A while ago I decided to make my classroom have a sky theme. I love looking at the sky because there are always cool things up there, like rainbows and clouds and stars. Plus, so many inspirational quotes are based on the sky, like "The sky is the limit," and "Reach for the sky." Wait, no. I think that is what Woody from Toy Story says. "Reach for the stars!" That's better!
I was having trouble coming up with cool decorations for a sky themed classroom, and then I saw an idea on how to make hanging light-up cloud lights. I simplified the original idea until it was something even I could do. And now, I will show you!
Just to let you know, I will mention a few brand names and even post a link to a product, but these are not sponsored links or anything. I'm just sharing what I used. You might know of a product that works better.
What you need: an empty pop bottle, some string, cotton or polyfill, duck tape, spray adhesive, and a string of battery operated lights.
I started by tying a string around an empty pop bottle, like so.
I added a little duck tape to keep the string from sliding around. I only had fireworks duck tape. It doesn't matter what sort of tape you use, because it is going to be covered up anyways.
Now it was time to start gluing the cotton onto the bottle. I experimented a little with this. I started out using regular Elmer's School Glue, by squirting some lines and dots onto the bottle and then sticking the cotton on. But I found that a more effective type of glue is spray adhesive. The kind I had was Elmer's Craft Bond.
I sprayed a small area of the bottle, and then stuck some cotton on.
I kept doing this, little by little, until the entire bottle was covered. I made sure the string was still hanging out, not getting stuck underneath all of the cotton, Then, I sprayed a layer of adhesive over the entire thing. This was to keep wads of cotton from falling off at inoportune times. It still might fall off, but the adhesive layer makes it a little sturdier.
The next step is the lights! I bought a set of Lings Moment Fairy Lights on Amazon. They are tiny white lights on a wire, and they are battery operated. I was able to loosely and randomly wrap the wire of lights around the fluffy cloud shape. I wrapped the battery compartment a few times around one of the wires, to keep it in place. I wanted it to stick out so that I'd be able to turn the light on and off easily, but I didn't want it hanging down too far.
To hang it, I simply put a 3M hook on the ceiling, and tied the other end of the string around it!
The rest of my classroom is still a work in progress, but I can show you a few interesting areas, if you'd like. Remember, this is mostly a room where kids will take breaks and come to deescalate when they are upset, so I don't have a lot of academic stuff around.
This is the sensory box area. It will have more eventually, but right now it just has a sensory bin on a table, and some smaller sensory bins on the shelves. There is also a play-doh set and a box of fidgets.
Here is my little reading nook. In the academic room there are tons of leveled readers and stuff, but I wanted this to be just a relaxing area to kick back and read. I found a bean bag chair, and I made another seat by tying a seat cushion to a milk crate. The big shelf is full of curriculum guides, so I covered it with a bed sheet. I'd like to fill the shelf up with kids' books. But this classroom used to be a storage room, and there is a bunch of junk in there that I have no idea what to do with, so I just cover it up.
Finally, here is what I call "The Cloud," following my sky theme. I bought a white duvet cover, and stuffed it with body pillows and some scrap foam I got for free at an upholstery store. It is just an area where kids can go when they are overwhelmed and need some quiet time.
That is my humble abode, everyone. I hope you like it!
