Almost FREE Homemade Water Table

Water/Sensory tables are popular these days with the little ones, but they can be pretty pricey.  There are some ways you can make a water table with pvc pipes or wood and storage bins, or you can make a water table almost free with a few cardboard boxes, tape, and a shower liner.  This water table may not be the most durable, and will probably only last one summer, but it is almost free and a lot easier to make than some of the other ways to make a water table.
Materials: Cardboard boxes, tape (Gorilla tape works best because it is stronger than the other kinds of tape), and a shower liner (you can buy a basic, cheap shower liner at the Dollar Store).
I stacked three boxes to make the size of table I wanted.  If I had a taller box, that would have worked, but because I didn’t I used the boxes I had.
 
I taped the boxes together to make a good base.  The top box and bottom box both had the flaps taped to the side for extra support and so when I taped the shower liner on the bottom I could tape into the box.  You don’t want your bottom box to be flat on the bottom, or the water that runs to the ground might make it’s way to the cardboard. Then your whole water table will be ruined!

I taped the flaps down on the outside of the box on top, so they would not get in the way of the water.  I taped the flaps inside the box on the bottom.

I put the liner over the boxes.  Before taping the shower liner to the inside of the bottom box, I taped it to the inside of the top box by rolling the gorilla tape, as I did with when I taped the boxes together.


Then I made the liner nice and tight over the boxes, and taped it to the inside of the bottom box

That’s it!  Easy and cheap!!

My toddler hasn’t stopped playing with it, since we put water in it!!

Quiet/Centers Book

Sometimes using the Arts in teaching and learning does not have to be up and active!  Sometimes working on a quiet activity is good for both the parent, teacher, and child/student.  I created a quiet book for my toddler that uses art and colors, but also does activities based on songs and stories. This idea originally came from Love, Sweet. Love Blog, but has been adapted to use for centers at school.
Age Level: Toddler to Primary grades
Subjects: Anything.  (The example quiet book is made for church, but a quiet book can be used for any subject being taught- reading, math, science, etc.).
Materials: Binder, dry erase markers or crayons, sheet protectors (unless laminating everything), and activity sheets (I recommend making sheets on cardstock), sticker magnets. small zip lock bags
Home Use: The quiet book is a perfect tool for parents to use with their individual children to work on things the child struggles with.  I made mine for church, so my little boy would sit quietly during the main church meeting, and remember things I want him to remember about church- including songs.
Classroom Use: The quiet book is perfect for centers.  You only have to make enough for the amount of students in the center, and it can be used for any center subject.
Idea behind the Quiet/Centers book: The idea is so students and children can work individually at their own pace by doing fun activities that reinforce a subject, story taught, or song learned.  My sample quiet book mostly has activities in it from Primary children songs from church.  It also has a coloring page from a scripture story.  Children use dry erase markers or crayons to write on the sheet protectors to color the pages or do the activities.  The markings wipe off easily, so other children could do the same activities, or if used for individual and reinforcement use, the individual child can do the activity multiple times until he/she is bored with it, or fully understands the concept.  When new subjects, stories,  and songs are learned, new activity sheets can be placed in the sheet protectors, and the old sheets can be stored for next years class or the next child.
The activities that do not involve dry erase markings use magnets to attach pieces to the activity sheet. 
To Make the Quiet book Binder is simple: The activity sheets will go in the sheet protectors which go in the binders.  There are lots of ways to make activity sheets.  You can get a bunch of free pintables from this website: http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2011/03/tot-school-printables/
I also created some of my own activity sheets using Paint or searching for certain clipart.  If using the quiet book for certain subjects, you can get lots of free pintables from teacher sites. I am giving you a free printable from one of my activity sheets to get started! 


To make activity sheets using magnets, you will need the activity sheet and the pieces that will go on the sheet.  I recommend laminating the small pieces so they will last longer.  I used self sealing laminate sheets.  After laminating your pieces,  cut sticker magnets to the size of piece that will go on the sheet, and put the sticker magnet in the proper places on the sheet and on the pieces.
Sample Quiet Book:
Dry erase crayons go in the front pocket of the binder.  (Markers or crayons can also be put in a zip lock bag that is whole punched and attached to the binder.

Activity sheet that use dry erase writing utensils:

Activities that use magnets to attach pieces to the activity sheet.  The small pieces are stored in a small whole punched zip lock bag. Used one zip lock bag per activity page, so the small pieces don’t get all mixed up.


The activity pages can go in any order in the quiet book.  The ones in this book are ordered with the dry erase activities first, the easier magnet activities second, and the harder magnet activities last.
A few things to note: The quiet books can also include pictures of what is being taught or reinforced, such as pictures of animals, letters, or even family members. This way little children will learn using visual arts before doing the activities.
If you need ideas or have questions on what to do with your quiet or centers books, let me know!  I have lots of ideas!!!