Tie-Dye... Oh My!

I want to start by letting you know that I'm really not crazy! A few years ago I had an idea to tie-dye t-shirts with ALL of the 1st Grade students, we use them as our "uniform" for field trips.  The kids love them and they are a great way for us to keep track of our kiddos while we are away from the classroom.

Each time we take on this GIANT task I try to figure out how to do it better than the time before. It always amazes me how much fun the kids have with this activity.

Students get to choose the design for their shirt during class (they choose from the designs that come with the dye package). Then the shirts are labeled with each student's name on masking tape and wrapped around a rubber band.   When we start to dye shirts, students are called over to choose the colors they would like.  We don't let students put any dye on the shirts because adults (teachers) have a hard time keeping the dye only on the t-shirts!

Getting ready to rinse the extra dye out of the shirts...

After dye is placed on a shirt, they are placed in a plastic grocery sack and tied shut.  Once school is out, I take all the bags home in a VERY LARGE garbage sack.  The shirts are removed from the sacks and extra dye is rinsed from the shirts while they are still wrapped in the design.  After dye has been rinsed, remove rubber bands and allow t-shirts to air dry.  When shirts are dry, rinse them in vinegar water to set the dye and allow them to dry again.

Maybe I should have worn gloves while I rinsed! Mrs. I is not allowed to tie double knots in the sacks anymore.

I'm glad my husband was at Wood Badge! He'll never know about the pond in our driveway....

Close to done. I love how bright the colors are and the fun designs the kids chose.  Once the shirts have dried after the vinegar and water rinse, it's time to wash.  I try to keep similar colors together just incase the color runs.  Wash on warm and dry! That's it!

 That is 90 tie-dyed t-shirts!

Take a look at our hard work!

The side bulls-eye.

The crumple.

The rolled stripes. (Very Patriotic!)

I already have plans to improve for next year!!!

Kid Quote of the Week

This week our school has been celebrating Africa.  We've tried food, listened to guest speakers, made crafts, watched videos......  We've done so many activities!

Our last project was making a necklace with a paper plate.  While explaining to the kids how it would look like a necklace (I of course put the example on to demonstrate how the necklace-plate would look), Jane let me know how it REALLY looked!

"It's the cone of shame!" Jane ~ Oh Witty One

Needless to say, it was no longer a necklace but "the cone of shame".  I had a good laugh and so did the rest of the class; however, I don't think I'll ever look at a paper plate the same again....

Parent Gift ~ Student December Craftivity

Every year I try to think of a creative, cute, and EASY crafitivity for my students to put together for their loved ones as a gift in December.  Every year after I finish the creative, cute, and EASY Christmas project I think "WHAT was I thinking! NEVER AGAIN!"  This year "we" made these creative, cute, and "easy" wreaths from tulle.  Incredibly cute, right?!

All you need is a 3 inch ring (Any office supply store or HERE).

Tulle (HERE or I found mine at Walmart) cut to 6 inch long pieces in any color you would like (it took 35-40 pieces).

 And ribbon (HERE or Walmart again) of any size so is can hang.

It will be so easy, I said...

They can tie knots, I said...

It will be easy, I said...

They can tie double knots, I said... (They tie them in their shoes all the time!)

It might be easy, I said...

It will be so creative, I said...

It's easy?! I said...

I only have 22 to fix, I said...

What was I thinking!!! I said...

Ahh, it turned out so CUTE!! I said...

I think I'll think of something else next year. I said...