Classroom Tour: Math and morning bins

This is where my math manipulatives are stored. There is one sensory bin over here too. 

The other one is on a different wall.  

Most of the math manipulatives that I use for centers are in those 9 cube shelves.

The kids use them before class or in the afternoons or if we have indoor recess.

This is where I grab my morning bins for the first month.

Morning Bins read about those HERE.

At the beginning of the year, we start off super easy.

Check HERE for our first week morning bins.

I checked around my room- then go from there.

So my advice to you for starting morning bins is to see what you have on hand FIRST!!!

Puzzles

MagnaTiles

all those toys from Target that you buy for FOMO

or wait, is that only me???? ekkkk

I needed 5 different items.

*Color bears (I don't own these lol everyone has them, but me lol)

*chain links

*frogs lol (you have bears, I have frogs) 

*pattern blocks

*Unifix cubes

Super simple and easy prep for you and perfect for the first week of school.

I love when I only have 4 rotations, then I can change them on Fridays.

 I have prep on Fridays. So I like to be able to swap out then, 

not rushing to do it after school or before school. 

Then I wouldn't remember when I changed it.

Eventually, I put on a cute paper clip on one of the name cards, 

so I knew which rotation I was on. 

In week two I add cards to the drawers.

so the first week we just play, I mean explore.

Kids need to do this, it is very essential.

I got printables for each drawer.

So I just added some pattern block templates to each drawer.

I added link printables to the drawer.

I have logs and printables for my frogs

printables for teddy bears

printables for Unifx cubes.

This is what goes into our centers too. Especially when they don't get to explore in the mornings.

It depends on how long it takes them to gather their star and folder and check-in and then write their names to get to their morning bins. 

They know the expectations already with those tools, so it's just extra practice.

 

Week 3 and 4

Morning  bins:

I added picture cards from Tara West

Different lacers from Bullseye's Playground at Target.

Remember when I used teddy bears in morning bins?

Well, they leave our morning bins and head to our centers.

I added the sorting cups and bear cube as well.

Here is our birthday kit for pretend.  We have a bowl there already, but no eggs 

I think the eggs walk away lol

and a birthday cake from Melissa & Doug.

I got these color tubes from WalMart.

Learning Resources are super expensive and currently not in stock.

Pete the Cat button shirt game from Pocket of Preschool.

We played this game in small groups and then to centers!

This paint palette is from Planning Playtime.

You use a paintbrush to move pom-poms onto the colors.

Also from Planning Playtime

You add buttons and cubes.

These puzzles are from Tara West.

I punched them at the top and for storage on a ring.

I put different puzzles in each container.

Here are the hashtag puzzle pieces from Target.

These were once in our morning bins and now in our centers.

We had a color scavenger hunt.

I put in pencil top erasers from Dollar Tree and crayon erasers in a spot too.

The kids had a fabulous time hunting for color items in the room.

This was our first Stew from Pocket of Preschool.

Beginning of the 2022 school year

 This year our school began the day after Labor Day Monday.

Week one of our morning bins starts off SUPER EASY- little teacher direction. Toys that most of them have seen before. Sometimes I get children that have never been in school or daycare. Some children I get have been in the child care center since they were six weeks old.  My classroom is located in a child care center.  My classroom during 4K runs like a public school classroom. Our 4K school is across town. With my classroom being located in the building, no bussing is required! :) 

These are our morning bins.  The numbers stay on the right and the names have Velcro on the left. 

The names move and the numbers stay.

We have run into a bit of a snafu-

I had an additional student join our class.

I have 4 sets of bins- one for each day of the week. 

So I have a bit of extra work each day- I have to add and remove items from his bin.

Week 1 of the morning bins are just the toys. In week two, I add the cards.

The children have had time to explore in week one.

At the end of the week, I take out these toys and their matching cards, and they go in our cube shelves.

The cube shelves hold our materials for 4K.

Most of the time, they belong to me, so even if the children stay in the room after I leave, 

they don't get to play with.

Fear not, there are still plenty of toys to play with around the room that we don't use during our 4K time.

At the beginning of the year, the cube shelf is pretty sparse.

One student said last year when we were using something new...

Child A asked if he could use something new to me the teacher.

Child B  "Did Ms. Jennifer teach you to use it?

Child A "no"

Child B "Then you can't use it then."

Although I agree with her, her tone was very harsh, but correct!

In one of the small groups we did the second week of school we read Pip the Pup and the crayon.

On one side of the paper, I have them try to write their names. they can just color whatever.

Then we flip over the page and we make things that Pip makes in the book.

I ask them what they remember that she made and we try to draw what she does.

I send the paper home that day.

Before we use a new supply or tool, we read a book 

Read more about Pip HERE.

See you next week!

Friendship week recap and morning bins

To celebrate 2-22-22 we made matching pairs of foods. I put half the pairs up first and they had to find the matching pair.  Then in journals, we drew 4 matching pairs.

 

I think they did wonderful!!!!!!

On to the morning bins:

following the patterns was super hard for them to accomplish!

I am still working on finding who made this-

this is my example and I have no idea where the original one is and

 there is no name on it waaaaaaa :(

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grab yours HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

Target had a numbers one and an alphabet one...

but I need 3 for morning bins.

I put a container from Dollar Tree filled with different beads.

I used this puzzle from Dollar Tree.

I had to tape it down so it would stay put.

Here is our monthly scissor skills sheet.

They trace the line with the high lighter and then cut.

I sing, they sing, "Don't go cutting my heart"

I found these felt cupcakes at Dollar Tree.

They go perfectly with Pete the Cat.

We made concentric hearts.

I also taught them how to make hearts by making

two circles next to each other and adding a "V"

We read the rock book Love You When and then

we add these rocks to our centers.

Here was our sensory bin.

*Purple and pink rice

*cupcake liners

*measuring spoons

*heart ice cube trays

*see through hearts

*heart erasers

play dough fun

How we used purple/pink gems from Dollar Tree

for finding matching letters.

Beginning of the year centers

 I do a gradual release of our centers. Most of them start in our morning bins, which is free explore then continues with adding "something".  

Hop over here to check out our morning bins.

See the play dough sign in the white bin?

That is the same bin that I use to 

collect the play dough at my open house!

I used mini erasers in a bucket from Dollar Tree 

The cards came from here.

These are those large puzzle blocks from Target.

I don't add anything to these (yet)

After we have a small group to get Pip certified

we can explore at centers time.

Grab  mats  here.

Learning Resources Houses

Learning Resources people

t-shirts from here.

This is another small group.

We roll the number cubes and add that many chips

to the shirts. Check out her post here for the shirts.

counting bears

They are 50% off now!!! This is a better deal!!

Target puzzles from our morning bins.

Counting bears 

with sorting cups and a color dice

large buttons- I just let them explore.

You could have them sort by color or shape though!

These centers last about two weeks of school.