Clever Task Card/Center Storage

Almost 2 years ago, I had a life-changing discovery. Let me start from the beginning.


My sister-in-law gave me this tall DVD shelf. The image below is from my first classroom. I taped some colored paper on the back and decorated it, but really... it couldn't hold much. Looked cute, but other than holding little things like dice and crayons, it was large and in the way. That year I was in a teeny tiny portable and space was a huge deal, so I almost got rid of it...

Then... I had a thought. What fits on DVD shelves? Hm.... DVDs! I had a bunch of empty DVD cases that were literally collecting dust in my house, so I snagged them and went on brainstorming. I had lots of Ziploc baggies of task cards and center games that could definitely fit, so I whipped together some cute covers to trim and slide in the DVD case's front sleeve. The result was the CUTEST center storage that fit perfectly on my shelf. 

This is a sweet dinosaur counting center for my precious kinders my first year teaching. I jazzed up the back of it with pictures of what the students will need in addition to the game. Not all centers need something, but most had recording pages so having a picture of that is always handy for the little ones. They went to the drawers, grabbed a sheet, and gathered their supplies from the "center shelf." No questions asked and no confusion! My students actually started calling them "Movie Games" because they recognized the cases as movie cases. Love it!

Fast forward another year and I redecorated the shelf:

I had been moved to second grade when this picture was taken, so my "Movie Games" were not well stocked up at this point as the ones I had made the previous year were for Kindergarten. You can see that the shelf holds tiny things, so it was a good place to store some of the materials needs for the centers that students could look on the back of their center case and locate. I changed the background of the shelf as well to go with the new classroom I got that year. That's just wrapping paper back there, people. So cute and cheap!

If you are looking to change up your center storage, download the FREEBIE below! It is an editable file that allows you to decorate any DVD case to go with the specific center or set of task cards you want to store. The size will print perfectly to fit a standard size DVD case. (Click the image to download).

If you're looking for a deal on DVD cases, Amazon sells a pack of 50 (that's right, FIVE-OH) for only $18.99. It's the least expensive storage method I have found so far besides Ziploc baggies that never seem to stay closed and that rip all the time. Here's what I ordered (click the picture to go there):

If you use this method, send me a picture! I'd love to feature it on my blog in the future!

Learning with Liam: Let's COUNT!

If you are just joining in Learning with Liam, Liam is my best friend's 3-year-old and I'm doing some babysitting this summer while she finishes up her internship for her Master's degree. It has been a blast so far! Check out last week's post HERE.

Little Liam proved this time that he likes to count! I had noticed before while playing together on the computer that he was very good at recognizing numbers, so I printed out some centers from a product in my TpT store. It's geared towards PreK and Kindergarten and while Liam isn't ready for the skip counting center, he did the counting games with ease! I was impressed! Take a look.

We were playing "Counting Sheep" and he wanted to line them all up nicely on their hill, he said. We weren't counting any specific number here. I let him explore them and play a bit to get used to the little pieces before we dove right in. 

This time, we grabbed a counting card. It said to count 2 sheep! And he did great!

Then we played with the numbered sheep and he put them in order. He could do it without assistance through number 5. After that, prompting was needed to help him find the next number. I was amazed at how well he did here considering he is only 3 years old!

This is one of the number puzzles I have. Since he had just proved to me that he could put his numbers in order with the numbered sheep, I printed this one out, too. He really liked seeing the picture completed at the end.

So proud of himself! Way to go little buddy!

We painted a bit like last week as well, but I forgot to take pictures! Bad blogger! We painted another mask that I grabbed for 75 cents at Joanne's. This time it was a crab mask! 

If you are looking for some counting games for your little nugget or your class of little nuggets, this pack is called "Counting Sheep." You can check out more of its contents by clicking on the image below!

Keep checking back for more Learning with Liam posts! Or follow me on Facebook to get updates on each new post. It is always awesome to spend these summer days learning and having fun. I think next time we'll go to the library!

#2forTuesday and the Markdown Monday WINNER!

It's an awesome summer for stocking up, people! Yesterday was so fun and crazy with all the $1 deals! I know I stocked up for sure. Today is Tuesday and you know what that means! $2FORTUESDAY!

Sellers all over are putting their products HALF OFF today! This week I have my Sight Word Cut and Paste Packs... 2 for the price of 1! Click the images below to head there now!

And now, the winner of yesterday's Markdown Monday! Yesterday was a double whammy! We have Markdown Monday hosted by Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations and #MondayMadness. I marked 3 products down for yesterday only to $1 and decided that the most popular product would stay at the $1 price through the WHOLE WEEK! Drumroll, please!

My Train Alphabet and Phonics Centers takes the cake! If you didn't get a chance to grab it on sale yesterday, be sure to snag it this week while it's just $1!

Markdown Monday and #MondayMadness!

Happy 4th of July!! What better way to start this week off than with a markdown sale? I've joined Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations for the first time for their Markdown Monday linky. Every Monday, a group of teachers marks down products for a week and links up, so it is definitely worth checking out!

There is also a special summer linky happening now through Instagram called #MondayMadness! Several sellers are marking down products to just $1 for today! Just search "#MondayMadness" in the TpT search bar and fill up your carts! There are really some amazing deals on there, but they will only be $1 for today only! Happy shopping!

I decided to put THREE of my products on sale for only $1 today! The most popular of the three, I will keep at $1 for the rest of the week! So let's see which one will win?? Click any of the images below to go to the product. It's like a crazy Daisy Dollar Day!!

Learning With Liam: Outside Fun and Painting!

This summer has so far been a blast, although it is completely flying by! I am babysitting my best friend's little guy once or twice a week this summer and it has added such a fun element to my summer. Liam is three years old and I've been trying to come up with some different activities we can do together. His little three year old mind blows me away with what he retains and he seems to really love learning games, especially those involving numbers (more on that in a future post).

Here's the first of a series of posts about our adventures this summer called "Learning with Liam."

Day 1: Name writing and mask painting!

Sidewalk chalk is a really fun way to have little people start writing their name! I also discovered this little guy is a lefty!

We started with uppercase letters because the straight lines in the letters of him name are easier to form than the curvy kind in the lowercase letters. 

M is tough! Loving his "A." <3 

Outside adventures are not complete without some scooter fun!

I grabbed these little wooden masks for 75 cents at Joanne's Fabric and the little pack of paint tubs for $1. He LOVED these. We painted a turtle and a lion on this day, but I went back to Joanne's and bought 3 more. 

We used Q-Tips instead of paint brushes, one because I forgot to buy brushes... and two, because these are cheap and disposable. They are also easy for little hands to hold. They are also great for fine motor because since they are short, they cannot be held in a fist, forcing him to figure out an easier way to hold it. 

Liam and I had a lot of fun painting and playing outside. Next week, come back and check out the games we played with numbers! This little guy LOVES numbers and counting!

Daisy RE-Designs: HALF OFF Updated Products!

I have been a BUSY BUSY BEE! I've been getting some oldies but goodies updated with better graphics and fonts as well as improved content. I have also been much more conscious on providing easier printing options! Take a look below at a couple of updated products that are HALF OFF through July 4th!

I'm calling these updates "Daisy RE-Designs," and every time I redesign a product, it will be on sale, so keep checking back for more updates! Click the images below to check them out in my store!

#2forTuesday

Hey there readers! I hope you are having a fantastic summer so far!!! If you're like me, you're already thinking about next year. Based on what I'm seeing on my Instagram, a LOT of teachers are already thinking about it, too! The Target Dollar Spot is the happening place right now, but summer is also a great time to stock up on some TpT items.

There's a little sale going on called 2 for Tuesday! Just type in #2forTuesday in your TpT search bar and you'll find tons of products that are HALF OFF today! I decided to put my Dice Games on sale today for HALF OFF. I'm kind of cheating, because it's actually 3 products... Shhh... I just couldn't leave out Volume 3 from the sale!!! Click any of the images below to head there now and check out all of the other sale items!