It’s Monday morning and you are laying in bed dreaming about Sunday…right?! If you are like me, Monday’s can be tough to start. This idea got us thinking that if Monday’s are hard for adults, then they might be really hard for our students. Typically we give daily morning work that incorporates skills that we have been working on in class. We use this morning work time to spiral back through skills we have learned previously to help solidify skills. After reading a few articles about different ways to start our school day, we decided that we needed to mix it up a little bit…starting with Mondays.
For several years now, we have been incorporating Maker’s Monday into our week. This has been a GAME CHANGER! Students are happier and we are happier! The classroom vibe is so. much. better.
What we do it each Monday we choose a “Maker’s Project.” These projects can be anything that involves making something. It can be coloring, building, crafting, or anything creative. Students have the opportunity to let their creativity flow and ease into their week. During this time, I play some music and let them hum, sing, and work. Their smiles as they walk in on Monday mornings is so refreshing!
What Do We Do?
We use the Maker’s Monday time to do a variety of different activities. We often choose seasonal activities for our Maker’s Monday activities. Just doing a google search can lead you to fall zentagle pictures, winter crafts, and spring coloring pages.
We often utilize this time to have students complete an art component to a bigger project. During our Animal Adaptation unit, we create poems about birds of prey. For Maker’s Monday that week, students create the watercolor picture that will go with their poetry project.
Math extention activities are a personal favorite Maker’s Monday activity. We create fraction pizzas, Fact Family Haunted Houses, Array Cities. Division Story Problem Crafts, Multiplication Fact Seasonal Coloring pages, and more. We all know that there is never enough time to complete math extention activities during out math block, so this gives us a head start on these activities.
Another great idea for Maker’s Monday is to have students complete a cute craft or activity that you find and love (but have not time to complete during your day). We have also used this time to build with playdough, legos, and other STEM type activities.
Have Fun
The goal of Maker’s Monday is to ease into your week and have fun! Often I sit back, relax, and look around the room. Kids are coloring, cutting, humming to the music, and smiling. That is, afterall, why many of us went into teaching!
~Heather
