I Can Be a BUCKET FILLER Craftivity!

Are you a Bucket Filler???  I was TOTALLY excited when our counselor told me that she was doing the "Bucket Filler" character ed program this year!

I just love the idea...it basically says that we all have an invisible bucket & everything that we do all day long is either filling someone's bucket or dipping from someone's bucket. Check out this super website for more info: http://www.bucketfillers101.com  When "Mrs. Counselor" visited our classroom last week, she was wearing fun overalls & carrying a big ole bucket with her..ADORABLE! {Darn! I wish I would have snapped a pic of her!} I was surprised how quickly my kiddos picked up on the concept of "bucket filling" & "bucket dipping". I overheard one of my lil cuties saying, "Don't dip into me & I won't dip into you!"  Well...I guess she got the idea!?! lol Too cute!

I've seen lots of Bucket Filler ideas on Pinterest-instead of doing individual buckets, I decided to just do one classroom bucket...

I hung the poster with a cute lil bucket right in our doorway. I figured that was a spot that we walk by all day long & might help remind us to be bucket fillers. I found that nifty little bucket in the Target Dollar Bins! {Woop Woop for Target's dollar treasures!} I think I'm going to add pompoms to my bucket when we spot "bucket filler behaviors". And this week we will be making these lil Bucket Filler Cuties...

If you would like to check out this lil craftivity, just click on the pic!

 

Here are some of the posters that I made to hang around the classroom-just click the pic below to grab your FREEBIE copy!

 

 

Hope y'all love the Bucket Filler goodies-have a super week!!!

 

Goin' on a 1st Grade Adventure {Classroom Pics}

Today was our 1st day of school & I was definitely ready for a few minutes on the couch when I got home! Wow-what an adventure it was! I was surrounded by 18 lil sweeties that were super excited to be BIG 1st graders! And let me say, they were WONDERFUL! Don't ya just love seeing those new school shoes & spark of excitement in the kiddos eyes?!?

I did manage to snap a few pictures right before our Open House....Oh, everything looked so nice & neat {I know, I know....that won't last too long once my new firsties start that "learning adventure"!) So here are a few pics of my classroom...

Our theme this year is "Safari" and... I just LOVE LOVE "Pete the Cat" so....Wah-Lah! my hall bulletin board is a safari-version of Pete. {Did you notice his hightop zebra-print Converse sneekers? Pete is definitely ROCKIN' in his new school shoes!}


This is the view from my door.

My room has lots of zebra print & this year I have added some bright polka dots to the mix {blue, green & pink} & I also wanted to redo all of my bulletin boards so that they all coordinated. {The people at the teacher store looked at me crazy when I bought 5 packages of the same polka dot border!}

This is the front of my classroom. I really love how my new Bright Dots ABC posters & banner turned out. The pennant banner hanging above my alphabet says "1st Grade Rocks!"

This is our calendar/group meeting area and...

...this is my small group area. I'm really excited about my new crate seats! They fit perfectly around my reading table. I had a rectangle table here last year, but it always seemed to crowd the space. I really like the cozy feel of the smaller table!

That is my desk hiding behind the bookshelf. {It will be hiding under a pile of papers in about a week!} I don't think I sat down there even once today!!! Whew-those first few days are literally an adventure!

And the area that I have been working on for quite a while-my reading nook! I was inspired by my super-bloggin' bud Katie {aka-Queen of the First Grade Jungle} I just loved her puff balls & made mine from some tulle that I found on sale at Hobby Lobby. {I will post more details of my reading center/classroom library in a few days.}

I know this pic looks kinda plain, but it won't be for long. The black background on my word wall will be soon filled with bright green word cards. I also hot glued clothes pins to a ribbon & then hung it across the wall {with Command Hooks} to hold my word family posters.

This is the kiddos mailboxes & also where they make their lunch choice each morning.

And that's the quick tour of my lil classroom!

My lil DIY Projects & Birthday Goodies

Hey all! This will be a quick lil post because this is my first official day for the 2012-13 school year! Yikes! I'll admit it...did NOT like the sound of that alarm clock this morning! Could someone please invent a soothing sound that could gently wake you up??? I'm telling you that buzzing sCrEEEEching noice that echos from my alarm clock is enough to give me a darn heartattack!!! Well, the good news is...it did wake me up... AND... I didn't actually have a heartattack AND...I had a few minutes to share a few of my last minute DIY projects. The first one is my "Kiss your Brain" treat bucket...

I just LOVE LOVE Dr. Jean's "Kiss your Brain" song & can't wait to hand out these kisses when I find someone that is working super-hard and deserves to kiss their brain! I made it with a mini-paint can that I found at Michaels, then added cutsie letter stickers & hot glued a big ole bow around the can! WahLah!! I love the small size can-I can actually fill it up with Hershey's Kisses without spending a fortune. I can't take the credit for this cute idea...saw it on Pinterest {during one of my 3am "Pinterest Cruises"!} I also wanted to make some lil back-to-school gift for my own kiddos to give to their teachers......


Click the pic to download a copy of my dry erase board background {w/o name at top}

the "Picture Frame Dry Erase Board"! These are soooo easy to make...just print out a sheet to put in the frame & hot glue a cute bow on it and you're DONE! I found the little bright-colored dry erase markers at Target {they even have a little eraser on the top-very handy!} I kinda wondered how a dry erase marker would work on the glass...well....it works great! My kids are really excited to take them to their teachers!

And the last lil thing that I want to show you today is my birthday balloon treats...

I used glow sticks for the sticks on the balloons {Michaels had a package of 15 Glo Sticks for $1!} I found that cute lil black bucket in the Target Dollar Bins {they also had pink, blue & silver buckets...how did Target know what colors I was using in my classroom this year!?!?} I attached the Glo Stick with tape & added curling ribbon then stuck them in my lil bucket filled with crinkle cut shedded paper...Happy Birthday to you! Well, thats it for today...I'm off to school to finish up my hall bulletin board & get everything together for Open House. I'll be sure to grab my camera so I can share my classroom pics with you! Don't forget-everything in my TpT shop is on sale right now & TpT is offering an additional 10% off! {Use PROMO CODE: BTS12} HURRY...Sale ends tonight!

Happy Monday!!!

Day 7...FAB*U*LOUS Freebie Frenzy!

Today is the last day of the FRENZY!

Day 7....Back-to-School FAB*U*LOUS FREEBIE FRENZY- this is the last day! The "frenzy" is coming to an end. Be sure to grab your freebies  {some are "Flash Freebies" so they are only offered as a freebie for a short time!} Today's FAB*U*LOUS featured blogs are...

Kinderglynn & First Grade Fever!

{For all you "Pete-Lovers" out there....we have more today!!!}

I'm really excited to feature Donna from Kinderglynn today! She is a super-sweet friend that creates awesome teaching materials!

Check out her super-cute FREEBIE! Donna made these ADORBS Pete posters with 3 different sayings, on 3 different borders...take your pick! I've already laminated mine & added some cutie patootie ribbon! LOVE that cat-thanks Donna!

Click any of the pics to grab the entire set of Donna's posters!

And I also have a lil back-to-school FREEBIE to share with you.

I've got lots of Pete the Cat activities planned and I'm using this fun Playdough center at the beginning of the year to review sight words! Hope your kiddos love it!

Click the pic to grab my lil FREEBIE! Enjoy!

I want to give a SUPER BIGGIE shout out to all of the FAB*U*LOUS FEATURED BLOGGERS that made this back-to-school Freebie Frenzy possible. Y'all ROCK! Be sure to check out each of their FAB blogs!

Thanks so much for stoppin' by to check out the frenzy-hope you have a super year!
{Don't forget the BIG TpT sale going on August 12th & 13th ONLY!!! Everything in my shop is on sale & use code BTS12 for an extra 10% off of sale prices!}

Day 6...FAB*U*LOUS Freebie Frenzy!

OMIword! I am officially experiencing my last weekend before school starts! Really? It just doesn't seem quite possible. Well, thanks to so many super sweet bloggin' friends sharin' their goodies, I feel much more prepared! {And we hope you do too!} Now its time for...

Day 6....Back-to-School FAB*U*LOUS FREEBIE FRENZY- 7 days of freebies! Each day {August 6th-12th} I will feature 2-3 blogs that are ready to share a fun back-to-school freebie with you. Be sure to grab your freebie each day {some are "Flash Freebies" so they are only offered as a freebie for a short time!} Today's FAB*U*LOUS featured blogs are...

Funky First Grade Fun, Little Priorities & Heather's Heart!

Kimberly from Funky First Grade Fun has a super cute blog! Don't ya just love that cutie on her blog button?!? She is sharing a great lil ABC order reproducible! Perfect back-to-school freebie-love it!

Click the pic above to grab Kimberly's FREEBIE!

And FAB blogger Lori from Little Priorities is ready to share her Classroom Clock Numbers. She must have read my mind...I've been wanting to make a set of these! Thanks Lori for helping me scratch that off of my "To-Do" list!

Click on either pic to grab Lori's super-cute clock numbers FREEBIE!

And we're not finished with Day 6 yet.....

Heather is soooo sweet to share this super-cute center activity with us! Do you recognize that cutie lil cat? Oh yeah! I LOVE it! {I've got this one printed out & laminated already!} Thanks Heather!

Click on either pic to grab Heather's FREEBIE!

Big thanks to Kimberly, Lori & Heather for taking time to share these FAB*U*LOUS back-to-school freebies with us! You're AWESOME!

Well, we're down to the last day of our FAB*U*LOUS FREEBIE FRENZY...

be sure to stop by tomorrow for DAY 7! See ya then!