Quiet Center Ideas

So, we have all been there, trying to teach a small group while the rest of the class is causing noise and disruption. I have found that the following procedures and ideas have worked for me. Quiet centers that can be done alone, quickly set up and quickly put away.

Wiki Sticks with mats

Pop beads in a bag

Lacing beads with plastic needles and yarn (patterns)

Lego Minifugures, especially popular with the boys, I take them apart after each playtime.

Lacing ABC's, great with sight word cards.

Number stencils, paper, stamp markers

I also use peg boards, rhyming trains, hexabits, bug patterns, magnetic dolls, stencils, sewing cards, patterning beads, classification cards, sequencing cards and file folder games. Anything i think they can play quietly on thier own I will try in my two towers. The kids are really enjoying the variety and most are not choosing the same center over and over as I had expected to have to address. I think this system is encouraging even more concepts than I had planned, making for more learning and less wasted minutes.