Monday Made It.....A Blog!

Does creating a blog really count as a Monday Made It?  Here's hoping it does. And in case it doesn't I do have a little classroom "made it" to share with you. Thanks to Tara for making it possible!

 

  

Quiet Dice 

I've been admiring foam dice for a while now...too many years to admit! But just couldn't justify the price. (Crazy expensive anytime I've seen them - like 64 dice for $30.00 expensive!)  So when I found these little gems at Michaels last week in the teacher section I was beyond excited. 

 It was a case of "buy them all before someone else comes and takes them" excitement!  So that's what I did.  There were six bags left so those six little bags came home with me.  (I didn't want any of them to feel left out!)  Now what is in these little bags - 25 foam cubes and 25 foam cylinders!!! Yes, 50 foam shapes for $1.00.  So for $6.00, I got 150 foam dice and 150 foam cylinders. Then using a paint pen (only $1.49 in the discount bin...with a surprise 50% off at the cash) I created my own dice. 

Oh the possibilities these little foam gems bring to my classroom - numeral cubes, regular dot cubes, custom dot cubes (subitizing practice anyone?), larger numbers, operations signs.... 

Suddenly I realized, 150 foam cubes was not enough.  So on a visit home to my parents I stopped by another Michaels store and bought another 8 bags.  (This time the shelves were full so I did leave a few bags for other teachers.) And, I just may share a bag or two with a fellow teacher who has been admiring foam dice as well. 

All my little goodies in their own bin

I was so excited with my creation I showed my darling husband the dice. Actually, I demonstrated them, asking him to close his eyes and listen.  His response "Quiet dice, where's the fun in that?"  Not hard to tell he's never spent a day in a classroom!  

As for those mounting piles of foam cylinders....I'm thinking they'll make some super cute (and quiet) mini Power Towers! 

Thanks for reading my first post! I'll be sure to come back and link up for Monday Made It again...with my Dollar Store version of a great math game! But don't wait until next Monday to come back...I'll be posting again soon with more classroom ideas! 

Sherri