jewelry boxes in the classroom

I have been wanting a jewelry box for our classroom and it has taken me awhile to find one. I found this gentleman's jewelry box/valet at the thrift store for a dollar. Thrift stores are excellent resources for finding fun small boxes. You might also have luck at local estate or garage sales. While I do wish the mirror was still intact I think the drawer with all the cubbies is enough to entice the kiddos to explore.

The spring themed erasers are from Target's Dollar Spot and the acrylic flowers came from a local craft store. I set out these originally to go along with a spring theme we had been exploring in the classroom.

Of course...the drawers are not only for trinkets and such. Just about anything can be crammed into the wee spaces!

diy straw whistles {panpipes}

This was another one of our musical instrument activities to accompany The Listening Walk. I think the whistles were even more popular than the drums! Grab some straws and washi tape and try this at home!

For this project we used extra thick Boba straws in super happy colors, washi tape, and kiddo sized scissors. The children each cut two straws into two pieces and then arranged them from smallest to largest or as they kept saying smallest to tallest. I love the vivid colors of the straws coupled with the happiness of the tape. There are a few tutorials out there that involve taping up the bottoms of the straws or adding small holes to create different pitches. We did neither of those and still the children adored their whistles!

I mean. look at them! Soooo happy!

investigating the lid bin

It took me months to save up enough lids for an impressive lid bin. When I introduced it to the children we were all sitting in our kitchen area enjoying our lunches. I brought out the lids which I placed in a sturdy shallow wicker and wire basket. I held the basket/bin under the table and shook it. I asked the children if they could guess what I had. I did this so long ago I forgot what their guesses were. I placed the bin on top of the table and the children were very excited. Who knew? We talked about the shape of the lids, the various colors and how some of the lids had words on them. I told the children the bin would be in our block area if they would like to investigate and immediately upon finishing lunch they swooped down on it. There was stacking and sorting, nesting and counting, design making and patterning. There was a single purple lid that allowed one of the kiddos to complete a "beautiful lid rainbow". All the busyness and exuberance makes my heart go thumpity-thump.  The children enjoy working with the bin and are extra delighted when they find a cap in their lunch or snack bag. Now we have more than one purple lid for more rainbow making. This is preschool math at its best.