July has arrived and I am already thinking about my classroom design for the fall. ESPECIALLY how I can incorporate color into my classroom, since color can make learning a more fun and impactful experience. Fortunately, Astrobrights Papers has a wide array of colors (25 to be exact) that are perfect for the classroom. Today is the official launch of #25DaysofColor – a summer celebration featuring the entire Astrobrights paper line, led by your favorite teacher-bloggers. For 25 days, Astrobrights Papers will feature a project using a different color of its paper, providing ideas and inspiration on how you #ColorizeYourClassroom. Each day, you can discover a classroom project, idea or tip featuring a specific Astrobrights color.
Today’s inspiration is all about Lift-Off Lemon. When I first laid eyes on this paper, all I could think was, “Wow, that is really BRIGHT!” I personally love the color yellow and have incorporated it into my classroom in many ways (most notably when I spray painted my file cabinets).
Lift Off Lemon has a personality all its own and I had so much fun thinking of ways to get playful with the color as I prepare for students to enter my classroom this fall. It’s always fun to welcome students with a small gift or trinket with they first walk in the door. I stopped by FiveBelow this summer and found a great deal on 4″ glow sticks that I knew would be the perfect compliment to this bright yellow color.
The completed project is a fun printed tag that’s affixed to a glow stick. The tag reads, “We’re Going to Have a BRIGHT Year in Kindergarten!”
These little gifts were SO easy to make! All you need is a pack of Lift Off Lemon cardstock or paper (I prefer the durability of cardstock), some double sided tape and glow sticks. This pack of 10 glow sticks only cost $4!
To create this simple gift, just print off some gift tags, cut to separate and use the double sided tape to affix a glow stick onto each card. These glow sticks came with lanyards so I tied the lanyards around the top of each stick to manage the cord.
The best part? These sweet printable tags are FREE to download! I created several different pages, so that all elementary teachers (K-5) can print the page that’s best for their students. Click here to download your freebie!
These sweet student gifts were so fun to create, but I was still inspired by Lift Off Lemon and all of it’s glorious brightness; so I kept on thinking and creating.
Those first few days of school are brutal. Especially in kindergarten. My students aren’t permitted to touch anything until they know the appropriate procedures and it takes a LONG time to teach all of those essential procedures. But I need my students to do something while I take attendance and the early finishers need an activity that keeps them occupied while the rest of the class completes their work.
Luckily, students of all ages seem to be mesmerized by the novelty of dry erase markers. Traditional student whiteboards can be expensive so I created my own write and wipe surface using Lift Off Lemon as the backdrop. I also had some fun continuing to play with the brightness of the color by including the message “I’ve Got a BRIGHT Idea!” on the bottom of the writing surface.
Creating this dry-erase mat was simple! I created the bright idea message and printed it onto a sheet of Lift of Lemon cardstock or paper then laminated the sheet using my Scotch personal laminator. My school has a commercial laminator that doesn’t make for a very good dry-erase surface but the laminating pockets I use at home are perfect for write and wipe activities!
You can download a FREE copy of this printable write and wipe page. Just print, laminate, hand your students a dry-erase marker and go! I chose to print 2 sheets per page, but a full-page option is also included in the download.
And there you have it! Two great ideas for how you can use Lift Off Lemon from Astrobrights as you welcome students into the classroom for a new school year.
The fun doesn’t stop here! There are still 24 amazing days to collect inspiration on how you can Colorize Your Classroom with Astrobrights Papers. For more ideas on how to Colorize Your Classroom, be sure to follow #25DaysOfColor, Astrobrights Papers social feeds and visit ColorizeYourClassroom.com. You can find Astrobrights on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.
Post your own project using Astrobrights Papers with the hashtags #25DaysOfColor and #ColorizeYourClassroom for a chance to be features as the Colorize Your Classroom project of the week!
You will find two more days of color inspiration from me by following Kinder Craze on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The remaining 22 days of color will be shared by my teacher-blogging friends. I can’t wait to see what everyone has in store!
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