Made It Monday Classroom Theme Linky

I'm linking this post up in two places today! Visit Made It Monday over at 4th Grade Frolics and the Classroom Theme Linky Party from  Surfin' Through Second by clicking on their respective buttons!
 First up, the classroom theme linky:

As many of you know, my classroom theme this year is "Where the Wild Things Are". But, I thought I would share with you how I envision it looking in my room since I'm fairly certain this theme could be taken in a variety of different directions. In fact, since the other kinder teacher and the Transitional-First teacher are also doing the same theme in their room and we're all working independently, I daresay we'll have three different examples of the theme come August!

My version is focusing on the muted colors of the illustrations in the book. No bright colors for me this year! I absolutely love bright colors and in a perfect world my class would look like this:

However, I've found that a lot of my kinders become overstimulated by color. The bright colors would just ramp them up. I also find that clutter and enclosed space do the same, so I try to have as open a classroom as possible. One of my colleagues last year had her classroom divided by lots of little portable walls and bookcases etc into separate areas and it just made the room so constrained. She cleared the room out 1/2 way through the year and it was so much better - and her behavior problems went down too!

So, my palette this year is going to be muted blues and greens.. A tiny bit of yellow and soft orange and lots of browns and gray. My goal is to make my classroom look/feel like a forest with a very calming and relaxed feel. I'm going to try lots of live plants on our windowsill too and of course I have my classroom tree!

I made my center signs in a series of wood grain backgrounds that I think are going to look wonderful in the classroom:

I also made a matching calendar set:

I'm having Vistaprint make me up a coordinating behavior chart, but also made it printable in case I change my mind, plus I have my placemats too! I'm also switching out a lot of my plastic containers for wicker ones.
Here are two that I found at Hobby Lobby - the little one for supplies and the big one for my pointers.

So I think I'm well on my way to having a calm, (coordinating) forest feel to my room!

This takes me to the Made It Monday part of my post:

I took my husband to Hobby Lobby with me on Saturday. I was wandering the aisles, no idea of what I wanted, and he was asking why we were there. So of course I had  to tell him about Made It Monday and the fact that I had to make something for Monday. To say he was confused is an understatement lol! Eventually though, I settled on making a wreath for my classroom door. I loved the idea that Lisa of Learning is Something to Treasure had last week of using the little wooden cutouts to decorate her wreath, but Hobby Lobby didn't have anything appropriate for my theme. Instead I ended up doing this:

I only spent about $15 on supplies - I did make my husband go stand in another check out line so he could use the 40% off coupon on his phone while I did the same thing in my line. So the wreath and one set of flowers were 40% off. The wooden letters were already 50% and so were the rolls of ribbon.

I printed out some of the wild things characters on card stock and then mod podged the front and back to stiffen them and add durability. Then I cut them out and used a glue gun to secure them to the wreath.
I cut up the flowers and stuck them throughout the wreath, using a glue gun to secure them as well. I also wound the green and orange ribbon around the wreath. I ended up not using the cream ribbon or the wooden letters - they'll be used for a different purpose I thought of !

Here's the whole thing:
I think I'm going to move Max and add some more ribbon on that side, but overall I'm pleased with the way it turned out!

Now I'm off to see what everyone else has made this week! Make sure you click over to both linkies :)


14 comments:

Lisa R. said...

Oh my goodness Jennifer, I love your wreath!! Where the Wild Things Are is one of my favorites. That is so stinkin' cute! :)
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure

Swersty said...

Your wreath is adorable! And I think the nature-inspired colors in your classroom will be calming for sure!

Swersty’s Swap Shop

Erika said...

Funny how our husbands just don't get it! Very cute theme and wreath.
Erika
2B Honey Bunch
Honey Bunch Blog Design

Teacher-ific said...

Thanks for stopping by!!! I'm your newest follower! Yipee! :)

Tara said...

Love your wild things wreath!!! So cute! Never thought about making a themed wreath like that:) Thanks for sharing and for linking up:)

4th Grade Frolics

Corinna said...

I love your theme, what a great idea! I also like your color palette, I have the same in my bedroom and I love the calm I feel in there! I am going for brights this year, I will have to pay attention to my behavior;) Thanks so much for linking up!

Aloha,
Corinna
Surfin' Through Second

Kindertrips said...

What a great classroom theme and color scheme! Your wreath is precious!
Jennifer
kindertrips

Brenda Seek said...

I really like your color theme, as well as the psychology behind it. I truly believe that the clutter and mess as well as the bold colors stimulate our littles. I can't wait to hear how your colors work on them.

School Sparks Renee said...

Your colorful picture made me smile!! It would perk adults up, for sure, but way too much going on for little guys! I agree! Your new color palette seems very soothing! Adorable! Renee

meghan said...

So darn cute!

Meg
Third Grade in the First State

Kelly said...

Your wreath turned really cute. I like the idea of the baskets and muted colors. It will be very calming.

Kelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

Kelly said...

Check your email.........it might be under SPAM

Jill said...

I have loved max and the monsters since I first read it to my sister. This wreath is whimsical and cute. Thanks for sharing.

Jill
Bubbalulu.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I love the colors you are going to use. I'm doing yellow and gray this year so I know what you mean about calming colors! Everything you have done so far looks awesome. I am a new follower.
Modern Kindergarten

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