporated other items into our structures.

These materials are great for the classroom. You can use whatever you have on hand. If you have large pieces of cardboard or long tubes, cut them smaller or shorter. If they get torn or damaged, just toss them. (Or better yet, find a way to use them in sculptures or murals in the art center!)

3 (plus) Ways to Use Binder Clips

I love shopping in the teacher stores (both online and brick-and-mortar). I always find lots of resources I'd love to have. However, my budget does not allow me to buy all (or even most) of the things I see. 

Also, because of cost and storage, I need things that multi-task. I like those specialty educational resources but many times I'm limited in how I can use them. A great item that is inexpensive and can be used in lots of ways is the binder clip. Here are three ways we have used binder clips in our room.

Game Pieces - Use binder clips to make stand-up game pieces. This one uses a picture card. But you could use anything that could clip in the binder clip. Use photographs of your kids. Use index cards on which kids have printed their names or drawn pictures. Use letters or shapes from bulletin board sets. You can use anything. Clip it in the binder clip and stand on the table or gameboard. 

Or stick a colored sticker on the binder clip or buy a set of colored binder clips and use the clips themselves for game pieces.

Additional task: Use these stand-up cards for graphing. Ask a question or display items for kids to choose. They can place their clip (with picture, name, or whatever) under their choice.

Book Binding - Use binder clips to attach pages together in a homemade book. Kids could draw pictures and/or write words on sheets of paper or cards. Clip the pages together and turn the pages. 

This book is made from food labels. Cut labels from boxes or cans and tape the labels onto index cards. Clip the cards together. (Use logos that are familiar to kids. They can "read" this book because it uses environmental print, print they recognize.)

Additional perk: These books are easily changed. When kids master the environmental print words or when your emphasis changes, file these cards and bind new ones for a new book.

Homemade Clipboard - Use a piece of cardboard and a binder clip to make a homemade clipboard. Stack paper and align with the cardboard. Clip on the binder clip. Kids now have a portable "desk" to write or draw. I like this because I can change the orientation of the clip. I can move it to the side and use the paper in a horizontal format instead of always using vertical or fighting the clip on the side (like on a clipboard). 

Additional perk: If space is tight, use these to reduce the number of tables in your room. Kids can sit on the floor and work in small groups as needed.

One of my favorite places to find items to repurpose is the office supply store (or the office supply section of your favorite discount store). Head to your favorite office supply spot and stock up on binder clips. Here are a few other quick ideas:

• Use the binder clips as counters or other manipulatives. 
• Add the clips to an activity that allows kids to practice pinching to open the clips, such as clipping onto the sides of a box. (Great for fine motor development) 
• Hang the clips on pushpins to make easily changeable wall displays. 
• Or just clip papers together, as the binder clips were designed to do. (Maybe office dramatic play!)

Bubble Wrap and Paint

When you think of bubble wrap, what uses do you think about? Packing materials for fragile items? Stress relief as you pop it? A fun item to add to a texture board? All are good uses. But we apply the rule "you can paint with almost anything" and use bubble wrap for painting! (And that may relieve stress, too.) I've used bubble wrap in two ways for painting.

ACTIVITY 1 - Stamping/printing with bubble wrap

Wrap blocks or small boxes with bubble wrap. Tape the wrap into place. Pour paint into a shallow pan. Dip the wrapped block in the paint. And stamp or smear away!

A hint: Fold a paper towel to put in the pan. Dampen the towel with water before adding the paint on top. The paper towel creates a "stamp pad" effect. If you do not add a little water to the towel before adding paint, the bubble wrap may stick to the towel and pull it out of the pan. (Trust me; it's true!)


ACTIVITY 2 - Painting with a brush on bubble wrap

Tape a piece of bubble wrap (about 8 by 10 inches) to the table or easel. Kids can dip a brush in paint and paint right on the bubble wrap. The textured surface gives a different experience than painting on smooth paper. Make a print to preserve the child's design. Pressing a piece of paper on top of the painted bubble wrap and carefully pulling it off. The design will transfer to the paper.

Bubble wrap is a fun way to explore and expand your painting horizons!

Easy and Versatile Feel Box

When I think about teaching resources, I like easy ideas...and ideas that are little cost. I like things that can be used in different ways or for different types of activities. That's why I love this feel box.

You need an oatmeal box and a large NEW men's athletic sock. Slide the sock over the oatmeal box -  and the feel box is ready. Put in anything that you want kids to feel--small toys, nature items, magnet shapes, anything.

The box is recycled and the sock can be purchased at the dollar store. The items that go in the box are things you already have. Easy. Little cost. 

Kids reach in through the sock and feel the items. They can easily pull them out.

This is a great activity for all ages of kids. I've used it with one-year-old toddlers and kindergartners. With younger kids, I just put in 1 or 2 items. With kindergartners, put in several items and lay similar items beside the box. 

They can feel one of the items they can see and then find items that feel the same inside the box. 

Another advantage - no peeking! Kids cannot see inside the box, even when they reach inside it.

This box can be used in games in circle time. You can add it to any center, depending on what is inside it. Use it in small groups to feel letters or shapes. Place something inside to develop thinking and reasoning skills - guess what it is by the clues you get from its shape, size, and texture.

When you're done, you can store it as is, or pull off the sock and drop it in the box for storage.

Add Straws to the Block Center

Block accessories can be expensive. But a trip to the dollar store or grocery store can yield materials to supplement your block center at little cost. One day in the grocery store, I saw packets of neon straws. I tossed a pack into my cart and took them to my classroom. I didn't have a plan for the straws. I thought my great thinkers in the classroom could figure something out.

I put the straws in the blocks center. My group likes to build and I want to give them some different things to work with. We were talking about wells, so I also added a couple of small buckets with yarn attached. (In the past, kids have built wells and pretended to scoop out water.)

A couple of boys decided to use the straws as "water." They stuffed the straws into the buckets and transported them across the center. They dumped the "water" onto the picture of the well, I think to fill it up. The boys worked at this for a while.

Meanwhile, in another part of the center, one of my builders was at work creating a large structure.

After the others left, the builder completed his building and began to scoop and play with the straws.

Then he decided to incorporate the straws in his structure.

I love how each straw is strategically placed. He worked really hard to find just the right spot for each one.

Sometimes I'll put things out and they will be ignored. Sometimes the kids do things that I expect. And sometimes I get a block structure filled with straws. And if I put these same materials out with a different group of kids, I'll get a different result.

Repurposing and recycling materials for the classroom is great for the budget. It's great for creative thinking. And it's just fun!

Build with Rolled Newspaper

I have kids who love the blocks center - who love to build and construct and explore how to make things. Sometimes it's a challenge to find things that are different or that push them to explore in different ways. I'm always on the lookout for another way to bring different or expanded play into our building area.

Another one of my favorite things to do is repurpose materials, especially materials that were destined to be trashed. This activity reuses newspapers and challenges kids to build in new ways. If you are looking for a fun STEM exploration, this may be just what you need.


Take newspapers. Roll a few sheets together. Tape closed. Build.

Encourage kids to experiment with different ways to build. As you can see above, I put a few out in a configuration to invite kids to try this activity. But soon they launched into their own ideas.

When exploring with a new or unusual material, kids will get ideas that do not work. Or they will encounter new and different problems that need solving. I try to ask questions to help them think about the issue and consider new solutions. For example: "What could we do to help the rolls stand up?"

So we moved from the carpet to the tile area (his idea).

Another one: "The ends are rolling out. What could we do to stop that?"

She found some things in the room to help her create a more stable end to her structure.


Some variations:

Add tape and scissors. Kids can make more stable and permanent structures by attaching the rolls together.

Use pages from an old atlas, catalogues, or magazines instead of newspaper pages.

Roll the newspaper on a diagonal to make longer rolls with tapered edges.



(Check out my Dollar Store and Dumpster Pinterest Board for more repurpose/reuse ideas!)SaveSave

Inspiration from the Blogosphere: Making Marks on the Page

Preschoolers are interested in writing. They see adults writing things and are intrigued by these marks on the page. They play with writing, drawing lines and squiggles. They draw pictures to show their own ideas and what they are thinking. And, in addition, all those play experiences that develop their fine motor skills help prepare their hands and fingers for writing.

Below are some inspirations related to writing and pre-writing. Remember play = writing!


Best DIY Easel Ever (Teach Preschool)
One of the ways that preschoolers love to make marks on the page is through painting. Deborah at Teach Preschool has a great DIY easel. Since I love repurposing things, I really liked this idea. And four kids can paint at once. If you don't have space for  free-standing easel (or don't even have one), try this great idea from Deborah.

We have painted with feathers.

Sensory Writing Tray (Pre-K Pages)
I love to use writing trays. This post is a great look at the basics of a writing tray. You can use colored sand or salt, add scents (like lavender) to increase the sensory experience, provide cards with letters or shapes to copy, or just allow kids to explore with writing in the tray. In addition to using fingers, we've added watercolor brushes to write with. Kids can use the brush end or the handle end to write.


Make Your Own Book (Sunny Day Family)
Some of my kids have loved making their own books. (Some of them just love using the stapler!) We usually just have blank paper, the stapler, and writing items. But Laura has created some templates for book pages. I like the "official" look of these pages and some budding authors would love to use these as a guide for writing and drawing their own books.

Sometimes we have blank books in the writing center.

 Dry Erase Board Mazes (No Time for Flash Cards)
I stumbled upon this older post and immediately was intrigued. First of all, more repurposing with the CD cases. (I have some lying around.) I love the working on a maze and easily erasing a misstep along the way. And I thought it would be fun to take turns drawing a maze - on a dry erase board - and asking a friend to solve it. In either case, kids would be practicing making marks in a more controlled way. (And, if you don't have CD cases, use frames with clear glass or even a sheet protector clipped to a clipboard.)


Fluffy Pumpkin Spice Slime (Teaching Mama)
Building those small muscles of the hand and fingers is a great pre-writing activity. Anything that allows manipulation and squeezing and using the fingers can build fine motor skills. Angela posted this recipe for fun smelling slime and I really want to make some.

We have made and used galaxy slime!

Pom Pom Grab and Drop (Busy Toddler)
Moving thing with tongs is another great fine motor activity. Susie posted this activity...and I immediately began thinking about what other things we could move with tongs. Maybe my foam cubes or wide collection of plastic lids? Maybe magnet letters? Of course, pom-poms are great, too.

Dollar Store Writing Center (Pre-K Pages)
And check out this post I wrote for Vanessa and Pre-K Pages. You can create a writing center for your kids with items from a dollar store. Mix and match the items you'd like to have for your center. And encourage kids to make marks on a page...playing with writing. (More about our writing center.)

Sticky Note Collage

Making a collage is a standard type of activity in preschool and kindergarten rooms. Assembling a lot of different materials to create a larger visual item is a time-honored art form. In fact it is so familiar that often we overlook it as a creative endeavor. But preschoolers still enjoy making collages and experimenting with this visual art form.

In our art camp last summer, we created a collage with sticky notes. These collages were group efforts with different colors, sizes, and shapes of self-stick notes. We got most of our notes from the dollar store.

We used our magnet boards as a base for the collages. But you could use large pieces of paper. Or even create the collage directly on a wall.

This activity is great for all ages of preschoolers. Since no glue or other adhesive is involved, younger preschoolers can easily enjoy doing this activity. And our pre-kindergartners and kindergartners really enjoyed it, too.

Just make sure you have lots of notes on hand!

If you leave the collage out for several days, preschoolers can add to it or rearrange it. They can take notes off and replace them later.

Add even more creativity with pens or markers. Children can draw or write on the notes before or after sticking them on the collage.