Safe Place

Instead of a time out spot or turning cards, we have a "safe place".  This is a place for a child to go to chill out and take a break to regroup.   The calming strategies are posted to remind them of ways to calm down before coming back to the carpet.  I also have a puppet, book and some other small things they can use while they are calming down. 

Free Choice Chart

This is our free choice chart that we use each day and it is color coded (as everything is in our room).  Since most of my TK kids do not recognize his/her name in the beginning of the year, pictures for everything is a must.  These pictures were cut down and then I used a square of adhesive velcro on each one.  The picture on the bottom is how the cards are in the beginning of the day and the one on top is how it looks while the kids are at free choice.  I allow the kids to change activities if they want to- they just need to move their card to an activity that has an open velcro square.  I try and change up the choices as much as possible, but the playhouse, train table and blocks area are always a favorite!

Play House

The favorite free choice activity in my room (a close second is the train table) is the play house.
I start the year out with a basic play house with dress up clothes and play food with plates/utensils.  The kids really interact in this area and it opens up for lots of pretend play.  I change it throughout the year and will post pictures as I do.  I was thinking that it would be great if I had space for 2 play house areas...so many kids want to be in it and it only has room for 4 at a time!

Cubby

We have cubbies this year and absolutely love them!  We used to have the kids' backpacks hanging on each chair and we were always stumbling over them.  This is a huge space saver.  Most of my kids still can't identify his/her name, so I put nametags and their first day pictures on each cubbyhole for easy recognition.  At the end of the day I dismiss each child one by one by gently tapping them on the head with a soft pointer and it helps with congestion at the cubby area. 

Bookshelf

This was one of my new projects this year.  We needed a simple bookshelf so the kids  would have books handy.  I went to Lowe's and bought a very large rain gutter for about $6.  I had my husband saw it in half and then I used my screw gun to secure it.  I put about 5 screws in each gutter.  So easy and it holds the books beautifully.  I love it!!

File Cabinet Uses!

File Cabinet turned to it's side

This is a great way to make use of a space.  I simply moved our file cabinet so it's facing to the side and added magnets.  Now it's an easy free choice center and I will change out the magnets throughout the year.  I start with these and then add numbers, letters and cranks that I bought at Lakeshore.  The kids love it!