Work Box Weekend part 4

"How do you make all your work boxes?"  I get this question a lot from people who come into my classroom.  For me, making work boxes has become almost an obsession.  Everywhere I go, I look for things I can use in a box!  I am addicted to dollar stores and dollar sections of stores.  I love going to the hardware store and roaming the aisles.  I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at items and wondering, "did a person have anything to do with packaging/making/coallating that?"

Ok, so here's a picture of last weekend's dollar tree trip.  Actually, to be honest, this was trips to 3 different dollar trees.  Yes, you can visit 3 different dollar tree's in one day and yes, you can make purchases at all 3!!!  :)

As you can see, I purchased a wide array of items.  I love, love, love the small containers with lids.  I use these as packaging containers in multiple boxes.  I got a few puzzles, which will go into our leisure section.  The bowling ball games became a color matching and packaging activity.  The pencil erasers, grips and sharpeners went into a pencil assembly task.  The ice trays became a sorting activity.  The color pencils became a color pencil package activity.  The regular pencils (which are packaged as 5 each of  5 different colors) became a pencil package activity.  There are small beads in there that are used for a bead pattern activity.  The fall stickers are used for arts or for fine motor.

The way I choose tasks really depends on my kiddos at that time and my mood.  I try to look at items and think "is that something someone would ever have to package or make?"  Sometimes the answer is yes and I make sure to purchase that.  Sometimes the answer is no, but I know it can address some target skills (following a template, following written directions, counting, fine motor, etc) sos I purchase that.  Sometimes it is no, but it's just pretty, so I either purchase if I'm feeling the addiction, or I skip it!  :)

Here are pictures of some of the finished boxes I made from the above materials.  

 
 Pencil Pack - Students package 20 pencils into a box.  Higher kiddos can follow the visual above and kiddos who need a little more support follow the visual to the left.

 

 Color Pencil Pack - Students follow the visual cue card to package one of each color into their box.

Bowling Pack - Students follow the template to package a mini bowling ball set

 

Color Pack - Students follow the color template to place pom poms into a small container with lid.

 

Bead Pattern - Students follow the picture cue to put beads on in a certain pattern.