This post is sponsored by Astrobrights. All opinions remain my own.
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Happy back to school days (mostly) everyone!
Classrooms are a bright, happy, colourful place, and paper often makes that happen.
Between classwork/assignments, bulletin boards, games, and art projects, teachers consume a tree’s worth of paper every year. (Sorry environmentalists that’s just how it be.) Us teachers can get very creative in how we use paper and colour to enhance learning. It’s an imperative part of any classroom, particularly early education/elementary, and so I was really excited to see that Astrobrights understood the impact paper and colour have in learning and in the classroom environment. So when they asked if I would like to be a part of their #ColorizeYourClassroom campaign, I immediately jumped on board.
Pssst, don’t forget to head to the bottom of this post for a contest and a rad giveaway!
I’m always looking for ways to incorporate colour and games into the classroom. Since shifting teaching roles into learning support/english as a second language, I thought – hey, why not combine the two? This colour game is great for students in the school system who are just learning English, or for very young children in preschool or earlier who are just learning their colours. It’s tactile, visual, encourages speaking, and (what teachers like most of all), easy to whip up.
Here’s what you need and how to play:
Materials
- Free printable game cards
- Various colours of Astrobrights paper – red, green, purple, black, brown, orange, yellow, blue
- Masking tape
- Double sided tape or adhesive velcro
- Scissors
- Laminator (optional)
How to play
1 Print and cut the free game cards. On the back of each card, place a piece of double sided tape. If you want to reuse this game, laminate the cards and the sheets of paper and place adhesive velcro on each.
2 First teach the vocabulary and how to say a full sentence using the vocabulary and colour. For example: Strawberries are red/Bears can be brown.
Strawberry/red
Tree/green
Bear/brown
Ocean/blue
Pupil/black
Sun/yellow
Carrot/orange
Grapes/purple
3 Tape various coloured sheets on an empty wall or on walls throughout the school. If you don’t have a spare wall available, spread them out on a table.
4 Give each student/team a set of cards and a time limit. Students need to match their card with the corresponding colour. To encourage speaking, they must say a full sentence to gain a full point “The sun is yellow”, “The ocean is blue”. The first student/team to match all their colours and cards and say a proper full sentence wins.
You can extend this activity with more colours and more pictures. I just found these images from a google image search, selecting “Labeled for reuse”. Just make sure you teach the vocabulary beforehand and that the content isn’t too colour ambivalent or culture specific.
While some schools have a large classroom supply budget and a wealth of colourful paper at their disposal, my province is not so fortunate, and I’m sure others are in the same boat. I remember (not so) fondly one year desperately trying to find pink, red, and/or purple paper for a Valentines day craft. Sadly there was none in the school because the budget couldn’t afford new paper that year.
The realities of the school system friends.
Astrobrights has two incredible things happening right now to help ease educational budget cut woes.
#1 – #ColorizeYourClassroom Contest
To enter, teachers can share a photo of how they Colorize their Classroom on their Facebook page from July 7-Sept. 12. If you win, they’ll help you Colorize Your Classroom all year! One winner per state plus a Grand Prize winner will be awarded! PLUS Bonus entries earned for each original lesson plan uploaded to the page.
You guys….that means Astrobrights colourful paper for your classroom ALL YEAR ROUND. Unlike myself, you won’t have to go without Valentine’s Day Appropriate materials! There’s only ten days left so hop to it! (Only open to U.S. Residents).
And if you aren’t a teacher but still love Astrobrights paper, or are a teacher but want to up your chances of winning, there’s more.
#2 – Astrobrights Giveaway here on Squirrelly Minds
YEP! Exclusive to Squirrelly Minds readers, Astrobrights is giving away a customized package of their gorgeous papers, plus a $50 Office Depot gift card for your crafting supply needs. This is all kinds of amazing! Seriously if you aren’t familiar with their paper you need to get your hands on some. I was so impressed with the quality and the punchy colours – each with their own fun names! (Gamma Green is my faves). I realize this is a sponsored post but I’m 100% speaking from the heart here guys. And I’m so excited you have a chance to win some!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter
Details are in the widget with multiple ways you can enter. The more you enter, the better your chances are.
Drawing
There will be one winner chosen randomly via rafflecopter. The giveaway ends at 12:00am PST on Wednesday, September 10th. The winner will be contacted via e-mail. If there is no reply within 48 hours another winner will be drawn.
Shipping etc
Giveaway is open to US residents only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone!!
