Teachers are the best at recycling and reusing materials, wouldn’t you agree? Here are two empty containers that have been on my desk for more than a week now. Part of me says, “Toss ’em into your recycling bin.” Then teacher-like thoughts invade my brain: Flower vase? Paintbrush holder? Storage for counters, craft supplies, office supplies?
How do you reuse materials in your classroom? Please share! And if you have an idea or two for my empty containers, share those too.
Happy Friday!
Diane
The gum container is great for storing paper clips and pushpins. We use everything to make creative projects.
It sounds like your desk may look something like mine- organized chaos?
I am encouraged and I am also slow to throw anything out.
One thing I have found a use for is applesauce snack cups. My kids often bring these little containers of applesauce for snack. They are eager to wash them out for me so we can use them at the paint easel; as paint containers or lids for the larger paint cups. I also use them for prep bowls for baking and cooking activities. They are just the right size for spices, baking powder etc. Another use is for edible math manipulatives or craft materials like cheerios or sunflower seeds. The containers stack nicely and take up little room, so each child can have their own little bowl of things.
A parent once gave me a class supply of scoops from powdered laundry detergent which are also great little containers for larger manipulatives. They nest into each other so take up little space which is an important point in my classroom. They have little handles which make them easy to hold, so are especially good if the children are moving around the classroom through centres.
Now I just need some ideas on where to store all those valuable recyclables that I’d like to keep!
I love the containers icing come in – they have a lid and can be used for all kinds of things – I make letter jars, number jars, and color jars so whatever we are working on that jar is out for the kids to look at. I also love the new containers that rice comes in – they are clear have a lid and are square and stackable – so we can sort all the assorted foamies in so we can get exactly what we are looking for instead of dumping them out and hunting for what we need.
I love the fruit cup containers. I use them to put paint and glue in,or individual supplies in.
We also love those big pretzels continers that Parents get from Sam’s. They are clear and have a lid so we use them to store things.
I use the contains infant formula comes in, for games. Usually the outside is decorated as an animal then we cut a mouth in it. The lid keeps the pieces inside when not in use. example: WE have a puppy that eats dog biscuits, we pick a card to see how many to feed him. We have a lion that eats L words. We have cards we made with pictures of both L and other letters, they have to pick out the L sounds to feed him though.
I use the cylindrical plastic containers that disinfectant wipes come in for skeins of yarn. After drying completely, just thread the yarn through the opening. Makes it easy to pull out what you need!
I use those little fruit cups as sorting cups and for holding little manipulatives when we are working with them. I use the chocolate peanut butter (do they still have this?) jars for estimation and comparison activities for math. And I use lots of paper that others would throw away for all kinds of lessons. And everyone comes to me to borrow everything! Usually the people who tell me I need to get rid of a lot of my junk.
I use containers like that in the sensory table… with rice or beans…etc… or will put in dramatic play center… I recently put my coffee creamer container into the dramatic play center and the kids had so much fun making me coffee with creamer!
I used an exacto knife to cut a slit in the top of the Emerald Nuts container, just big enough to push counting chips through. Good fine motor activity for toddlers.
The green nut containers make wonderful pencil holders!
We have sherbert cups for dessert on pizza day.They are very sturdy. I write numbers one through 20 on the bottom. The children put them in numberical order. You could use yogurt or applesauce cups as well. I even have a set of the alphabet.
You could use upper case and lower case for match-up too.
Crystal Lite containers are see-through. I keep limna beans in one; the beans are spray-painted red on one side so kids can drop beans and tell the addition problem. I keep bingo markers in another container. Make free Bingo markers by cutting a glossy heavy-weight magazine cover into squares.
I cut all of my scrap consrtuction paper into squares or use my whole punch to create dots that help to later create fantastic art projects later. I never throw away my left over construction paper when it can be used for another project. I also use other things like baby wipe containers to hold things like crayons, markers, colored pencils, and other craft stuff.