Today I want to share a simple and very very cheap way to help keep your classroom tidy!
In my classroom we are always cutting. We are cutting our picture sorts, we are cutting for our craftivities, we are cutting pictures to sequence stories and sometimes we are even cutting our hair. It happens in Kindergarten!
I used to go insane with the trash that went everywhere. Especially with younger students, they like to cut paper into a billion little pieces. Not only did the mess drive me crazy, but the lost pieces of work meant more work for me. And then I won the battle of the paper mess!
If we have trash cans and recycling baskets for our room, why not have them for our tables?
I zoomed over to my local dollar store and picked up these baskets for the low low price of a buck each!
Anytime we are doing an activity that requires cutting, we place these on our tables. As we cut and create trash, it goes right into our baskets!
At the end of the day the paper is recycled!
These simple baskets have lowered my anxiety level a few notches! Now we don’t have mounds of paper all over the floor and all over our tables!
Clean up is much quicker! And we definitely aren’t losing our work as much!
An added bonus? This means 1 more job to add to our helpers list to give students even more responsibility! They love to be the basket technician who passes out the baskets and empties them!
Who knew baskets were so much fun?!
I hope you find this simple and cheap idea helpful in the battle of the paper mess!
My name is Greg Smedley-Warren and I am known as The Kindergarten Smogasboard! I am a Kindergarten teacher in Nasvhille, TN!
Would you like some recycling logos to place on your baskets to incorporate some science vocabulary into the mix?
Download the freebie file below and print on plain labels to cut out and affix directly to your baskets. Or print on white cardstock and cut out to attach with a binder ring or tape.
Enjoy!
~Charity
This post originally appeared at Organized Classroom.
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