I got this for a dollar at Target. It's what we use to keep Avonlea's weekly AWANA Bible verses posted on.
Lincoln's toys
Label for his cars and trucks
Avonlea's toys...pink toy bins were found at IKEA and they were $4.00 each. Not too bad!
I try to stay away from having a "miscellaneous toy" bin, but they each have one in their room. There are just some toys that don't have a label. You know what I'm talking about right? =)
One really great lesson I took away from my internships in teaching during college was my ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) training. I had to intern in an ESOL class (elementary) for a semester, observing for the first half and teaching for the second half. Well, if you know anything about teaching ESOL, you know that using pictures for labels are a GREAT way to get the children reading and learning a language. EVERYTING in a successful ESOL classroom should be labeled.
Well, when Avonlea was about 12 months old, I started labeling her little toy bins so that she could see what the picture was of and what toys went in which bins. At 12 months of age, she was too young to comprehend this, but around 18-20 months, she knew full well where things belonged and it was great. I use the same system for her now, along with Lincoln's room. Norah just has a basket for her baby toys, but I'm sure that when she moves into a big girl bed and shares a room with Avy, she'll learn just as the other two have. I found the pictures from Mircosoft Word's clip art and also did a Google image search for the others that I couldn't find through Word. Hint* Don't type in "baby dolls" as a search for Google. I was appauled by what I saw!! Use the word "dolls" or "dollies" instead. You might still find inappropriate things, but it's better than the latter (and we have filters!). If anyone knows of a flawless filter, let me know. I can't tell you how tired I am of putting in for a search for something and the JUNK that pops up. The feeling of wanting to physically throw my computer out the front door has been there more than once! Who knows, I might actually do it someday.
Anyway, happy organizing and labeling!!! =)
2 comments:
I just found your blog after I looked at your facebook - love it! :) Thanks for posting all those fun websites to check out that are so full of great ideas. Did you get the pocket chart at Target recently? I am in need of a couple of those!
I LOVE this! I really need to get some labeled bins to keep the toys more organized. I love the pink bins. One day I'll make it to Ikea, it's about 2 hours from here.
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