Monday was the first day I was able to get into my classroom. We have a wonderful new head custodian. He noticed the walls were pretty banged up. He has been working diligently to paint everything before the kids come to school.
He asked us to please not use staples in the wall. Yes, we are a staple happy school. We LOVE to hang student work, anchor charts, posters, and more.
But he is A-mazing, and we all want to respect his wishes. We have all been talking about different ways to hang environmental print on the wall. I thought you all might be able to use many of these ideas in your classroom, especially if you have cabinet doors, bricks walls, or a no staple policy.
First, you need your materials. I LOVE Command strips and you use them for pocket charts, but I did not know you could buy just the Command Strips. BRILLIANT. They hold strong without destroying the wall. I also got clear velcro and hot glue (TRUST ME).
I can also share what does NOT work. Tape – even packaging or duck tapes will NOT last all year. Also, skip the expensive putty you can buy at a teacher store. It will not last all year.
First, lets talk about hot glue. I used it to hot glue my borders onto the dry erase boards. In the past, I have used magnets, but they still fall off. They are 2 IMPORTANT rules to remember when using hot glue.
1. The material MUST be laminated or the hot glue will ruin it.
2. It will remove paint – so stick to cabinets or wooden doors
Look at the months of year picture. Can you see the Velcro when August should be? NOPE. I LOVE clear Velcro for items that may be moved throughout the year. I use Velcros for my entire calendar center. It works perfectly. You do not see the Velcro when the item is missing. I also use Velcro for my write the room centers. When I put those up, I will share the pictures with you.
The last picture shows the Command Strips that I cut in half. They will hold EVERYTHING all year long.
Here are a few pictures of item secured without staples. I used command strips to put the Dollar Tree pocket chart on a cabinet. I placed a piece in each corner. Then, I had Addison play some math games from my Back to School Math Centers to make sure it was secure.If she does not pull it down, none of my Kinders will either. The color words are glued onto the cabinets in the back of my room. I did not work fast enough, so the corner of green is lifting slightly. Easy fix. The red borders are also glued onto my sliding dry erase board. I used Velcro on the ABC poster because I may change out the poster…more on that later.
