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Bright Idea: Goodbye Carpet Squares, Hello Dollar Spot

It’s all about Bright ideas today and I am super excited you stopped by to say goodbye to those old, ugly carpet squares and hello to these fun inexpensive carpets from Target’s Dollar Spot!

That’s right… it’s a hop for Bright Ideas and I have several bright ideas on how to use these awesome little carpets!  Or if you have the old carpet squares sitting in your classroom those will work as well!
I have been a teacher for about (oh) 13 years now – mostly in kinder!  When I think of things I remember from kindergarten, I think of fruit salad (LOL), a reading loft, and of course carpet squares!  Do you have them?  Oh.. I so wanted them but I could never find them!  I had a problem paying a carpet store for samples… I’m a teacher darn it not someone to make money off of!  But buying them from Target does not bother me for some reason.. IDK.  LOL.  Maybe it’s the fabulous designs?
One day a couple years ago I noticed these amazing little rugs in The Dollar Spot!  They started at a $1 a piece and now I believe they are $2.50-$3.00.  Throughout the year I have just picked one up here and one up there… and now I have a full class set!
Whether you have these carpets or old carpet squares, here’s a couple ways you may not have thought of using them!  Let’s start with my most FAVORITE!
Get testing done super quick by placing a fun carpet just behind the student you are currently testing.  One child reads, the next child is there ready to go.  So when you call kids over… you teach them to go to the carpet eliminating the wait time for them to get up, walk over, figure out where to sit, etc.  Seriously will save you TONS of time!
One carpet.. two readers!  Partner reading is SO much more fun when it’s on a fun carpet!  I will typically say, “steak partner get the book, lobster partner get the carpet.”  (And then always follow it up with “one person points, the other person reads.”)
We have a few strict rules in my class about carpets.. because parter A may not want the carpet partner B got!
  • Rule #1 – your partner picks gets the carpet and there is no fussing over what you get because next time you will get to get it and they may not like it.
  • Rule #2 – You take what’s on top… there is no digging for a carpet.  So… when they get there they usually work itself out where they can just sort of linger and someone takes the one off the top and they get one they like.  But getting to work fast means getting a carpet fast and getting to work for sure!
One other thing to share is storage ways.. because through the years in different spaces I have stored them different ways.  So here are the three ways I have done it that have worked for me well.
I have stacked them on a shelf.  (Well the kids do.)
I have put them in a bucket.. they tend to get super messy this way though.
And we have stacked them just in a corner.
They seem to stay fairly straight on their own when they are not in a bucket.. but I surely have had a year where in the bucket they went!
Ok.. so there is my bright idea for carpet squares!  If you are hopping along in the Bright Ideas blog hop then Mrs. Jodi is next… click below to visit and see her bright idea!
Or you can check out the other fun posts below!



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