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Morning Work Buckets for Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Hey, everyone! 

This is Kelly from My Fabulous Class.

I am so excited to share something that Worked Well for me last year. If you follow my blog or Facebook, you know last year, I started using Morning Work Buckets. These are the BEST thing I implemented in my classroom last year. You can read all about it HERE.


Morning Work Buckets were a HUGE time saver for me. They gave kids the opportunity to have something meaningful to do when they walked in the door, while I took attendance, checked binders, kissed boo-boos, and listened to stories. I started using them in the spring and I WISH I had used them all year long. They worked so well, I am going to start the year out with them.

Morning Work Buckets are meant to be INDEPENDENT. For the first 2-3 days, I am planning on only using simple math manipulatives, such as unifix cubes and pattern blocks.  Even before I started using Morning Work Buckets, I have always started the year off with buckets of math manipulatives. It has always worked well, since I do not have expectations for how students use them, yet. It is about more about playing and discovering.


At the beginning of the year, I like to incorporate fine motor activities to help strengthen little fingers and clothes pins are perfect for that. This activity is simple enough that kids to do it independently, after I have modeled it. This is also a simple activity to make. The letters and numbers are die-cuts that I had and laminated. For the letter clothes pins, I added some washi tape before sticking foam letters on them.

Beading is always a class favorite. Kids LOVE it. Some kids may not have one to one correspondence at the beginning of the year and that is okay. You can just view this as a fine motor activity or you can have some kids work with a partner. To make these, I just hot glued the apple numbers to the pipe cleaner. You can the apples FREE HERE.


I am also a HUGE fan of sensory buckets. I am excited to incorporate sensory buckets into morning work buckets. This one won't come until week 2, when I feel comfortable that students understand the expectations of rice. It is still a simple activity. Kids pull out a magnet and see if it matches their mat. I would recommend doubling the number of magnets so students do not fight over them. You can see how I make colored rice HERE.  It is pretty simple. It just takes time to dry. You can get the mats I made FREE HERE.

Really, you can use any of your favorite activities for Morning Work Buckets. At the beginning of the year, keep it simple. 

Do you want more?

Do to popular demand, I created Kindergarten Morning Work Buckets for the year. This Growing bundle is heavily discounted for Summer 2018. The price will go up when the bundle is complete.



First Grade Friends, I have you covered too! Check out First Grade Morning Work Buckets.

42 comments:

  1. Love it Kelly!! I'm totally doing all of these centers at the beginning of the year! I love sensory stuff too (actually it's a MUST to have at least one if not multiple sensory stuff {water, sand, play dough, rice etc.} out at all times with our board! How do you attach the apples to the pipe cleaners? Hot glue..? I tried that activity last year with sticker labels and it didn't stay on very well :(

    Yukari
    A Pinch of Kinder

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    1. Thanks, Yukari! I do multiple sensory activities too. Yes, I just used hot glue but you can also use packaging tape.

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  2. Beautiful! Those are great activities for busy little hands. Great post Kelly, nice job!

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  3. Kelly, I HAVE to implement this year. I love how you have a slew of different activities that everyone can be successful with. Your tips for making this work in our own rooms is a perfect compliment too! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Aww, you are so sweet. They have really made my mornings run smoothly. Plus, no paperwork!

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  4. Such a great idea! It would be so much more meaningful than what I normally do (morning work worksheets). Thanks for all the info on how you do this.
    Amanda
    Mrs. Pauley’s Kindergarten

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    1. I use to use morning worksheets, but I felt like grading them took so much time. Plus, we have paper restrictions at my school. This is so much better. The kids LOVE it.

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  5. What a great idea! I've seen similar things for morning work, but I like this setup best.
    Rachael

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    1. Thank you! I think it is pretty simple. Once you make the buckets, you are all set!

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  6. I love your ideas!!! And your tip to include EVERYTHING a student may need is way true!!! I am excited to push my morning work way more in my class this year. Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Thanks! I think you will really enjoy them. Having EVERYTHING in there saves time and hassle. Even though my kids know where the dry erase markers are, it is less disruptive to have them in the buckets already.

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    2. Thanks! I think you will really enjoy them. Having EVERYTHING in there saves time and hassle. Even though my kids know where the dry erase markers are, it is less disruptive to have them in the buckets already.

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  7. Love your ideas! I plan on incorporating these into my literacy centers. I like the small individual buckets with all the supplies needed in each. I usually have tubs for about four students to grab materials from, however I am thinking to insert these mini baskets in each tub.
    123kteach

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  8. Kelly, I am in love with these work tubs! What a great way to get the ball rolling right off the bat, in a fun way! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  9. LOVE the sensory tubs! I will have to share that with some friends!

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    1. They are wonderful! Pinterest has a lot of ideas for sensory tubs, too!

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  10. Kelly this is a great post!! Thank you for sharing these ideas! I will definitely be using these!!
    Jill
    Chevronandcenters

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    1. Thank you! I am glad you found some ideas you could use.

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  11. Love all of these ideas. I guess ANOTHER trip to the Dollar Store is going on my 'to do' list so I can pick up my Morning Baskets. Thank you for organizing this sharing session.

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    1. One day, I went to 3 dollar trees looking for certain notebook. Didn't find the notebook, but I found a bunch of other items. It is a teachers best friend.

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  12. These work tubs are fabulous! What a wonderful way to get things rolling in the beginning of the year and allow for lots of hands-on sensory practice for your kinders! Thank you so very much for sharing these with us!!

    Erin
    Kindergarten Dragons

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  13. What an awesome idea! I really love the apples with the numbers where you put the beads on....an excellent one to one correspondence activity! We do Literacy Centers as soon as the students come in the morning. I will have to share that next week for What Worked Well Wednesday! I don't have pictures today, but can get them by next week. :)

    Carlee Van Ness
    The Kindergarten Press

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    1. That's awesome. I can't wait to read your post next week!

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  14. What great ideas and so simple.

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  15. What great ideas and so simple.

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  16. I loved your ideas!! Thank you for sharing your apples and letter mats too! I don't have anything to share because I never take pictures, but I promise to this year so that I can join in the fun!!!

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  17. I wanted to do morning work tubs this past year, but I never had the time to set it up! I ended up having them practice writing a letter or a sight word on their whiteboards while I did morning tasks. Also, I can't for the life of me figure out the word for the thumbs down! Help!
    Teaching with Chevron

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    1. Thumbs down is bad. It takes some time to set up, but once you do, you're golden.

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  18. I love your bucket tips! You did a great job spear heading our WWW kick off post! Thanks again for sharing!

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  19. Kelly!!!! This is such an awesome way to get students working independently! I loveeee love love this. Just wondering how you store your morning work centers? I have zero storage so it's tricky for me to do anything that doesn't stay out all year. Thanks!!

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    1. Sorry I missed this! I have them on a shelf under where kids place their binders on when they walk in. Its by the door so i leave the buckets out all year. However, I do switch them out. These activities have been put away in bucket labeled August that is in a cabinet.

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  20. THANK YOU for honoring the teacher tradition of providing resources and advice to other teachers without an expectation of being remunerated, understanding that you are your work and wealth of knowledge can benefit children any(every)where.

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  21. HI - I love the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom mats. By chance, do you have them with uppercase letters? Please let me know. Thank you!

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  22. Love the morning work tubs. Thanks

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