Saturday, October 12, 2013

The Class at the End of the Hall: A Toddler Room Layout

So it is mid- October and I'm pretty late in posting my room layout like everybody else did in the beginning of the school year. Plus I changed where almost everything is, BUT here is my room nonetheless! As you will see, our room is decorated from our Luau week, but that's okay- I'm sure you get the point :)

Our playground schedule is posted right by our door and light switch.

Our little cots.

My parent info board. Here, I post our weekly lesson plans, monthly newsletter, daily schedule, parent request and medication forms, a spot for comments/ questions/ suggestions, coupons free to take, and any community events going on!!

We keep important phone numbers and our calendar by our phone.

Little sink and little potty for little tots!

We keep our diapers and wipes on a shelf. The tots are really good about not getting into them :)

Above our changing table, we keep cleaning supplies out of reach!

Also up there we have sunscreen, and more cleaning supplies. We have a neat little basket that hangs under this shelf where we keep our gloves. Our 3 step bottles also hang right here, out of reach!

Our changing station. I keep diaper cream in a plastic shelf thing right next to our changing bed. The shelves below are home to spare diaper storage, spare clothes, etc.

Our teacher info board has the licensing book, and other important info!

Each child has their own cubby for dry snacks. I also keep some toys stored above it.

Below the snack bins is our counter where we prep food, etc. To the left is the teacher cabinet where we keep our stuff. The cabinet below is for storing art supplies.

To the left of the teacher cabinet is where we store class snacks, have the sink, microwave and fridge. The cabinet below is where we store stuff.

Our sensory shelf, across from the table.


Our sensory table.

Overview of the play area

Dramatic play area

Circle time, library, and music area

Other side of the circle time area

CD's and rainbow stacker

Play houses

Block area.

Car area

Weird storage area

Cubbies, hooks, and small toy storage

I love how my small toy are is UP out of reach! Keeps the mess to a minimum :) I found the labels online

View of the cubbies

Learning trays

I have 3 plastic trays that I bought from Ikea for really cheap! I definitely recommend these over any of the plastic ones sold in learning stores, because these are pretty heavy duty and are great for so many different activities including art!!

Scooping and pouring: I filled a small container with water and provided two small cups (laundry soap lids!) to scoop the water and pour into the larger container. 

Surprisingly, the tots did not make too big of a mess! Most of the water stayed on the tray, and it was just water and easy to clean up! This kept them entertained for awhile!

One to one correspondence: I used a 6 spot muffin tin, and had 6 large pompoms. 

Some of my older tots were able to do it with ease (~ 22 months) while some of the younger ones had trouble and put more than one in a spot (~ 19 months)... but it was still good motor practice!

Fine motor: I provided different sizes on small pompoms and their goal was to put them in bottles of different sizes! They loved it!!



Mud in the sensory table

This is the only picture I have that doesn't have a child's face in it. But they had so much fun making a mess and being allowed to play in the MUD!

Bulletin Board Ideas

This blog post will be updated as I collect pictures of bulletin boards and similar ideas!

I made hot air balloons for our August birthday board

"We are going to have a ball in Room 103" welcome to the new school year board

"This year is going to be sweet" welcome to the new school year cupcake board

"Are yoo- hooo ready for school?" welcome back owl board

"This is going to be an icecream-y year" welcome back board

"Blooming together in a new year" welcome back board


A cute display of what we do during the day


Easter Basket birthday board


Gumball Machine birthday board


"Our Flock Rocks" names of classmates

"Go Away Big Monster" bulletin board



Camping Week

Theme: Camping
Week: July 29- August 2, 2013

Painted paper, turned into 3D tents

Fun in the Sun

Theme: Fun in the Sun
Week: Sometime in June!

We painted on paper towel (for texture!!) with tempura cakes. Then attached to the back of construction paper, which we cut a tshirt out of by folding in half! Final product, tye dye t- shirts

 
Painted paper turned into kites! Hung all over our classroom



Another way to do kites is to use tissue paper and crepe streamers!