A few years ago, I decided to implement a few NEW things in my daily classroom routine. Morning tubs was at the top of this list and I'm glad I did it! My
In my first fews years of teaching if you would have asked me what my favorite part of the day was I would have never said the morning. My morning routine used to be the opposite of calm with worksheets for morning work and kids constantly getting up to ask me to read them the directions. Once I shi
This How To guide will teach you everything you need to know about using morning tubs in your preschool or kindergarten classroom!
Discover the benefits of kindergarten morning tubs along with activity ideas and tips for getting started using them in your classroom.
This How To guide will teach you everything you need to know about using morning tubs in your preschool or kindergarten classroom!
Morning Tubs are the perfect way to start each morning in your classroom. It gives students the opportunity to work cooperatively with each other.
Morning Tubs (Ideas, Management, and More) 3 comments morning routine, morning tub ideas, morning tubs, morning work alternative, play, STEM materials I have been intrigued by the idea of morning tubs for the past few years. Starting the day with play based learning just seemed so developmentally perfect to me. However, it wasn't really a viable option for me until this year. And, let me tell you, they are the best. This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link. This summer, I spent some time reading (and rereading) blog posts from The Brown Bag Teacher. I used her information and suggestions to formulate a morning tub system that works for me. I love that the kids start their day with a small chunk of time that lets them just be kids. They get time, right from the start, to interact and play. It's a great way to get that "out of their system" so they can focus on their learning. Morning Tubs Morning tubs are a hands-on alternative to morning work. Instead of completing a worksheet, or filling in an agenda, the kids are touching, creating, thinking, talking, sharing, and having a great time. Additionally, depending upon the kind of materials you put out, your students can work on their fine motor skills. Through play, they learn to problem solve and interact with their peers. It's a non-threatening way to ease into the day, which for some kids is huge. How I Manage Morning Tubs I have five table groups in my classroom. There are anywhere from 4 to 6 kids at a table group. Every day, each table group gets a new tub of materials. The students get 7 minutes to use the materials, and 2 minutes to clean them up and put them away. We have a few rules: No complaining about the materials in your bin. Work nicely: share materials, use kind words, and work together. Use the materials appropriately (no flicking or throwing materials across the room). The tubs can be used on the floor, so long as the whole group agrees. Use appropriate voice levels. Clean up within specified time. Here are a few more particulars: If a student doesn't like the materials at their table, they have the option of silent reading instead. While the tubs are in use, the students are expected to use "level 2" voices (table talk voices). If they are too loud, they could lose their tub. If a specific student is having a hard time sharing with the group, or being kind, they lose the privilege of using the materials the rest of the morning. When it's time to clean up, they must do so at a "level 0" (silence). If the class struggles with a quiet, and speedy, clean up they don't get morning tubs the following day. Voices aside, students are not allowed to throw materials into the tubs. They must place them into the tubs carefully, without making extra noise. The use of tubs has so many benefits, but ultimately, it is a privilege to get to use them. So, I do hold the students accountable. We have had days where the tubs were off limits so we could revisit expectations. How I Store Morning Tubs These are the 10 drawer rolling carts from Michaels. They are perfect for storing and presenting morning tub materials. The materials are placed in the drawers. Each morning, I remove a tray and place it at a table group. When it's time to clean up, the drawer is placed back into the cart. I numbered each drawer with vinyl numbers (see top photo). This helps me make sure that the drawers are placed back into the carts in the proper order. The square number tags are attached with velcro and are used to note which table group gets that particular tub of materials. Every day, the tubs go back into the rolling carts in numerical order (vinyl numbers) and the table group cards are moved to the next tub in the rotation. This means that the students get to use a variety of materials throughout the week and a few weeks will pass before they use the same tub again. This eliminates burnout and keeps the kids excited about the materials. What I Put in My Morning Tubs Anything I think the kids will love to use. I'm not picky, and neither are they. I have lots of building materials, as well as some materials that are meant to encourage imaginative thinking. Take a peek! Beads are perfect for fine motor development. Plus, they are fun. I use pony beads mixed with some animal beads. My kids use pipe cleaners to string the beads, but you could use lacing strings too! I also have some alphabet lacing letters. The kids love stringing together favorite words, especially their names. The drawer below the lacing letters features some felt pieces that I found at the Target Dollar Spot over the summer. I got some plain felt (off the bolt) from Hobby Lobby and cut it into 12x18 inch pieces. The large pieces of blue felt serve as a background, and are folded and stored at the bottom of the tub. The kids place the cute pieces from the Dollar Spot on the larger pieces of felt to build scenes. These plastic animals (and a few trees and fences) are a bigger hit with the kids than I thought they would be. They build scenes and engage in imaginative play. It makes my heart happy to see that. The drawer below the animals contains small tiles that the kids use to make words. I've had these for a while, and since they weren't seeing much action, I decided to put them in a tub. This Melissa and Doug building set is great. I found it on clearance at Target, but Amazon sells it as well. The kids work together to make all kinds of interesting creations. Plus, it's great for fine motor skills. Below the wooden building set are our snowflake blocks. These are lots of fun too! Currently the kids love building rainbow patterned wands. They often work together to make really long "trains" of blocks. These brain flakes (similar to the snowflake blocks) are fun and easy to use too. They are also great for fine motor skills while allowing students to be creative. I also put out snap cubes. These were some extra cubes I had on hand (left over from an old math program), so I put them in a tub. My students love using them to build tall towers, walls, and other creative structures. I saw these balance toys in the Target Dollar Spot over the summer, and decided to give them a try because the price couldn't be beat. I got two sets, and I'm glad I did. The kids really, really like them. You can find similar balance toys on Amazon. The dominoes are left over from when we used Everyday Math. They make for a great morning tub now! Finger puppets are a fun morning tub too. I was worried that my second graders would think they were too babyish, but I was wrong. They are perfect for imaginative play. The drawer below the puppets is filled with square tiles. Another math program "left over." The kids typically stack them or arrange them to make patterns or pictures. LEGOs...a no brainer. Kids love them. They build all sorts of things with them. I got mine at Walmart last year (Black Friday deal). Keep you eyes peeled for deals, they pop up around the holidays. Below the LEGOs are our building block bars. They're fun, colorful, and easy to use. Shown below is a gear set that I found at Costco. They are fun, and the kids really like them, but they are kind of big and actually take up two drawers. The magnetic blocks in the second drawer are fun too. These blocks tend to be really pricey, but I got lucky one day and grabbed this set on Amazon as a lightning deal. It isn't a huge set, but the kids love it and do build creative things. These hashtag blocks are super small but they let the kids be creative as they build. Plus, they work on fine motor skills. I found these in the Target Dollar Spot over the summer. And, I basically wiped out their entire supply when I bought them. Haha!! The foam pattern blocks are from our math program. The kids like to use them to create pictures and patterns. Where I Got My Materials Truthfully, I purchased most of them. But not all at once. I've accumulated things over time and have used them for different purposes in my classroom up until deciding to use them as morning tub materials. Many of these materials were once part of my "Fun Friday" stash. I just repurposed them into morning tubs. Some of the materials are from our current math program, or left over from previous math programs. In other words, they were things I had on hand that weren't really being used for much. My favorite places to find materials include: Amazon Target Dollar Spot Zulilly As soon as my own kiddo outgrows her toys, I plan to add many of them to my morning tub rotations. So, don't forget to raid your own kids' toy stash! Donors Choose as an option for getting materials like these in your classroom. Amazon even allows you to create a wish list that can be shared with your students' families. Also, don't be afraid to ask your own friends and family to gift an item to your classroom. Many times, our loved ones are willing to purchase something that we want/need for our classrooms. Click HERE for a direct link to my Morning Tub Ideas page on Amazon. DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
Looking for May Morning Tubs to keep the kids busy, independently working, and learning at the same time? Easter, Spring Animals, and Flowers activities.
5 reasons to start the day with morning tubs in first grade. Morning tubs are hands on morning work activities to use with math manipulatives that get your first graders thinking and doing to start the day. This gives teachers time to take attendance and other jobs. Morning tubs will help you spiral your curriculum because you can use tubs to keep reviewing.
50+ Morning Tub Ideas A Morning Tub is a great way to offer a play-based opportunity for students to explore, create, and communicate. A non-threatening way to start the day, Morning Tubs help redu…
Brain bins are what I call morning tubs in my first-grade classroom. They include open-ended materials that my students use to explore, create, build, and-
The beginning of the day can be stressful. You are trying to greet students as they walk in at different times, answer questions, help students unpack and settle in, all the while taking attendance and hot lunch count and listening to announcements to make sure you don’t miss anything important for the day. In the...
This How To guide will teach you everything you need to know about using morning tubs in your preschool or kindergarten classroom!
Are mornings in your classroom chaotic? Come read about the benefits of giving morning tubs a try in your classroom & download a free one!
Morning Tubs are the perfect way to start each morning in your classroom. It gives students the opportunity to work cooperatively with each other.
It is FINALLY February! January felt like one long catch-up after the crazy holiday season and we are so excited to be settling back into a routine! I wanted to […]
Looking for hands-on, easy to prep morning tub ideas for kindergarten? These activity ideas will transform your mornings from chaos to consistency.
Learn how to set up a STEM based paperless morning work schedule in your elementary classroom.
Morning Tubs are the perfect way to start each morning in your classroom. It gives students the opportunity to work cooperatively with each other.
Math Morning Work simplifies your hectic morning classroom entry. Grab a FREE set of engaging, paperless tasks for your bins, and read more here!
If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen my Facebook live video where I announced that I’m adding a Back-to-School Morning Work Pack to my Morning Work Tubs Bundle. I’m pleased to announce that the pack is completed and now available! Before you go on, if you are not ready to think about back-to-school ... Read more
Say goodbye to stress in prepping morning work! I've provided more than 200+ hands-on activities for your students to try!
Kindergarten students will enjoy these INSTANT Tubs N Trays activities. These activities can be used for fine motor work and centers.
Mornings seem to come way too fast! I know in my classroom that my kiddos need time to eat their breakfast and complete something at their desks before
Today it's all about monsters. Back to school monsters that is. It's such a cute and fun back to school theme!I wanted to share a sneak peek of my latest 6 Pack Centers packet, some read aloud ideas, along with a fun NO-PREP freebie! Those first few weeks back to school are nothing short of...
Creating a calm morning routine in the classroom is essential for starting the day on the right foot! Check out these tips and procedures!
Morning Tubs are a wonderful way to start the school day. They allow students to showcase their creativity while building social skills.
Morning Tubs (Ideas, Management, and More) 3 comments morning routine, morning tub ideas, morning tubs, morning work alternative, play, STEM materials I have been intrigued by the idea of morning tubs for the past few years. Starting the day with play based learning just seemed so developmentally perfect to me. However, it wasn't really a viable option for me until this year. And, let me tell you, they are the best. This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link. This summer, I spent some time reading (and rereading) blog posts from The Brown Bag Teacher. I used her information and suggestions to formulate a morning tub system that works for me. I love that the kids start their day with a small chunk of time that lets them just be kids. They get time, right from the start, to interact and play. It's a great way to get that "out of their system" so they can focus on their learning. Morning Tubs Morning tubs are a hands-on alternative to morning work. Instead of completing a worksheet, or filling in an agenda, the kids are touching, creating, thinking, talking, sharing, and having a great time. Additionally, depending upon the kind of materials you put out, your students can work on their fine motor skills. Through play, they learn to problem solve and interact with their peers. It's a non-threatening way to ease into the day, which for some kids is huge. How I Manage Morning Tubs I have five table groups in my classroom. There are anywhere from 4 to 6 kids at a table group. Every day, each table group gets a new tub of materials. The students get 7 minutes to use the materials, and 2 minutes to clean them up and put them away. We have a few rules: No complaining about the materials in your bin. Work nicely: share materials, use kind words, and work together. Use the materials appropriately (no flicking or throwing materials across the room). The tubs can be used on the floor, so long as the whole group agrees. Use appropriate voice levels. Clean up within specified time. Here are a few more particulars: If a student doesn't like the materials at their table, they have the option of silent reading instead. While the tubs are in use, the students are expected to use "level 2" voices (table talk voices). If they are too loud, they could lose their tub. If a specific student is having a hard time sharing with the group, or being kind, they lose the privilege of using the materials the rest of the morning. When it's time to clean up, they must do so at a "level 0" (silence). If the class struggles with a quiet, and speedy, clean up they don't get morning tubs the following day. Voices aside, students are not allowed to throw materials into the tubs. They must place them into the tubs carefully, without making extra noise. The use of tubs has so many benefits, but ultimately, it is a privilege to get to use them. So, I do hold the students accountable. We have had days where the tubs were off limits so we could revisit expectations. How I Store Morning Tubs These are the 10 drawer rolling carts from Michaels. They are perfect for storing and presenting morning tub materials. The materials are placed in the drawers. Each morning, I remove a tray and place it at a table group. When it's time to clean up, the drawer is placed back into the cart. I numbered each drawer with vinyl numbers (see top photo). This helps me make sure that the drawers are placed back into the carts in the proper order. The square number tags are attached with velcro and are used to note which table group gets that particular tub of materials. Every day, the tubs go back into the rolling carts in numerical order (vinyl numbers) and the table group cards are moved to the next tub in the rotation. This means that the students get to use a variety of materials throughout the week and a few weeks will pass before they use the same tub again. This eliminates burnout and keeps the kids excited about the materials. What I Put in My Morning Tubs Anything I think the kids will love to use. I'm not picky, and neither are they. I have lots of building materials, as well as some materials that are meant to encourage imaginative thinking. Take a peek! Beads are perfect for fine motor development. Plus, they are fun. I use pony beads mixed with some animal beads. My kids use pipe cleaners to string the beads, but you could use lacing strings too! I also have some alphabet lacing letters. The kids love stringing together favorite words, especially their names. The drawer below the lacing letters features some felt pieces that I found at the Target Dollar Spot over the summer. I got some plain felt (off the bolt) from Hobby Lobby and cut it into 12x18 inch pieces. The large pieces of blue felt serve as a background, and are folded and stored at the bottom of the tub. The kids place the cute pieces from the Dollar Spot on the larger pieces of felt to build scenes. These plastic animals (and a few trees and fences) are a bigger hit with the kids than I thought they would be. They build scenes and engage in imaginative play. It makes my heart happy to see that. The drawer below the animals contains small tiles that the kids use to make words. I've had these for a while, and since they weren't seeing much action, I decided to put them in a tub. This Melissa and Doug building set is great. I found it on clearance at Target, but Amazon sells it as well. The kids work together to make all kinds of interesting creations. Plus, it's great for fine motor skills. Below the wooden building set are our snowflake blocks. These are lots of fun too! Currently the kids love building rainbow patterned wands. They often work together to make really long "trains" of blocks. These brain flakes (similar to the snowflake blocks) are fun and easy to use too. They are also great for fine motor skills while allowing students to be creative. I also put out snap cubes. These were some extra cubes I had on hand (left over from an old math program), so I put them in a tub. My students love using them to build tall towers, walls, and other creative structures. I saw these balance toys in the Target Dollar Spot over the summer, and decided to give them a try because the price couldn't be beat. I got two sets, and I'm glad I did. The kids really, really like them. You can find similar balance toys on Amazon. The dominoes are left over from when we used Everyday Math. They make for a great morning tub now! Finger puppets are a fun morning tub too. I was worried that my second graders would think they were too babyish, but I was wrong. They are perfect for imaginative play. The drawer below the puppets is filled with square tiles. Another math program "left over." The kids typically stack them or arrange them to make patterns or pictures. LEGOs...a no brainer. Kids love them. They build all sorts of things with them. I got mine at Walmart last year (Black Friday deal). Keep you eyes peeled for deals, they pop up around the holidays. Below the LEGOs are our building block bars. They're fun, colorful, and easy to use. Shown below is a gear set that I found at Costco. They are fun, and the kids really like them, but they are kind of big and actually take up two drawers. The magnetic blocks in the second drawer are fun too. These blocks tend to be really pricey, but I got lucky one day and grabbed this set on Amazon as a lightning deal. It isn't a huge set, but the kids love it and do build creative things. These hashtag blocks are super small but they let the kids be creative as they build. Plus, they work on fine motor skills. I found these in the Target Dollar Spot over the summer. And, I basically wiped out their entire supply when I bought them. Haha!! The foam pattern blocks are from our math program. The kids like to use them to create pictures and patterns. Where I Got My Materials Truthfully, I purchased most of them. But not all at once. I've accumulated things over time and have used them for different purposes in my classroom up until deciding to use them as morning tub materials. Many of these materials were once part of my "Fun Friday" stash. I just repurposed them into morning tubs. Some of the materials are from our current math program, or left over from previous math programs. In other words, they were things I had on hand that weren't really being used for much. My favorite places to find materials include: Amazon Target Dollar Spot Zulilly As soon as my own kiddo outgrows her toys, I plan to add many of them to my morning tub rotations. So, don't forget to raid your own kids' toy stash! Donors Choose as an option for getting materials like these in your classroom. Amazon even allows you to create a wish list that can be shared with your students' families. Also, don't be afraid to ask your own friends and family to gift an item to your classroom. Many times, our loved ones are willing to purchase something that we want/need for our classrooms. Click HERE for a direct link to my Morning Tub Ideas page on Amazon. DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
In my first fews years of teaching if you would have asked me what my favorite part of the day was I would have never said the morning. My morning routine used to be the opposite of calm with worksheets for morning work and kids constantly getting up to ask me to read them the directions. Once I shi
I’ve never really been happy with how I do morning work or you might call it bell ringers. From the moment my kids walked in they were immediately in school mode. Read this, solve that, get b…
Morning work tubs are the perfect way to kick off the learning for the day. These activities are loaded with hands-on, engaging ideas to make learning FUN!
Our world could use a little more love, and the February First Grade Morning Bins are sure to bring some! They have just been added to the First
A few years ago, I decided to implement a few NEW things in my daily classroom routine. Morning tubs was at the top of this list and I'm glad I did it! My
Are your mornings in the classroom hectic? Help them to run more smoothly with these fun and engaging literacy morning tubs for the year!
Discover the benefits of kindergarten morning tubs along with activity ideas and tips for getting started using them in your classroom.
Morning tubs in kindergarten are a great way to take the chaos out of your morning! Find out how to begin morning work tubs in your own classroom!
This How To guide will teach you everything you need to know about using morning tubs in your preschool or kindergarten classroom!
SAVE $$$ with the BUNDLE!Morning Bins / Morning Tubs / Morning WorkGet ready to revolutionize your morning routines with Morning Bins The Bundle! ⭐ Check out the Preschool/Pre-K Morning Bins HERE⭐ Check out the Kindergarten Morning Bins HERE⭐ Check out the Second Grade Morning Bins HERE⭐ Check o...
Start a new routine in the morning and try Morning Tub Activities. Kids will engage in independent, hands-on activities and have fun reviewing and learning.
February Morning Tubs There are so many different things happening during the shortest month of the year! Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, President's Day, Black History Month, Dental Month... it seems the list goes on and on. Although a couple of activities have graphics for some of these special days, the majority of the month have graphics that can be used at any time of the year that your students are ready for them. Below is a quick overview of all of the activities included in the February Morning Tubs for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. ELA Morning Tubs Predicting: Students will choose from eight pictures to list the things in the pictures and what is happening. The students will then predict what will happen next. Poems: Students will read the riddle, find the matching picture, and then use colored popsicle sticks to build the picture. I Spy February Vocabulary Words: Print a class set and use anytime during the month! Students will use magnifying glasses to find the hidden words, list them, and then find those words in the word search. Variety Parts of Speech: Students will play the game to build a tower by answering the cards. The student with the tallest tower wins the game. Prepositions: Students will place mini-marshmallows to show the prepositions. The best part? Eating the marshmallows when finished! Writing Silly Sentences: Students will roll the die to choose cards and then turn their six cards into silly sentences! Inference: Students will read the paragraph to infer the emotions of the students and then draw their facial expressions. Alphabetical Order: Students will write the words in abc order. Point of View: Students will write stories from the point of view of something in the picture. Math Morning Tubs Skip Counting Puzzles: 2nd grade: Numbers to 1,000 3rd Grade: Numbers to 100,000 4th Grade: Numbers in the Millions Adding/Subracting Odd & Even 2nd Grade: 3-digit 3rd Grade: 4-digit 4th Grade: 6-digit Comparing Numbers: 2nd Grade: Thousands 3rd Grade: Ten Thousands Fourth Grade: Millions Ordering Numbers: 2nd Grade: 3-Digit Numbers 3rd Grade: 5-Digit Numbers 4th Grade: 6-Digit Numbers Adding Four Numbers: 2nd and 3rd grades Multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit Numbers: 4th grade Math Fluency: 2nd grade: Subtracting from 20 3rd and 4th grades: Multiplication Snap Cubes: Students will play a game to see who will win the winter games snap cubes contest! Fractions: Students will spin, find the matching fraction, roll a playdough ball, and smash it. Geo boards Shapes: Students will complete task cards on the Geo boards. Fine Motor Morning Tubs Dental Cursive Writing: Trace the Pictures: Dental Fine Motor Activities: Critical Thinking Morning Tubs Finish the Grid: Students will follow directions on the task cards to finish the grid. Who's the Mystery Person: A partner game Would you like to receive a FREE set of my morning tubs? Sign up for my Tuesday newsletters via email and get this set for free! Your students will be excited to begin their day with these February Morning Tubs. Click on the pictures below if you would like to see more about them in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Fun and engaging. That's just my... Kind of Teaching!
Morning work tubs are the perfect way to kick off the learning for the day. These activities are loaded with hands-on, engaging ideas to make learning FUN!
Well hello there! I am back with an all new set of explore tubs!!! I mentioned back at the beginning of the new school year that I would be swapping out read to someone for “explore” during my daily five! I really felt that I needed to bring back some more hands-on activities AKA “fun”...
Fine Motor is so important in an Early Childhood classroom. Strong Fine motor skills help to strengthen those little finger muscles needed for writing stamina. Students without writing stamina will write less then their peers, not because they do not have the ideas, but because they will fatigue before they can write their ideas. They ... Read More about Fine Motor Tips and Tricks
Discover the benefits of kindergarten morning tubs along with activity ideas and tips for getting started using them in your classroom.
Are mornings in your classroom chaotic? Come read about the benefits of giving morning tubs a try in your classroom & download a free one!
Embrace a soft start to your school day in the first grade classroom. Use Good Morning Tubs to give grade one students a fun way to work on math and literacy skills as well as fine motor skills and spatial awareness. It is a social way to begin the day that really calms my first grade and second grade students and sets the tone for the day.
