Can you believe that summer is OVER? Where did the past 77 days go? I counted that I had 77 days off from work (I work in a school) back in June. Tomorrow I go back to work. It truly does feel like the entire summer just flew by.
Some children have already gone back to school. Locally our schools start back up tomorrow (September 5, 2017).
I work as a teacher’s assistant in a Kindergarten program. We recently had to move our classroom from one end of the school to the other end. Our prior location was more of a big room then a classroom. Other classes used to have to walk through our room to make their way to the playground. It was a bit of a distraction for our kids, especially during nap time (yes, our kids nap), when 20+ children would may their way through our room to get outside.
We now have a room all to ourselves. It was a bit of a struggle to move everything and set things up, but once it was all done the place looked great. All it needed was a few more touches to add some color and personality to the room. I knew exactly where to go for classroom decor and other school supplies – Oriental Trading Company!
Oriental Trading has been my go-to shop for just about everything I have needed for school over the years, including favors for class parties, decorations, and small gifts for my kids to give to their classmates. Now that my kids are out of school (and in college) I still find that I have a need for thing from Oriental Trading.
For our classroom I have shopped for supplies and crafts for the kids I work with. They also have a plethora of teachers supplies, classroom decorations, toys and so much more.
For the first time we have a bulletin board in the hallway, exclusively for our classroom. For that reason I knew I had to do something very special with it.
My boss/co-worker/head teacher is a HUGE fan of superheroes. He loves them all. Seeing as how he was busy running the summer camp program, I thought I would help him out and do up the bulletin board. I knew exactly what I wanted too – superheroes!
Oriental Trading has the cutest superhero bulletin board set that includes everything you need to set up the coolest bulletin board in school. The set is only $11.99 and comes with 201 pieces!
There are “bubbles” you can write the student’s names on. To extend the life of these I ran some of the name bubbles through a laminator. That way I can use a dry erase marker to write the names of each student on the bubbles and when we change the bulletin board I can wipe off the name bubbles and re-use them again next year.
Look at how cute our board turned out. I love it! I’ve received many compliments from other teachers about it too. I had to blur out the names of the children in the bubbles for obvious reasons.
I used some of the remaining pieces to decorate the door to our room.
I even have some superhero stencils from Oriental Trading. I’m sorry that I don’t have a photo of them (I forgot to take a photo). I plan on using them as an center activity.
Since we have a new room, our walls were pretty much a “blank canvas” to work with. I found A LOT of great wall and room decor to add color and personality to our room. Oriental Trading Company has A LOT of classroom decorations to choose from for every holiday, season and event.
Here are some photos from around our room, compliments of Oriental Trading Company.
The sets featured in these photos are as follows:
- Shapes Mini Bulletin Board Set (IN-13714994)
- Basic Skills Poster Set (IN-13773813
- Pete the Cat Holiday & Seasonal Posters (IN-13748683)
There are several Pete the Cat posters for various holidays/seasons. The kids I work with LOVE Pete the Cat. I plan on swapping the poster out with each new holiday/season. The poster sites right behind the desk.
One of my favorite sets it the Classroom Month-by-Month Bear Bulletin Board Set. Even my co-worker said he absolutely loved it. We have a new bear set for each month.
Each set includes a bear dressed in appropriate attire with the month and little accent pieces (such as the leaves and apples).
Oriental Trading Company doesn’t only have room decor, but they also have fun activities and center activities for students too.
Working with Kindergartners I am often asked to tie shoes (or I do it on my own so students don’t trip). Orietal Trading has an adorable Lacing Shoe from the brand Melissa and Doug. I haven’t had the chance to try it (yet) because school does’t start until tomorrow. I know the kids are going to love it.
My kids are almost 18 and 20 years old. Needless to say it’s been a long time since I had to teach someone how to tie their shoes. I’m hoping this makes it easier for me to teach my Kindergartners.
Another fun item from Oriental Trading that I haven’t had a chance to try out yet are the Classroom Brain Break Activity Dice. I thought these would be GREAT for indoor recess or when the kids have a bit too much energy and need to find constructive things to engage with.
There are 12 dice in total and each one has a different activity on each side, so there are over 70 different activities. Here are a few examples.
- Pretend to jump rope at your desk for 30 seconds
- Grab a microphone and sing and dance for 1 minute
- Be a fox. Sneak around the room for 1 minute
- Crawl like a baby for 1 minute
- Fix your neighbor an imaginary ice cream cone
Oriental Trading Company has plenty of goodies to choose from whether you are a teacher, teacher’s assistant, home schooler, class mom or you are involved in similar positions. They also work great to supplement the learning your child gets at school.
Of course, Oriental Trading has A LOT more than just school supplies. They have holiday and seasonal decor, costumes, gifts, party supplies, toys and so much more.
To check out these and other products from Oriental Trading Company visit OrientalTrading.com. You can also find the brand on social media.
Kimberly
*I received free products to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.