Math manipulatives. Great for hands-on learning, but a pain to store. 

Here are some ways that I cut down on bulk and clutter in my room to store math manipulatives!

I inherited this baby from a fellow teacher. You can buy your own Sterolite container like this at Walmart for about $20-30. I LOVE how little space it takes up… it is a tiny footprint for a ton of room. It is easy to label the math manipulatives and hide them away. Since I use a lot of manipulatives during our daily BUILD centers, this is perfect for setting up what I need. However, I need to change the labels…. notice the font? My classroom is a comic-sans-free room, however I don’t notice the horrific font on these labels since it’s tucked away in a corner. Comic-sans is not my friend. 

Sooooo whiteboards may not count as a math manipulative, but whatever. We use whiteboards mostly for our multiplication and divisoin unit, and review after that. It is so easy and great for the kids to practice these skills with a partner on whiteboards. I inherited this cart from a fellow teacher retiring. I store my Lakeshore Learning whiteboards, Expo markers, and socks in it. We use socks as erasers, I definitely recommend it! Each kid in the beginning of the year brings in a (clean) sock or two to donate to the classroom. Perfect for erasing, plus you can throw them in the wash when they get wayyy icky.

Woah, those cushions next to it look super sloppy. Usually they’re organized!! Oh well.

Each of these plastic bins cost about $1.50 at Target. I bought them a couple years ago during a sale in the Sterolite section. They may be a little more normally when not on sale… I’m not quite sure. These are located under a folding school table. This area would otherwise be a total wasted space. So I love putting all the manipulatives and extra supplies under here. If a student is missing a color crayon or needs a new mechanical pencil, they can easily grab one on their own.