Looking for a way to celebrate the end of the school year? Try a slide show you can share with your students.


We like to capture classroom activities on our Argus DC-2185 Digital Camera (an inexpensive option) or the HP Photosmart R937 digital cameras (for the semi-pro photographer). Both simplify photo editing, printing and sharing and are durable enough for the little hands that want to help take shots of field day, the school play, graduation or any number of events!


Once you’ve gathered the best and brightest shots, burn them to a CD set to music and play it for your students on the last day of class.  We suggest your memories are best shown on units like the InFocus A1100 Multimedia Projector and the Bretford Series 500 Wall Projection Screen. As an end of the year gift, send along a copy of the slideshow so students can share their memories at home or to have as a keepsake of your class.

Are your elementary kids getting antsy in the classroom seeing the sun shine outside after a long winter? Getting tired of the same old activities to keep young minds engaged in the classroom? Try some of these fresh ideas next time you have some downtime and kids full of unused energy.

Doggy, Where’s Your Bone? 

Have them sit in a circle on the carpet, with one in the middle blindfolded, holding a bone. Another child quietly takes the bone, and returns to his or her seat in the circle. All of the children say together: ’Doggie, doggie, where’s your bone? Somebody stole it from your home! Who stole the bone?’Child who has the bone says: ‘I stole the bone!’

All of the children hold their hands behind their backs. Then the child in the middle removes the blindfold and has 2 tries to guess who stole the bone. 

Imaginary Adventure

Have the children sit on the carpet facing you (you either sit on the floor or a chair in front of them). 

Give them paper and pencils, markers, crayons and anything else to draw with.  

Either read (a book they haven’t heard) or make up your own story that involves colorful locations and lots of imagery. 

Have the children draw a picture along with what they here (don’t show them the book’s pictures). 

Puppet Story Time

Have the children sit on the carpet facing you (you either sit on the floor or a chair in front of them). Read a story that has illustrations of characters that are different animals or people. 

On another day, have each child make a puppet for one character using brown and white paper lunch bags, construction paper, glue, and crayons. Use this about.com guide if you aren’t familiar with paper bag puppets.You can also help kids make their characters by cutting ears, eyes, noses, etc. out beforehand and letting them glue on. 

Read the story again with the children sitting in a circle each holding their puppet. Have the children move the mouth of the puppet as you are reading that character’s dialogue in the story. (You can point to them if they don’t know it is their turn to operate their puppet)

Note: You can do this with a long book like James and the Giant Peach too. Just read enough of the book first so children are introduced to the characters before they start working on the puppets. Then read more of the story later so they can use the puppets after they know the characters.

This is a great way to keep kids engaged in the reading.    

 Americolors Carpets

Looking for a gathering carpet to try these activities in your classroom? The Americolors carpets come in 7 sizes from 6′ x 6′ to 12′ x 18′. They are a thicker pile, with no loops to come undone, they look great over time, and are easy to clean.  

Move to the head of the class with the Jonti-Craft 20 Tray Mobile Cubbie. We love any unit big enough to store toys, text books, classroom supplies, or students personal belongings, to keep a classroom organized and free of clutter.Others also rave about using this shelf in their administrative offices. Label each compartment and use the 20 Tray for teacher inboxes or for storing precsription medication for students with special medical needs. Its transportability also makes it simple to move from room to room so that teachers can easily share contents as needed.