1. Use free boxes from the post office as paper bins.
2. Turn them into mailboxes for your students.
3. You could also use them as magazine or book holders.
4. Make book dividers with paint stirrers and alphabet stickers.
5. Use old water jugs as makeshift cubbies.
6. Use a cookie pan, washi tape, and magnets to make a "Where Are We" board that easily keeps track of students.
7. Make pockets for your binders using zip-loc bags and duct tape.
8. Cover six-pack holders with duct tape to use as supply holders.
9. Use detergent caps and strips of velcro to keep pencils in place on desks.
10. Mix 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water and food coloring in a condiment bottle to create cheap and easy paint.
11. Keep cards, game, and puzzle pieces in baby wipe containers.
12. Use old Crystal Light containers to keep markers and chalk pens on the board.
13. Stuff old t-shirts with pillows to create a nook for a reading library.
14. Keep glue-soaked sponges in plastic Cool Whip or yogurt containers as a non-messy way to distribute glue.
15. Save tempera paints in takeout sauce containers.
16. Glue tin cans to a lazy susan for the arts and crafts table.
You could also just glue them together if you don't have a lazy susan.
17. Use placemats for the reading circle.
18. Reuse large paint buckets as seats.
19. If you need something lower to the ground, go for some DIY milk crate seats.
20. Cover water bottle boxes with fabric.
Hang tags off of key rings attached with pipe straps, which you can easily find for cheap at any hardware store.
21. Cover old frosting containers to store small objects.
22. Or cover them and use them to store crayons or markers.
23. During quiet reading time, just have the kids flip their chairs around and give them pillows to lounge on.
24. Instead of beads, use 1 cup of pasta, 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, and 2-3 drops food coloring.
25. Cut up cardboard boxes to create privacy screens when students are taking tests or doing work that requires a lot of concentration.
26. Make a really fun pair of dice with a large sponge and color coding stickers.
Use a hot glue gun so the stickers adhere well to the sponge.
27. Plastic plates can become individual whiteboards for students.
28. Melt down broken crayons in a film canister or prescription bottle to make new, giant, awesome crayons.
29. A sponge in a plastic bag works as an ice pack when someone accidentally falls down.
30. Use paint chips to create a pretty classroom calendar.
31. Cut up paint chips or scraps of colored paper to create student assessment cards.
32. Pom poms glued to the end of dry-erase markers make cheap and effective erasers.
33. Stay organized by making your own paper organizer out of file folders.
34. Cover cereal boxes with wrapping paper to make homework in/out bins.
Attach them to the wall with sturdy 3M mounting stickers.
35. Use a dish draining rack as a charging station.
