It seems everyone is looking for a gift that students can make for their parents, family and friends. Never fear, Teachnet.com is here! Magnets are a fun and easy-to-make gift that your students will love.
Magnetic Poetry (and the like)
You’ve all seen those magnetic poetry kits that have lots of teeny tiny words to move around and make silly poems and sentences. Why not create an edition for your class? Have each student write 2 or 3 sentences and find the most common words. Then, have the students add words to the list that they would like to use. The more words you have in this magnetic vocabulary, the more fun it is.
Be Resourceful
When the list is complete, it’s time to make the magnets! But how? Permanent marker works great on magnetic sheeting, and your local sign shop sells inexpensive magnetic sheets, usually by the yard. (MUCH cheaper than buying it from the craft store.) But free is always the best, and just by asking they may give you scraps left over from their own work. Sometimes these pieces will even be different colors than white, making the refrigerator door that much more interesting. This material is especially wonderful because it is easily cut with scissors. And you certainly aren’t limited to magnetic poetry!
Cookie Cutter Magnets
While other classes are busy trying to keep their gingerbread houses from falling apart, your class can be making everlasting cookies! Using holiday shapes, animals, or whatever may suit, have students trace around a cookie cutter onto the magnetic sheeting. Cut it out with scissors and decorate with permanent markers. No icing to scrape off the ceiling, and nothing to pick up except the leftover scraps of magnet.
3-D
Everything from pencil and crayon shavings to felt and ribbon will stick to the magnets with hot glue. Have the students lay out their designs, then you can go around with the glue gun and glue everything in place. (Regular school glue just doesn’t seem to do the trick.)
If you can print it, you can stick it
The computer Picassos in your class can easily magnetize their art. Just print it out on a sheet of pressure sensitive label stock, the kind where you get one giant label per sheet. Stick it on the magnet sheet first, then trim with scissors or a paper cutter.
For the refrigerator in your classroom
Come on, you must have a refrigerator! No? Well hop on over to Kling.com and check out their magnetic paint! Three coats of this stuff on any surface and your magnets will stick right to it! If the school won’t let you repaint a wall, you might also consider painting a board to go against the wall. Use it throughout the year to hang papers or cut out magnetic block letters and use them for spelling exercises. You can find similar paints at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or your local home improvement center.