I have a secret to share: Community supplies are not a thing here in the Cayman Islands - at least not in our public schools.
The first time I ever saw community supplies used in a classroom was during my student teaching experience in the US. I was bewildered. "You mean all these supplies are just shared among the students? They don't have their own?" I asked my CT. However, as strange as it seemed to me at the time, I was also able to see the benefits of using community supplies in the classroom. Although I've wished at times that I could do that here in my tiny island school, I've also recognized that there are many benefits to individual supplies too. With the coronavirus pandemic, one of those benefits has become more obvious: If each student has their own supplies, germs will not be spread through the sharing of community supplies.
So today, I'm sharing a super easy - and sanitary - way to store your students' crayons.
A few summers ago, during a trip to the US, I discovered these clear, stackable crayon boxes at Walmart for *drum roll*... 99 cents each! (Please note that at the time of this post the price on Walmart's site is higher because they are sold out, so the only available options are from third party sellers. Your best bet would probably be to try to find them in person at Walmart, if you have one near you.) These boxes fit 24 regular-sized crayons perfectly and, best of all, they have a lid and latches that keep the box securely closed if it falls off a table. And no, this is not a sponsored post - I just love these little crayon boxes because they have worked so well in my classroom! If you can't find these exact boxes or if they are too expensive, you could also use a snack box like this one from Dollar Tree.
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| TIP: Get a volunteer to help you wrap some washi tape around each crayon. Use a different color/design for each student. If you find a random crayon on the floor, the tape makes it easy to see who it belongs to! |
I have desks in my classroom, so that is where my students keep their crayon boxes. However, if you've ever had desks, you know they can easily become a black hole of junk. To help my students find their crayons easily, I put a small basket in each desk and that is where they keep their crayon boxes. Since more classrooms will probably have desks instead of tables this school year, I'll have to do a blog post on student desk organization in the near future.
And now for a freebie! I made labels to personalize my students' crayon boxes, which you can see in the photo above. Since I teach at a small school and already know all the students, I edit these labels every summer for my new class and try to include clip art that resembles each student. They always get so excited when they realize that the clip art kid kind of looks like them! The editable file is available as a free download in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Click here to go to the link and download the labels on TpT!
If you use these labels in your classroom, feel free to share a picture with me on Instagram, Facebook, or via email! Or if you want to save this blog post for later, you can pin the image below.
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