"Spaceman" Writing Finger Spacers

If you haven't checked out "Sparklebox" it is a wonderful resource for all types of materials. This one in particular is for   "Spaceman" finger spacers. 

There are several different types available (I just show 2) and are great to have in your writing centers. Students love to use them when they are writing and they are great reminders for students to make spaces between words when writing.
Laminate and cut out spacemen. In order to make them sturdy and to hold up to lots of use I strengthen them before putting them in my writing center.
I get some coffee stirrer sticks from McDonalds (they have nice skinny ones) and cut each in half.

I tape the stick firmly to the back of the spaceman. I find that clear tape or packing tape works great. I use a glue dot to tack down the end of the stick on the cutout. This not only makes it sturdier, it makes it easier for little ones to handle the cutout.

Once you are done, you can't even tell from the front that you have added the support.

If you have not had a chance to check out the rest of Sparklebox take some time to do so. You will find lots of wonderful resources for free.

This is a great summer project to have all ready to go for the new year.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Classroom Pointers

Pointers are great to have in the classroom. The students love to use them and I am constantly using them in lessons. I have a ton of adorable pointers, that are super easy to put together.

It's a bit difficult to see, but here is my pointer holder on my desk. One of the jobs of the student of the day is to choose the pointer that we will use for calendar time/morning meeting. They love being the one to do this.
Here is a super simple way to keep lots of cute pointers on hand... antenna balls!

Wherever I go, I keep an eye out for cute antenna balls. I've gotten them at WalMart, Disneyland, auto parts stores, theme parks, even my son's Navy graduation! You can also get them online from sites like "Super Balls".
Just pick up a 2-3 foot dowel from any hardware store, pop the antenna ball on the dowel and you are good to go!
Jack in the Box often has antenna balls for different seasons. You can also hot glue little toys to the ends. Here is one I made for Halloween using a skull whistle and a spider ring I got from the Dollar Store.

Just keep you're eyes open and you'll find so many things that could be used.

Here are a few more pictures of some of my pointers. I rotate them so that we have seasonal pointers, holiday pointers, sports pointers and a constant variety for the students to choose from.
Just one more way of catching

their attention and making learning a bit more fun, and isn't that the whole "point"!?

Chery