Make STEM Drawers to Keep Materials Together

I’ve been working on revamping my daughter’s playroom into more of an art/tinkering space for a while now, and I have a feeling I’m going to be stealing this super smart idea from Pocket of Preschool for making STEM drawers and bins.

Hers are in a classroom, of course, but the same idea can be used at home with plastic drawers filled with items for construction, engineering and exploration.

The trouble with doing STEM at home is that you end up with so much stuff it can be hard to know what you have and how to store it, so this makes the whole process that much easier, both because you have a limit to what you can store and because you — and your kids — know right where everything goes.

Whenever they can help themselves get the supplies they need and know how to clean up, that’s a huge win in my book.

She also has a great collection of building challenge cards, mini books, charts, even labels for the drawers on her Teachers Pay Teachers site, or you can DIY your own.

How to do you organize STEM stuff at home or in the classroom? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo: Pocket of Preschool.]

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Easy Sensory Activities for Valentine's Day

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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