My Classroom-Made It Monday

I know I am a little late on my Monday post...I have been so busy preparing and planning for my students arrival, I put off writing for a week; however, things have calmed down a little so I decided to share my classroom setup with you! I will include my Monday project that I made last Monday which was also my awesome find at Rural King! Enjoy!

I found these barrels at Rural King last Monday when I was shopping for fencing for my covered wagon (which I decided not to do since I found these).  I was so excited because I knew these would be perfect for my Western theme! I also found a small cow print fleece blanket that I made into a pillow and covering for one of my barrels.  

 

I cut the material into two small squares, cut the edges and tied into knots to connect the two pieces. I put an old pillow in between the two pieces to make a cow print pillow for my reading center.

 I used the leftover fleece and an old white sheet from my mother-in-law to make a soft covering for one of my barrels.  My mom found pillow stuffing at a used shop that I put inside before sewing it shut. It was perfect for the top of the barrel. (actually the bottom but I turned it upside down to make it like a bench for the students to sit).

This is a picture of my final reading center! I love it! It's so western and the students have already gotten use out of the barrels! (I did add a cardboard fence to the right for added decorations.) I added my childhood horses and cowboy hat as well as bandanas I bought from Amazon for more decorations!  (See close up pictures at bottom of page)

There was a little bit extra room at the end of my numbers so I added my birthday badges up here...cute added area to my western theme!

 Part of my writing center...I feel this is one of my most important centers; therefore, wanted to add several writing utensils for the students use.  In the containers above, (free from a teacher I used to work with) I added regular pens, gel pens, skinny markers, fat markers, and pencils for the students to use for writing practice.

 This is an overview of my writing center as well as my sign in area when parents drop off students.  I included magnetic board and letters, reading leap pad, several different types of paper and writing utensils, envelopes, stamps, dry erase boards and markers, chalkboards and chalk, and other reading/writing activities and games.  The cowboy hat and bandana is used for decorations.

Art center... I used containers from my wedding as well as target dollar section containers for this center. See my post on western containers for more detail on these containers.I included paper, stamps, rulers, caps and other collage items, stencils, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, colored pencils, play dough, etc. for the students to use.

 This is my dramatic play area.  The doll house was given to our classroom by a favorite substitute for my class.  I also added a lot of puppets and plastic table that I bought at a yard sale.  The stove and fake food was already in my classroom.

 Block and construction center.  I added my childhood plastic horses to this center along with tools, a construction hat, and magnetic letters.

 My science shelf...I wanted my science center near a window, but didn't have any shelving so again I used a yard sale special. I bought this shelf last spring for my step son's room.  He never really used it so I brought it into my classroom and it worked perfect for this center and matches the chairs! See below!

 This small round table was given to me by a favorite aunt.  It's the perfect size for my science center.  The white shelf was also given to me and the blue containers were from dollar tree! You can't beat that! I am so blessed to have people in my life who think about me and my classroom all the time! I love free and cheap stuff and it's so easy to find a place for it in my classroom! I included a scale, shells, magnifying glasses (given to me), dinosaur games (also given to me), animal cards, weights, and magnets as well as scientific books for the students to use.

 This is my math center! This center is def. one of my students favorites this year! They love the markers as well as all the tubs of manips! I have links, shapes, pattern blocks, wooden blocks, unifix cubes, etc. that the students can pull out and take to the table to play and build. 

The horse material on the barrel on the right is a blanket I had in my bedroom as a kid. It worked perfect for extra padding on the second barrel!

This little guy is my Tattle Bear! Oh how I am going to love this little man by the end of the year! When my students feel the need to tattle about something small, they will go to this bear instead of me! They do know, however, that if someone is bleeding or doing something that will get them hurt, they come to me first!

Wow this has been a long post! However, very much worth it! I love sharing pictures of what I am doing in my classroom!!!  Hopefully you can use some of the ideas for your classroom as well!