Tags for Learning Centers~ Who Says They Can't Be Pretty?

I've something to admit... I will never be a Scrapbooking Queen. I'm used to working large scale...bulletin boards, you know?

But I *love* pretty paper. Themed scrapbooking paper. Seasonal stuff, so I make paper banners, and occasionally a card or two.

But the other way I get my fix is to use patterned paper for my classroom center tags ("learning centers," "experience stations,"...whatever your teachers' manuals call them). I select three appealing papers, cut them in half and put them in ABC pattern order, and print out the names of each center, making sure to glue them onto the papers in sequence with my center rotation (art to math, math to me, me to fine motor skills, fine motor skills to "Our World," "Our World" to computers, computers to puzzles, puzzles to writing, writing to books, books to building, building to dramatic play, dramatic play to art). This way there is yet another visual pattern occurring in the room for my Stars to follow:



I laminate the center tags so I can use them year after year, but I also add hook and loop dots to the front (my students' name/photo tags can be rotated from tag to tag since they have hook and loop dots on the back of them as well) and back (tags are hung at each center's location in the room):



These adhesive backed dots can be found at most craft stores (or in the sewing section at Walmart).





I change center tags for each month or season (October had Halloween patterns, September featured autumn leaves and pumpkin designs):



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I also enjoy using pretty paper to make our "You can find us" sign:





More hook and loop dots make the locations interchangeable.





Who needs scrapbooks when you have learning centers?