I’ve been wanting an outdoor mirror for a long time, so when one of the other classes was getting rid of furniture, I gladly took the wood kitchen that had a big mirror on it. I have had many ‘old’ tables outside and since these things are all made for indoors, they don’t do well […]
Continue Reading
Home » Archive by categoryAreas
Author Archives: Matt
Cupcake Liners
Our last outdoor classroom teacher brought in a few sets of silicone cupcake liners. I didn’t think they would last long in the sun, but they are still going after two years! Although many have become sun bleached. The kids use them all the time for sand cupcakes, or fill them with water. I almost […]
Continue ReadingThe fence
We have vertical bars around the playground, and when I first read about the importance of creating a great entry way to the Outdoor Classroom I thought I might add to the fence that faces the parking lot. The first thing I added was a sign that reads “Welcome to the Outdoor Classroom”. Then I […]
Continue ReadingWall Tapestry
I was browsing on Pinterest and I saw an ad for https://www.dresslily.com/forest-path-print-tapestry-wall-hanging-product2168749.html and it looked amazing! At $20 I thought, “Why not” so I browsed around until I found a pretty neat forest one. I wanted to place it around outside somewhere, so during one of my outdoor classes I tossed an old sheet over the […]
Continue Reading
Washboard
Behrens Galvanized Washboard I was looking up classic old time instruments, and I came across the idea for a washboard so I bought this one! Next I plan on buying a couple sets of thimbles and gluing them to our kid sized gardening gloves so the kids can practice playing the board, but in the mean time, […]
Continue ReadingAcoustic Shell
Last year we were given a play house built by the 8th graders at the middle school. However, I wanted to alter it and it occurred to me over the summer to change it into an acoustic shell! I remember them from the days when I sang in choir and I thought it would be a […]
Continue ReadingThumb Piano
I found https://makezine.com/projects/thumb-piano/ and was inspired. I bought a grounding bar, and gathered plastic paintbrushes of various sizes. Then I installed it in our Acoustic Shell. By the end of the day the paintbrushes were all broken. I bet I’d have better luck with metal tines as they would vibrate louder than the soft twang […]
Continue Reading
Musical Keys
I saw some pins on pinterest that showed a cord with keys on them. The idea was that the kids could play with them and they would make a neat ‘jingle’ sound. I asked a home depot employee for some miscut keys, and the manager was glad to oblige. It worked… for a while. Eventually […]
Continue ReadingMusic Area
Last year our music area was pretty much neglected, so I wanted to update it and add elements to make it more dynamic. Here were my considerations: Noise. Since our preschool is connected to elementary classes, and there are apartments across the street, there had to be care in selecting the instruments that were out […]
Continue ReadingMagnet Board
Having a magnet board is great! Ours is a $10 Galvanized Steel Sheet https://www.lowes.com/pd/IMPERIAL-24-in-x-3-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Sheet-Metal/3234805 I’ve seen people put frames on them too. However, you’ll want to rotate the magnets. Here is a list of the different types of magnets: Christmas (although they were flimsy and fell apart quickly) *pictures of the kids and teachers (maybe resin) *wood […]
Continue Reading