HELLO ALL MY SMARTIST FRIENDS!
WOW has this been a crazy year (two years? I've lost track...). I'm sending my good vibes out to everyone in the education world who is still dealing with major changes and struggles in their job. I feel you, I understand, and we can get through this together.
I spent the whole of last year taking my classroom on a cart to each one of my art classes. The art room was shut down for safety reasons so I happily took my show on the road! But this year I am back in business! And I spent an entire school year dreaming about the new things I wanted to try when I was able to return to my space!
The very first of those new things I want to share with you are my Art Room Badges! Our theme in the art room this year is "Super Artists" so our whole classroom is decorated in a superhero theme! I decided I wanted to make some special lanyards for my kinders and first graders to wear when they come to art. These serve multiple purposes in our classroom!
Each tag has the students name. This is both useful for the students and for myself. It typically takes me a while to learn all of the names of the younger classes and that has not been made easier by the craziness of this last year. So their names are partially for me, but also for any kiddos who need some extra help writing their own name on a project!
Each badge also has a unique symbol. They have one of six shapes and their shape is one of six colors. All around the room, I have tags with the different shapes attached with velcro in the different seating areas. So each week the students come in and find their "shape space". It is an easier way to do assigned seats without really doing "assigned seats". And each week the shape tags rotate around so everyone gets a chance to sit everywhere!
The color of their shapes is for our art room "super helpers". Each week I have one color team that helps out with anything extra that I need done around the room. Handing out papers, collecting materials, pushing in chairs, etc. It is SO easy to just switch the tag each week for a new color group!
So far these name tags have been working out so well! The kids love them so much that they don't really notice that they are getting assigned seats! And I made sure to make a big deal out of checking each badge on the first day as they entered our "top secret art room". Their badge is their ticket in!
Do you have any other special ways that you get kids excited about coming to art?? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
I have put an editable version of the Artvenger Badges on my Teachers Pay Teachers page - check out the link below!