Starting the Day with Morning Tubs
In my first fews years of teaching if you would have asked me what my favorite part of the day was I would have never said the morning. My morning routine used to be the opposite of calm with worksheets for morning work and kids constantly getting up to ask me to read them the directions. Once I shifted from paper morning work to morning tubs my morning routine became my favorite part of the day (and my student’s favorite too)!
Using morning tubs instead of worksheets for morning work changed my morning routine from chaotic to calm. My students love entering my classroom every morning to check our morning tubs chart to see which tub they are assigned to that day. They make their lunch choice, put away their backpack, and then get started right away at their morning tub. My tubs are filled with all different types of materials to provide my students with opportunities to practice their social and fine motor skills. My morning tubs also double as indoor recess activities and choice time options which makes life even easier when those things pop up.
Tips for Starting The Day With Morning Tubs:
Determine how many morning tubs you will have. In my classroom I have 12 tubs.
Determine how many students will be able to use a morning tub at one time. I assign 2-3 students per tub each day.
Find an organization system. I use the IKEA Trofast system to organize my tubs.
Collect morning tub materials. Gather different building materials like Legos and Lincoln Logs as well as fine motor materials like hole punches, Playdoh, and Perler beads. One of my favorite ways to get items for my morning tubs is to create DonorsChoose projects.
Think about where students will use the morning tubs. I like students to be spread out throughout the classroom at the tables and at the rugs. I label each morning tub with “table” or “rug” so that students know where they should take their tub. Some materials are better suited for the rug like building blocks and the marble run while other materials are best when used at a table like stencils.
Have a system for cleaning up. My students typically spend 10-15 minutes every day at their morning tub before we officially start the day. When it’s time to clean up I jingle my tambourine and then start the clean up song. One student at each morning tub takes the tub and sets it on the back table. I then have one student whose job it is to put all of the tubs back in their correct location. This system allows for students to quickly meet me at the rug to begin our community circle and eliminates the traffic jam of kids trying to all put their tubs back at the same time.
Determine how frequently you will rotate materials. I strive to rotate my morning tub materials once a month.
My Favorite Morning Tub Materials:
Building Materials:
Legos
Playstix
Quadpro magnetic blocks
Plus Plus blocks
K’nex
Tinkertoys
Fine Motor Materials:
Stencils
Pokey pins
Playdoh and cookie cutters
Tweezers, squeeze scoops, tongs, and scissor scoops with small objects for counting and sorting
Perler beads
Shoe lacing
Hole punches
Coloring books
Organizing Your Morning Tub System:
Click the image to the left to check out this product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
If you’re ready to get started with morning tubs in your classroom I highly recommend thinking through the tips above to determine how you want your morning tub routine to go in your classroom. If you’re looking for help with teaching the expectations of your morning tubs as well as a ready-to-go organization system check out my Morning Tubs Expectations and Organization product.
-Ashley @ Little Learning Ladybugs
