A Cozy Classroom Idea and Halloween Update!

I’m here to share a quick resource update and some great cozy ideas to spruce up your room!

The first Halloween resource is my Halloween Mystery Picture Coordinate Graphing packet. It includes a number of different coordinate graphing mystery pictures for students to work on. My students are obsessed with these. They even beg to do them during indoor recess. Check out some of the pages below and click HERE or the button below to check it out!

My other seasonal creation is a set of math task cards and a memory matching game and activity. Right now, I have been really driving home number sense and writing decimals. I try to be as creative as I can with my kids because these difficult concepts can get very overwhelming. It’s important that I turn a tough concept into something fun that my students can easily understand. So I created these task cards and a memory matching game to make these tough concepts less intimidating. Click HERE or the button below to check it out!

I let my kids work on the task cards at their seats when they finish their assignments early, and I even let some students take them home to work on them with their family (which they love). I have 36 pages of task cards which is a total of 144 individual task cards. Each page is different, and students have to write decimals in standard form, word form, and expanded form. I made sure to leave enough room for students to write on the task cards and included instructions right on the cards so students can work independently with these.

Then I thought I would take the task cards a step further and turn them into a memory matching game.

Next, I want to share a SUPER simple idea to help create a cozy atmosphere in your classroom.

Creating a little home away from home in my classroom is so important not just for me, but for my kids, too. When they love their classroom, you can feel it. There is a sense of ownership, and you can tell they love to be there every day.

One new thing I did this year is hang up pictures on our walls. Our walls are cinderblocks, and initially, I didn’t think there would be a way to hang these up.  But, with some trial and error, and a few trips to Jo-Ann’s, we have success!

Doesn’t this area look so cozy?

Here is how I hung the pictures on the cinderblock wall:

First, you need to purchase these command hooks. I got mine from Jo-Ann’s, but I have seen them everywhere (Target, Michael’s, etc.).

These are the ones I purchased, and I want to say they cost no more than $6.00.

When you open the package, the hooks are attached to each other, and you have to separate them. Then when you separate them, you will have one side with a peel sticky back and another side with a velcro-like feel to it. You will want to take two different hooks and connect them on the velcro-like side. They will “click” into each other (make sure they are perfectly lined up because once you “click” them into place you really can’t take them apart. Here is a picture of the two hooks attached to each other:

Now that the two “velcro-like” ends are attached, both the top and the bottom should have the peel back paper that reveals a sticky surface. Go ahead and peel the paper off one end. Once you have peeled back the paper, you are going to stick the sticky side of the hooks in the center/top of your picture frame. I used two hooks (one on the bottom and one on the top for extra support):

Once they are attached to your frame, go ahead and peel back the paper on the other side, stick it to your wall, and YOU ARE DONE!

I have these little dollar store frames all around my room to add a touch of coziness! Not to mention, the quotes inside are constant sources of inspiration and motivation for my students.

I’d love to know what types of things you do in your classroom to make your students feel more comfortable or cozy!

4 Comments

  1. You’re from Michigan?!? I’m just north of you in Northern Ontario … and I totally get the happiness of Fall – it was SO hot in the classroom in September!!! LOVE both of your new products – perfect fits for what we are doing right now. So … off to empty my shopping cart. ;)

    Jen
    Runde’s Room

  2. Love your new items! My students would love to do the coordinate graphs and the task cards/memory game is a wonderful way to have the students review number sense.

  3. Thanks so much! My kids LOVE these coordinate graph mystery pictures! With writing decimals, every little bit helps, as they can be such a tough concept for some of my kids.

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