With school in full swing, I am struggling to keep everyone’s paperwork organized and accessible for the kids. To remedy that I decided to make both of my school children a homework station and a tutorial just for you. It was very fun to make and the kids got to design their boards with me. They kind of LOVED that part.
Supply List:
- (2) 8 1/2 x 11 plastic page protectors
- Tri-fold Science Fair Board
- Ruler
- Utility Knife
- Clear contact paper
- Print out helpful learning sheets according to each child’s need
- Adhesive Velcro
- Glue Stick or other adhesive
- Stapler
- Various Decorations to personalize for each child. (I used vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo)
The tri-fold science fair board is too tall for what I had envisioned and I have two school aged kids, so I decided to cut the board in half and make two boards: one for Ethan and one for Izzy. Smart thinking, huh?
Gather all the supplies you need for your child. For Ethan, I printed out a tracing sheet of cursive capital letters, the United States Map and a multiplication table. I also went to the dollar store in the teacher section and bought a list of Presidents of the United States as he is working on memorizing them this year.
I glued the list of Presidents to the top of one side and then created a United States of America packet.
I put the USA map in front and all the information his teacher had distributed in back and slid it into one of the sheet protectors. Using the heavy duty adhesive Velcor, I adhered the sheet protector under the list of Presidents. That way he can take the packet down and work on it and then put it back for easy storage and organization.Ethan is constantly asking me how to do capital cursive letters so I printed out a tracing sheet and covered it with contact paper to create a dry erase surface. I glued it to the board. I did the same thing with the multiplication table. These made up the other side of the board.
Now for the dreaded homework packet.
Since Ethan gets a new packet every week and I wanted to create a pocket where the packet could live and yet still be taken out to work on it. I stapled an empty sheet protector to the top of the board where it is front and center! Now is packet is slid easily in and out…no more lost homework!
Now decorate the homework station to make a fun personalized work area! Ethan is very much into science…like his mommy…so he wanted an atom surrounding his name. Then I added some fun periodic table letters to spell GENIUS.
Since he doesn’t share a room, Ethan keeps homework station open on his desk with his “Art Caddy” that he made out of Duct Tape. Izzy, the princess, folds hers up and slides it under the couch so her little sister won’t get it. {We are still working on sharing.}
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Stacie says
This is great!
jenacora says
Love this!
Samantha Zinn says
Wow that’s incredible! I wish I had such homework station as a child though 😀 Great work by the way 🙂
Samantha x
Becky Marie says
Thank you all for your sweet comments! My kids actually like doing homework now…hopefully that lasts!
Deanna says
Brilliant!!!!!
Gauntlets says
Very, very smart. Where did you get the genre wheel on your son’s board?
Becky Marie says
Ethan’s teacher actually sent it home the first week of school.
Nike@ChooseToThrive says
Becky,
This is brilliant! I need six of these for my kids to help them stay focused and out of each other’s way during homework time. The fold-up design is going to be a lifesaver for our close quarters – thank you!
Becky Marie says
Thanks so much, Nike. My it definitely keeps my kids focused…for now. 🙂
Anonymous says
Hi! I found you via momadvice.com and just want to say this is brillant!! I have a 6 year old in K5 and piles of his papers in my kitchem. I was thinking about making some sort of homework desk for him, but this is better! Perfect way to keep track of his nightly reading sheet, how to write ABCs sheet, and other stuff that we need almost daily. Plus I can just fold the board up and everything is in its place. Genius!! I’ll be checking out the rest of your blog… ~Nichole D.
Becky Marie says
Thank you so much. These homework stations work great for us! I am glad you like them.
Anonymous says
What is the art caddy made out of? 6 pack and duct tape? 🙂
Becky Marie says
YES! My son thought of the idea as we were walking through the store one day. We drank all the creme soda in one night and he had it made before bedtime.