I love taking the summertime to rethink my classroom elementary design! It’s a great chance to change things up and to reflect on what works and what hasn’t worked. If you’re moving classrooms or starting a new classroom, it’s also time for you to think of your classroom elementary design! So, what kind of classroom elementary do you want to have?
Simple for the win
Simple themes are best because you can use them with almost anything. In fact, you might call them a color scheme instead of a theme. When I first started, I did a whole classroom theme around Pete the Cat, because let’s face it, Pete’s awesome! But after a year, I got tired of looking at Pete everything. I still have a few Pete the Cat things in my new room, but nothing too overwhelming. Personally, I think this is the same for themes around animals or theme like a nautical theme. Eventually, you get tired being stuck with the same items and symbols all around. Plus, it usually means you only get gifts related to your theme… eventually all those owls or all those anchor items get old.
Rainbow Classroom Elementary
You watched all of the Home Edit episodes, bought the book, and can’t wait to reorganize everything your room into rainbow order. You recognize that the rainbow is visually appealing and is helpful for organization. While you don’t want rainbow symbols everywhere you would love to organize your materials and hang up some decorations with calming, rainbow colors! Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered! I have everything you need for a peaceful rainbow classroom elementary. I have rainbow alphabet posters, nametags, calendar, schedule, class jobs, and more! Whatever you are looking for, it’s probably here! Check it out!
Watercolor
You’ve done the research on the effects of colors. You know that blue is a calming color that helps with focus. You love how blues and greens mix so well in a watercolor format and you know that using watercolor around your room will add a little beauty, order, and calm to your busy classroom. Personally, this is the theme I’ve used for years, and I love it because it’s mostly my two favorite colors – green and blue! I added some purple in there too as an accent color. Anything you need for your classroom, I’ve made for my own and I’m now sharing it with you! Enjoy the labels, calendar, nametags, table numbers, alphabet chart, calendar, and more!
Chalkboard
What elementary teacher doesn’t have a soft spot for chalkboards – the once great symbol of a classroom elementary. You’re a sensible teacher and know that if all your labels and decorations are black with a light-colored border, then you have much more flexibility with your classroom furniture, bins, and rug. You can’t often control the furniture you get and the bins we often get as many as cheaply as we can, so having chalkboard labels and decoration really ties everything together.
Neon Classroom Elementary
You have a bright side, and you want to share it with the world. Your personality pops, and so should your classroom elementary! You don’t want to overwhelm the children with too many bright colors, so you pick a few and make sure they shine bright! Having only a few bright colors makes it easy to match to plastic bins too – score! You love how you can add some brightness to your room with these neon nametags, schedule cards, and more!
Nature Classroom
You love the simple things in life. Just a simple flower here or there brightens up your day. Plus, having having a few different types of plants and flowers adds some variety throughout your classroom while maintaining a cohesive look. I am slowly switching over to this theme. I used it when I taught in a different classroom for 2nd grade and I missed it last year when I was back in my old room! It goes so well with the watercolor theme that a slow transition works just fine!
Conclusion
No matter what type of classroom elementary you want to have, the important thing is that you are thinking about what works for you and what we know is best for students. We want to keep our classrooms simple so they aren’t too overstimulating, and we want to remember that they should be designed with children in mind. This means labels so students can put things away, nametags so students know they feel welcome and included, and spaces for student work to be displayed so students feel valued at home.
Let me know in the comments which kind of classroom you have!
