Classroom Decorating Made Simple

Classroom decorating can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you are a first year teacher. You want to make your classroom the cutest on the hall and you may feel like you have to have every wall filled. STOP. This is not true. I am into my third year of teaching, and I have learned that decorating your classroom can be simple and cheap!

Before you begin to decorate your classroom, you need to decide how you want your room to be set up. I have sat in my classroom for over an hour trying to decide the best way to place the furniture. I would move a table to one place, and the next minute, decide to move it across the room. I like to make my classroom feel open, with as much space between the furniture as there can be. You may adjust your room several times throughout the year to find what works best for your classroom.

When you are starting to think about decorating your classroom, find decorations that are cheap and can be used throughout the year. Hey, if you are great at DIY, it's the best way to go. For my classroom, I decided to make and hang pompom balls from the ceiling to make the room feel less like a classroom (made from tissue paper). I used a rug and a lamp that I had in college for the reading area. I was able to find calendar and birthday posters from  Amazon. I then found beginning of the year posters from Teacher's Pay Teachers; this included color names, ABC chart, and numbers up to 10.  Your classroom does not need to have everything that you would learn up at the beginning of the year.  I put boarder around the white board to add small decorations. I also created a bulletin board that I could post anchor charts for what we were learning. This past year, I added a desk cover and valencies in the windows to make my classroom feel more like home, but this is not necessary.

It is so much fun to decorate your classroom. Don't get overwhelmed by feeling your classroom is not as decorated as everyone else. Your classroom may look like it does not have much at the beginning of the year, but I promise that you will have student work, anchor charts and posters covering all of your walls at the end of the year. You will also find more decorations throughout the year that you can add to your classroom. Your classroom will look drastically different at the end of the year!

Enjoy decorating your classroom!!

For more ideas on how to decorate your classroom, follow Mrs. Peay's Kindergarten Adventures.

Thank you to Lindsay Catanzaro for helping make the beautiful door!!

Teacher Wish List: Printout Included!

As I mentioned in the blog What Do I Need to Order?!, you should make a list for what you need to purchase with money that you are given from your school, and a list for what the parents can volunteer to purchase. A Teacher's Wish List is a great way to get items that are fun for the class, and get a few necessities that were not included on the supply list the students recieved. Below is a list of what you could ask parents to supply:

Teacher Wish List

- Crayola markers 

- Play-Doh

- Gallon size bags: I used a lot of these to organize the centers. 

- Sandwich size bags: Also great for putting centers into.

- Baby wipes

- Regular wipes (Clorox)

- Clothes pins: These are great for centers. 

- Paper towels

- Books 

- Kitchen toys: I needed this as a first year teacher! 

- Board games

- Essential Oils: I had a parent give our classroom a defuser, and we used On Guard and Orange oils. - Dish soap

- Stickers 

- Colored Cardstock 

- Post-it notes

*** All of the items list above are things that I asked parents to get, or I am planning on asking for this year. 

If you are going to do a wish list, make sure you print out individual cards, or write the items on a post-it note; this way, the parents can take the card home with them for shopping. Make sure that your wish list is visible during Open House night. I have posted mine on the white board, and have also seen teachers lay the wish list out on a table. I have created a wish list that you can edit to suit your class, print out the cards, and display them so the parents can take several home. I tell parents to pick however many they want to volunteer for, and they can take the cards with them.


Teacher Wish List: Free Download!

*** If you would like to edit the PowerPoint to make it your own, comment below.

What Do I Need to Order?!

Shout out to my first year teachers! I remember back to the last couple of weeks before beginning my first year and trying to wrap my mind around what I needed to order for the classroom. I didn't know where to begin. The school that I was hired at was brand new, which meant that there would be zero  supplies. It was very overwhelming to think about. I conferred with several of my new team members to help out. Talking with someone helped me out tremendously, especially since I didn't even know where to begin. For my second year teaching, I felt much more prepared. I had my supply list ready to order.

If you have not done so already, you need to begin thinking about what supplies you will need to purchase to help make your classroom run for the year. I would suggest making up a list for what you need to purchase with your school money, and a list of what parents can volunteer to bring by choosing a specific item that you have posted (look out for a post with a print out for parent supplies).

*** If you can, see what the teacher before you left in the classroom. Also, check with your school to see what they will provide. You may need to add or take away items from the list.  

Teacher Supply Order

- Planner: It is VERY important to have a planner to help you keep up with everything that is going on during the day/week. I prefer to have a very simple planner, where I can see the whole week, but also able to put in meeting times.
- Construction Paper: Red, pink, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple, white, black and brown. I would get the 18"x24". Last year I ordered this size by mistake, but in the end, reordered the same size. You can cut this size paper into fourths to make it go for longer, and it's pretty close in price to the regular size paper.
- Paint: Red, blue, yellow, white and black. I would keep it simple. You can mix the colors together to get the color that you want. If you have money to spare, of course get all of the main colors that you cannot live without.
- Chart Paper: Great for anchor charts and for sharing writing examples.
- Expo Markers: I like the colorful markers.
- Thin Expo Markers: If you are in Kindergarten, these things dry out fast! And they are expensive.
- Hanging File Folders: These will come in handy when you are organizing students work, and I even use them to organize centers.
- Storage boxes that can hold hanging file folders: I use these to organize my centers.
- Cardstock Paper: You are going to be printing out a ton of centers, and card stock paper will help the centers last for several years.
- Boarder: Figure out what your theme is for your classroom, and purchase boarders to go along. You may also want to purchase boarders for each season.
- Manipulative Calendar: Every Early Childhood class has to have one of these!

- Decoration posters from your theme to hang around the classroom. 

- Baskets to organize tables: You can use these for community crayons/pencils, writing folders, workbooks, etc. 

- Masking tape: We love Frog Tape. It sticks to the concert walls! 

- Regular tape: K students love to use tape.
- Grown-Up Scissors: Make sure to get scissors that are comfortable to use.

I have tried to include everything that I purchases for my classroom for the first year. I would advise not spending all of your money, just in case you need extra supplies throughout the year. Enjoy shopping for your classroom; it's going to look great. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and don't forget to follow Mrs. Peay's Kindergarten Adventures!