Monday Made-It (and a FREEBIE!)

Looking to add something new to your word work? Kids LOVE anything seasonal. Why not use Halloween erasers (or other manipulatives) on your play-doh mats? For this month, I simply printed my play-doh mats on orange cardstock and replaced our play-doh with these Halloween erasers from the Target Dollar Spot. The kids will love it! Looking for sight word mats? You can grab mine for FREE from my TPT store. (Be sure to leave some feedback while there!) :)

My kiddos this year are super-talkative, so a few weeks ago I had to pull out the big guns: Quiet Monsters. I had pics of the creation process, but those were deleted. To make these sweeties, I hot-glued googly eyes and foam hearts (the feet) to the little fuzzies. Voila! You have a quiet monster.

These babies arrived mysteriously to our front office with a  letter to my class stating that they'd like to live with us. Sadly, their little ears are super-sensitive, so we have to work quietly. In the mornings, as the kids come in, I pass out a quiet monster to those who are working quietly on their morning journals. If they are not following directions regarding noise level throughout the day, they can lose their quiet monster. Simple, yet effective!

Finally, I just had to show my little chair project! Everyone on my team has these super-cute chairs. I just can't bring myself to spend the money on a chair for my classroom, but I just couldn't take this ugly maroon chair ANYMORE! I found some fabric that I'd used to cover a table a few years ago and went to work. This was the easiest DIY project I've ever done.

For the top, I just pressed the fabric into the back using a flathead screwdriver. This was the hardest part, but a little muscle was all it took. For the bottom, I just pulled the fabric tight and stapled to the bottom. Easy-peasy! This chair is SO.MUCH.BETTER.

That's it for now! Let me know what you think, and head back to 4th Grade Frolics to check out some more made-its!