We all know how hard it can be to maintain a beautiful and well-equipped classroom. Replacing paintbrushes, finding new sports balls, redecorating the walls after an overly excited student tore down your favorite pasta mosaic while playing tag… They all weigh heavily on a teacher’s finances. Thankfully, we’re here with a few tips to start the new year off right on a budget. Who knows, maybe this year your students can make a mosaic out of something other than pasta.
Some tips for getting school supplies:
- Ask staff and parents for donations: It goes without saying that a teacher’s biggest source of supplies can be parents and faculty, but the sooner you ask the more donations they’ll give. Many families will happily part with well-loved items better used in the classroom.
- Reuse everything: Whether it be bottles, pipe cleaners, or popsicle sticks, be sure to hold onto everything that isn’t obviously garbage, and even some things that appear to be trash at first glance. You never know what might come in handy next time the kids want to do some arts and crafts.
- Teach students how to use just what they need: Tired of getting new clay, construction paper, or markers all the time? A quick lesson on how to minimize usage of class supplies and a couple weekly reminders go a long way towards being able to stretch and reuse supplies the next year.
- Seek partnerships: Partner with other schools, textbook distributors, or charitable cultural foundations. You’ll probably have to speak with someone higher up for this one, but there are countless organizations that would be willing to lend equipment or pay for field trips.
- Make use of nature: Acorns on the ground, leaves in the grass, feathers stuck in branches all make for exciting art materials! Plus, you can take advantage of the moment to teach your kids sustainability and environmental-friendliness.
DIY Teacher Tools:
- Flip Sticks: Ever wanted to keep track of which kids you’ve called on from day to day? Try flip sticks! Just take popsicle sticks, decorate them with markers into distinct upper and lower halves, and tape paper strips with students’ names onto the sticks. When you call on a student, just flip their stick to remember they’ve already spoken.
- Activity Roulette Wheel: Got some extra time on your hands? Make a roulette wheel! Just find a flat, circular-shaped object and a slightly larger rectangular object, and drill a hole for a dowel through both. Place your wheel onto the dowel drilled into the board, and decorate it however you want. Choosing activities, prizes, or even students, your wheel can do it all.
- Recyclable Whiteboard Decoration: Tissue paper, pipe cleaners, ribbons, pretty much anything works. Just cut and wrap it and staple or tape your materials along your board. There’s your new, attractive, and free white/black/bulletin board decoration!
With any luck you’ll be able to put these tips to great effect in bringing laughter and wonder to your classroom. However, while these tips reduce the costs of physical classroom supplies and activities, the costs aren’t removed. What if you could teach math or literature, play games teaching emotional intelligence, and hold arts and crafts lessons, all without paying for things like ink, paper, or paint?
Enter Smile and Learn! The Smile and Learn app is an interactive online education platform designed for children aged 3-12. There, you can find thousands of videos, games, and quizzes on everything from science, to foreign languages, to visuo-spatial competency. The app is available in six languages, accommodates special needs, and is available offline. Everything you could want to do physically in the classroom can be done digitally thanks to the Smile and Learn app! Interested?
If you haven’t tried our educational platform yet, you can do so through the following link.
