How to Put Together Theme Boxes for the Classroom
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Jeff from 'Teaching Two and Three-Year-Olds' shares how his preschool organizes and stores theme-related materials using labeled, clear containers. These boxes, used by all classrooms, contain items like printables, art supplies, and activity pieces, making setup for themes easy and resourceful. Jeff explains how materials like laminated circle-time activities are kept organized in bags to avoid loss, and how age-appropriate materials are divided into junior and senior boxes. This system saves time, reduces costs, and keeps the preschool organized for year-round use.
Takeaways
- đŠ Teachers organize materials using themed boxes, which are shared among classrooms.
- đ Themed boxes help avoid scavenger hunts through storage rooms when setting up for a theme.
- â»ïž Reusing old materials in themed boxes allows teachers to be resourceful and avoid unnecessary purchases.
- đ Themed boxes are labeled and stored with a clear lid so teachers can easily identify contents.
- đ Printables and smaller activity pieces are placed in labeled Ziploc bags to prevent loss.
- đš Each box contains materials like coloring pages, playdough mats, and sponges, organized for easy access.
- đ¶ Themed boxes are divided into junior and senior categories for different age groups (e.g., 2-3-year-olds vs. pre-K).
- đ Science books related to the theme are stored in a separate section of the preschool library.
- đ The storage system isn't always perfectly neat but is efficient enough for teachers to quickly retrieve items.
- đŹ The creator encourages viewers to ask questions via email, which may be answered in future videos.
Q & A
Why did the teacher start using themed boxes?
-The teacher started using themed boxes to avoid scavenger hunts through the storage room and make it easier to organize and find materials for classroom themes.
How do themed boxes benefit the entire preschool?
-Themed boxes benefit the entire preschool by allowing different classrooms to share materials, saving time and resources, as teachers can easily access and reuse items.
Why does the teacher prefer clear containers for themed boxes?
-The teacher prefers clear containers because they allow staff to quickly see what's inside and how full the box is, making it easier to locate materials.
What strategy is used to keep small items organized within the themed boxes?
-Small items, like printables and activity pieces, are kept organized by placing them in Ziploc bags to prevent them from getting lost in the storage room.
How are the themed materials categorized for different age groups?
-Themed materials are categorized into 'junior boxes' for younger students (two and three-year-olds) and 'senior boxes' for pre-K classes to ensure age-appropriate materials.
Where are books related to classroom themes stored?
-Books related to classroom themes are stored in the preschool library, categorized by subject, making it easy to access them when setting up a themed unit.
What types of materials are typically placed in the themed boxes?
-Themed boxes typically include laminated printables, play-doh mats, light table pieces, coloring pages, bulletin board borders, sponges, cookie cutters, decorations, and counting activities.
How does organizing with themed boxes save resources?
-Organizing with themed boxes saves resources by allowing teachers to reuse materials year after year instead of constantly buying new supplies.
What additional features are considered for storage organization?
-Themed boxes are stackable, and labels are used to easily identify the theme, while different sections are designated for junior and senior classrooms to accommodate different age groups.
How does the teacher handle frequently asked questions from other educators?
-The teacher addresses frequently asked questions by responding via email or including answers in her videos, offering practical tips for organizing and using classroom materials.
Outlines
đŠ Organizing Theme-Related Materials for Preschool
In this paragraph, Jeff discusses a common challenge faced in preschool settings: organizing and storing theme-related materials. He explains how for a long time, it was chaotic, with staff having to search for scattered materials. However, about four years ago, they adopted the idea of using themed boxes. These boxes not only serve Jeff's class but are shared among all classrooms in the preschool, allowing for efficient reuse of materials. Jeff emphasizes the importance of being resourceful, as reusing items year after year saves time and money.
đïž How to Set Up a Themed Box
Jeff goes into detail on how to put together a themed box. He suggests using clear containers with lids, sourced from the Container Store, for easy identification and stacking. Each box is labeled for quick access, such as 'fall leaves and acorns.' For smaller items like printables and circle-time activities, he advises placing them in Ziploc bags to keep everything organized. He further demonstrates how various items such as light table pieces, crayon rubbings, coloring pages, and decorations are neatly stored in these boxes. Themed books are stored in a separate library area but are easy to retrieve based on categorized subjects.
đ Organizing for Different Age Groups
Jeff admits that the storage room doesn't always stay neat, given the number of teachers using it. However, the system of clearly labeled boxes ensures that everyone can find what they need. For popular themes, they divide the materials into separate boxes for different age groups, such as a 'junior box' for two- and three-year-olds and a 'senior box' for pre-K students. This ensures that the materials are age-appropriate and tailored to the developmental needs of different classes. Jeff closes by encouraging viewers to ask questions and subscribe for more tips.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄTheme Boxes
đĄResourcefulness
đĄLabeling
đĄCircle-Time Activity
đĄZiploc Bags
đĄShared Storage
đĄLaminated Materials
đĄAge-Appropriate Materials
đĄPreschool Library
đĄPlay-Doh Mats
Highlights
The challenge of organizing and storing theme-related materials before using a systematic approach.
Introduction of 'themed boxes' as a solution for organizing classroom materials four years ago.
The entire preschool benefits from these themed boxes, as multiple classrooms can share materials efficiently.
Themed boxes save time by having all the materials in one place, avoiding the need to purchase new items.
Themed boxes are made from clear containers from the Container Store, allowing visibility of the contents.
Each themed box is labeled clearly for easy identification, preventing clutter and confusion in the storage room.
Printables and laminated materials are stored in Ziploc bags within the themed boxes to avoid losing pieces.
Circle-time activities, such as laminated items, are stored in bags within the themed boxes for reuse year after year.
Various types of learning materials, such as light table pieces, crayon rubbings, and coloring pages, are also stored in the themed boxes.
Smaller items like leaf-shaped sponges, coloring pages, and other loose items are organized into bags to keep them tidy.
Each themed box contains not only craft items but also bulletin board borders, cookie cutters, and play-doh mats.
Books related to the theme are stored in the preschool library, categorized by subject for easy access.
Themed boxes are divided into 'junior' and 'senior' categories, depending on the age group they are intended for.
Some themes are popular enough to warrant separate bins for different age groups, ensuring the materials are age-appropriate.
The storage system, while not always neat, ensures that materials are easy to find and reuse, increasing efficiency and resourcefulness.
Transcripts
hey everyone it's Jeff from teaching two
and three-year-olds a reader emailed me
asking how do you organize and store
your theme related materials and that's
a really good question because for a
long time we didn't and when it came to
setting up a theme in our classroom we
had to literally it was like a scavenger
hunt through our storage room trying to
find all the pieces that we needed for
that week so oh probably about four
years ago we came up with the idea to
have themed boxes and what's really nice
about this is that not only does our
class use these but our entire preschool
does so when one classroom is finished
with a theme another classroom can come
pick up that take what they want out of
it
put it in their classroom it is
wonderful because it saves a lot of time
you've got all your stuff put together
and you aren't having to always go out
and buy new materials you're being
resourceful and teachers need to be
resourceful what you purchase one year
is safely tucked away so you can use it
again and again and again and a lot of
what we have in here is pretty old we've
been using it a long time and why buy
more if you can use what you already
have so let me show you how I put
together a themed box the first thing
you do is you have a container we got
these from the Container Store I like
them because they're clear so you can
get an idea of what's inside it how full
it is and it also has a lid on it so we
can stack them because our storage room
is downstairs and it is shared by the
entire preschool and it can get really
cluttered in there so we want to make
sure that when we walk up to those
shelves we can immediately see what
theme is where so we make sure to get a
label we have a label ER and it says
this one happens to be fall leaves and
acorns and that is all going in here so
another question I'm constantly asked is
what do you do with all of the
printables and such and I put them in a
ziploc bag and so this particular
activity is a circle-time activity and
it's been laminated so it can be used
year after year all the pieces if I just
stuck this in our storage room all the
pieces would get lost so everything all
the pieces to this circle time activity
will now be placed inside this bag and
placed inside the container and that
goes for all the things that we will be
using we have all of these your pieces
that go in our light table these are
some examples of some crayon rubbings
that we might ship show on our writing
table we've got coloring pages and do
adopt marker pages we have our leaf
shape sponges that we just can stick
right in here it's still in its original
bag again we've got more color pages
these kids these I think I'm going to go
ahead and put these rather than being
loose we're gonna put these into a bag
so they don't flop around just like this
place that in there lots of different
assorted leaves bulletin board borders
cookie cutters for play-doh this is a
little activity counting activity we can
put our decorations in there you've got
our play-doh mats that we'll put in
there for decorations fine motor
etcetera and if we have some specific
science books relating to that they can
go in here as well but we do keep our
books in our preschool library which is
on the same on the shelf that's in the
same storage room as our theme boxes we
have our books set up so they're divided
by categorized by subject so we can just
go when we know that we're doing fall we
go to our fall section of our library
and we pull those books out and we have
our theme box so there's actually more
that we will be putting in here but I
just wanted to give you an example of
how they look so you can imagine that
we've got these lined up on our shelves
and I'm gonna admit that it doesn't
always look real neat downstairs in our
storage room because we've got so many
teachers coming and going but the point
is we can still see what's in the box
pull it out and some of our themed boxes
we have the divided so we have what's
called our junior box and our senior box
our junior box is for our younger
students or two and three-year-olds and
our senior box is for our two pre-k
classes so that way because there's some
materials that obviously are gonna be
more appropriate for the different age
groups so for real popular themes we
will have a separate bins to put
depending on the age of the children so
that is how we organize our theme boxes
I like to be able to answer my readers
questions right
in these videos so if you have a
question you can go ahead and email me
at Cheryl at teaching two and
three-year-olds calm I'll try to get
back to you and if I haven't talked
about it yet in the video I will do so
and make sure that you are subscribing
to this channel because I have a lot
more tips and activities coming your way
thanks for watching
you
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