See, children by nature are not organized humans. We have to teach them how to be clean, oraganized, and overall–how to care about their things. Would you agree? Then, if they don’t have this reinforced at home, our job is that much harder…but that much more important!
I learned a tip from Learning in Wonderland a while back that changed the way my students handled their desk business.
The Desk Fairy. It isn’t enough just to say you have one…believe me, I tried. The Desk Fairy didn’t make an impact in my classroom until she had a door to come through. Boom! Game Changer! Learning in Wonderland was even amazing enough to decorate her fair door for holidays. Oops. Guess I need to do that in the future! Lol.
The Fairy Door is simple. Tell the students that a Fairy (name your Fairy) is coming in while they are out of the room to check their desks. If their desk is clean and organized, the Fairy will reward them.
I didn’t do this daily by any means, but just randomly! I usually rewarded with a fun eraser, pencil, bookmark, or some other Target Dollar Spot find! (Am I Right?) lol.
The door also comes with fairy dust that I would sprinkle on the cubbies (where she would fly past) in our room! (Photo Credit- Learning in Wonderland)
I used a yellow door with my 3rd graders! I unfortunately didn’t take pictures of mine though because that was before my Instagram days. My kids loved looking to see if the fairy came and their desks (most of them) were so much better than before! Kids know how to organize, they just need incentive. In all honestly though, I didn’t try it with my 5th graders. If you have, I would love to know if they bought into it!
In closing, I hope this is a helpful tip for you and will help give your kids some incentive in keeping organized desks!
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