DIY Strong glass stone magnets

DIY Glass Stone Magnets!
Strong magnets for your whiteboard...you will love them!

Items to Gather:

• Mod Podge (matte, not glossy)
• Small, short bristle paint brush
• clear glass stones (Wal-Mart, or Michaels)
• Scrapbook paper (scraps or full sheets--not cardstock)
• 1/4" rare earth crafting magnets (found on Etsy)
• E-6000 Glue (Wal-mart or any craft store)

Instructions:

1.  Brush Mod Podge on the back of the glass stones. 

2. Adhere to scrapbook paper and let dry at least 30 minutes. Then, cut around the glass stone, getting rid of excess paper. 

3.   Put a *dab* of E-6000 glue on the magnet and adhere to the back of the glass stone. 

Other Tips/Suggestions:

* Let dry with magnet side up for a few hours.
* Spread the magnets far apart when drying. They are strong, and will attract one another, making a gluey mess if they are too close. You won't be able to get your magnet un-glued to try and re-use it. E-6000 is serious stuff! 

These are super cute, and even a great project for little hands to make for gifts! It doesn't take long to make a whole bunch of these to wrap in a tiny gift box! 

DIY Review Game for Any Content Area

Want a versatile review game that you make once and can use over and over again throughout the year? Use this easy-to-make review game in all of your content areas to help student practice and review skills.  

Items to Gather:

• Empty and clean Nesquik container
• "Peel & stick" paper - similar to contact paper (I got mine at Jo-Anns in the scrap-booking section)
• Exacto Knife (aka: box cutter) and scissors
• Permanent marker
• Stickers, ribbon, or other decorating materials
• Blank Paper Strip Template
• (optional):  Place Value Paper Strip Template

Instructions:

Step 1:  First, cut the "peel & stick" paper according to the size of the container to be able to wrap around the base.  Peel off the back and wrap the sticky part around the base.  Smooth out any bubbles.

Step 2:  After the paper is wrapped around the container, cut out a 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 square in the center of the container using the exacto knife (I recommend drawing the box dimensions on your container first so you cut it correctly)  This will create a window on your container.

Step 3:  Next, using the exacto knife, and starting about 1/2 down from the top of the container, cut two slits down the side of the container, stopping at about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the container.  Leave about an inch of space between the 2 slits.  I made my slits about 1/4 inch wide each.  Repeat this step on the other side. (You wil have a total of 4 slits - 2 on each side)

Step 4:  Finally, decorate your container to match your classroom theme with stickers, ribbons, or any other decorating materials.

To assemble the game: (You will need to download this freebie paper strip template and connect the strips together in one long line - laminate for durability)

Step 1:  Slide the end of the paper strip through the slit closest to the window.

Step 2:  Pull the strip through the other side.

Step 3:  Loop the long end of the paper strip, back around through the second slit on the side you started.

Step 4:  Pull it through the other side.

Step 5:  Line the first question box on the paper strip up with the window and pull the back strip tight against the side of the container.  As students pull the front strip to reveal the next question box, they will weave the paper through.

Other tips/suggestions:

Different ways to use this game throughout the content areas:

1)  Create a strip of sight words for students to use in a center

2)  Write math facts in each box for students to recite

3)  Write vocabulary words for a content area (have an answer key for reference)

4)  Have students create their own comic strips to represent a story's events and weave it through the game when re-telling the story to other students (this could be a fun book review project!)

5)  Write the steps (include pictures) of a step-by-step task you'd like students to complete individually at a center.  This would be great for students to practice following directions - it will also help them to become more independent.  

Enjoy and happy playing!

DIY Texture Hand Tools!

Hello Classroom DIY Friends! For most of us school is well underway and we are going full speed ahead this time of year. Lots of us find ourselves pinning projects to complete, good ideas and working hard to prepare our students for the challenges ahead. When I began preparing for an upcoming Science Unit, I was searching for a way to help young scientists with describing properties of matter. I really was searching for a tool the children could use when investigating. I could never find exactly what I was looking for so I created my own tool.   

Click on the image above for your printable!

Items to Gather:

For One Texture Tool:

 
• Texture Tool Printable
• 1 Fly Swatter 
• Hot glue
• Items For Textures

Instructions:

1.  Print, laminate and cut the printables.

2. Hot glue hands onto the fly swatter.

3. Hot glue texture scraps onto the hands.

4.  Label your textures!

Other Tips/Suggestions:

Considering these are so inexpensive and quick to make I made several for my Kinder Science Teams to use when investigating. Each Texture Tool has different textures so each investigation will differ. These tools will be available for use when investigating and to use with notebooking. It is such a simple tool that supports young budding Scientists and supports ELL students as well.  

I hope you have as much fun as I did creating my Texture Hand Tools and get out there and start investigating,

 

DIY Base Ten Blocks for Demonstration

These base ten blocks are quick and easy to make and are perfect for demonstration under the document camera or overhead projector.   

Items to Gather:

• Plastic canvas.  Either all one color or three different colors. This can be found at your local craft store in the needle point section.
        
• Scissors.   

Instructions:




1.  Count out the squares on the canvas for the size of block you want.   

2. Cut along the outside border. 



3.  Snip off the pieces that are left extending and cut your next piece.  



4.  Cut as many as you need and store in a zip bag or container with a tight lid so you don't lose the small pieces.   



5.  Use these to demonstrate on the overhead projector or document camera.  






Other Tips/Suggestions:
These could be used to glue down to a student page and students could record and explain the meaning and number represented by the blocks.  

I would not leave these out for students to use generally due to the small parts.      




We'd love to hear your ideas and the creative ways in which you found to use these!

DIY Matchbox Notepad

Always looking for paper to jot that note down, or a quick cute gift idea? These matchbox notepads will do the trick!

 

 

Items to Gather: 

• copy paper
• scissors
• paint strip samples
• stapler (not pictured)

Instructions:

1. Fold the bottom part of your paint sample strip up, you can choose how large or small to make the fold depending on how big you want to make your notepad.

2.Fold the top down to meet you first fold, therefore creating the matchbox fold.

3. Trim your copy paper to the length of your paint sample strip minus the fold.

4. Cut the paper in half.

5. Place the paper inside the paint sample strip and staple the top (not shown).

6. Decorate the outside with stickers, drawings, etc.

Other Tips/Suggestions:

1. Use sticky notes instead of copy paper.
2. Use the larger paint samples.

Best of Luck!

 

DIY Upcycled Bookmarks

Upcycle those used garden variety cereal boxes, drink boxes, etc. to create stylish bookmarks for you or your students.

 

Items to Gather:

• Cardboard boxes (cereal boxes, granola bar boxes, drink boxes etc.)
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Ribbon
• Colored paper (optional)

Instructions:

Step 1: Collect a variety of used boxes.  Cereal boxes or any type of box that packages food work very well.

Step 2: Break the box down so that you can easily cut the desired bookmark size.

Step 3: Cut the box to the desired size.  The strips below were cut to be 2" in width.

Step 4: Leave cardboard as is, creating a place for students to decorate themselves, or cover with colored paper of your choice.

Step 5: Punch a hole on one end, and thread ribbon through for an extra touch.

 

Other Tips/Suggestions:

Laminate the bookmarks for durability.
Create a hall pass or library pass to match your classroom decor.

 

Have fun expressing your creativity!

DIY Decorative Clips

There is plenty to do during back-to-school time, so here is a super-speedy DIY for you. You can turn boring but functional office supplies into fancy, (and still functional) office supplies with this quick decorative bulldog clip project.

Items to Gather:

• Decorative tape
• Sharp scissors
• Bulldog clips of any size. (This project also works for clothes pins.)
• Optional: Circle dot stickers or blank labels and rubber stamps

Instructions:

Step 1: Peel off some tape.

Step 2: Attach to your bulldog clip starting at the bottom and working up and around to the other side.

Step 3: Trim the excess tape off of the edges, then smooth any stray pieces down. 


Step 4: Add a label if you want to. In the example, I stamped an initial for each day of the week on plain dot stickers. You could also use your label maker or just write it.


Step 4: Clip your stuff. :) (You could hang student work with these, use upside down as a sign or picture holder for your desk, or just organize your piles of paperwork.)

Other Tips/Suggestions:

I've also done this with Mod Podge and paper or fabric. Those work well too, and are almost as fast as the tape method. 

Either way, it's a fun and simple way to squeeze a little DIY project into your busy back-to-school days.

Enjoy!