Explore Tubs – Set Two {freebies included}

Well hello there! I am back with an all new set of explore tubs!!! I mentioned back at the beginning of the new school year that I would be swapping out read to someone for “explore” during my daily five! I really felt that I needed to bring back some more hands-on activities AKA “fun” to daily five…not that work work and listening to read aren’t awesome, but who are we kidding….they are not necessarily the fun that our kids are wanting!

You can read about my first set of explore tubs HERE. I used those tubs for the first month of school…I don’t usually go a month before swapping out something, but the kids only go to explore every other day so with 8 tubs to choose from they rarely had to do the same tub unless they wanted! Okay off to our new explore tubs…

TUB ONE: Fine motor work with pumpkin seeds! Oh yes…go me for the season win! You can snag these pumpkin mats for free HERE! I purchased the seeds at the dollar tree and the fine motor tweezers were purchased in a set from Amazon..found HERE.

Tub Two: Fine motor work with perler beads! I purchased the larger perler beads from Amazon HERE. I went with the larger beads just because they can also be used with pipe cleaners and they are a little better to grab for those little fingers! These perler bead motor mats are part of my Fine Motor packet!

Tub Three: Now this explore tub is a little out of my teacher comfort zone, but it has been the biggest hit so far! I purchased an assortment of locks from the dollar store and the smaller ones from Walmart. I then placed all of the keys onto one binder ring and the kiddos get to crack the mystery of opening the locks!

Tub Four: Tub four is an easy and cheap fine motor/learning tub! For this tub I purchased a thing of oats for $1 and then tore off the name…I also three in some colored popsicle sticks from the dollar store and a number cube! My husband cut a slit into the lid. The kiddos roll the number cube and place that many sticks into the container!

Tub Five: For this explore tub I purchased this larger water bottle from the dollar store, but really any size water bottle would work great! I just liked this one because it was a little sturdier 😉 The kiddos will use the fine motor tweezers to remove the pom poms from the larger tub to the water bottle!

Tub Six: I kept my playdoh tub but now with a little more of a purpose! I stumbled across this great tutorial video for this explore tub HERE. I then screen shot a still from the video to leave in the tub for my kiddos to remind them how to use it! We all know their ideas for playdoh can be quite imaginative 😉

Tub Seven: For this explore tub I threw in some lacing cards! I was surprised that these were also a hit! These are perfect to build those little fingers nice and strong! 🙂

Tub Eight: Tub eight sure got their attention HA! For this explore tub the kiddos will use clothes pin to put on hair for each of the silly faces! Clothes pins are great for fine motor and especially building up a strong pinching motion! You can download these silly faces for free HERE!

I also have a few other quick ideas that I will use to swap out for mid-month! I purchased these hole punchers for a $1 each and will be leaving scraps in an explore tub for kiddos to work on hole punching!

I also added these mats to my Fine Motor packet! The kiddos will build playdoh snakes and roll mini playdoh balls!

I also whipped up these pipe cleaner shape cards! You could also use these for the perler beads, stickers, or playdoh! You can download them for free HERE!

As I mentioned above I do also have a fine motor mats packet if you’re needing additional ideas! You can check it out here or by clicking below! Have a great week!

Comments

Vickie says

October 11, 2015 at 5:01 am

I started doing exploration boxes instead of morning work, and need to swap them out soon. These ideas are great! Thanks!! 🙂

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Anonymous says

October 11, 2015 at 3:17 pm

Hi Tara,

Could you share when you use these explore tubs? Are they a part of your literacy/ math center time, or a completely different choice on their own?

Thanks!

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- Anonymous says
  
  October 11, 2015 at 6:10 pm
  
  Yes I swapped read to someone for explore during daily five 😀
  
  Tara
  
  Reply
Lee Ann Rasey says

October 11, 2015 at 7:14 pm

These look fun! I've done the hole punch; that was a favorite. I also have a ton of lacing cards, but no one ever wants to do those. Have you ever had anyone spill the beads? Just about everyday the tub gets tipped over and beads go everywhere! The kids love to look for them, especially when I'm teaching and they spot one across the room and feel the need to interrupt to say they found one!

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McKenzie says

October 11, 2015 at 10:01 pm

This is perfect timing! I was just thinking it was time to swap out my explore tubs-thank you for the wonderful new ideas!!

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Ingrid Giso says

October 23, 2015 at 6:04 pm

I love your blog! I am prepping my tubs right now to use instead of morning work. I teach 1/2 day kindergarten so we don't have time for Daily 5. Will you continue to put more of your explore tub ideas on your blog please?

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Kelly says

September 5, 2017 at 1:06 am

Awesome ideas! Thank you!

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Caroline says

June 22, 2018 at 4:25 pm

Great ideas. Do you have a picture of how you organize these so the kids can get them? Also, where is everything stored when not in use?

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- Tara says
  
  June 22, 2018 at 8:52 pm
  
  Hi there! In the post you’ll see some pictures of the centers stored in containers from the Dollar Tree! All of the items could be stored in those for the year especially the cards that are on the rings!
  
  Reply
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Explore Tubs! {freebies} says:

October 30, 2016 at 6:11 pm

[…] Alright…a little homemade explore tub up first! I purchased these paper plates at the dollar store. I then placed the sticker dots on the each plate for numbers 1-10. The kiddos will use their fine motor tweezers to grab and place that many pom pom on each plate. Especially at the beginning of the year not all kiddos will be able to recognize their numbers so they can easily count the dots and then place the matching number of pom poms! Up next …this explore tubs just requires a set of $1 popsicle sticks and THESE freebie cards! I love these because the kiddos have to visually match what they see on the card to their own work…sounds easy, but is actually a trickier concept for the kiddos! These cards also work on shapes too! Again, working on fine motor skills. How else can we explore but with playdoh! In this tub I also have THESE freebie playdoh “I can” cards for the kiddos to generate ideas. I have found that even with playdoh the kiddos will eventually get bored so adding in the cards will help them to get new ideas…along with the cookies cutters! ? Moving along to the next explore tub and pretty much my favorite! Legos. Yes! Alphabet. Yes! This is another simple and I’m sure FUN explore tub! All you need for this tub is legos and THESE freebie alphabet cards! I laminated my cards and placed them on the metal ring! Here is another easy + effective explore tub to keep those minds and fingers busy! In this tub I placed a bowl of perler beads along with pipe cleaners! I did choose the larger perler beads I had so they would be easier to handle this time of the year! In this explore tub I placed my teddy bear cards and a bowl of teddy bears! The kiddos will get to play and work on their patterning skills! I purchased my cards, but recently came across a freebie set of teddy bear patterning cards HERE. I recently purchased this fun fine motor sorting activity HERE. However, in the years past I always just used a muffin tin, pom poms, and tweezers ALL from the Dollar Tree! Works just as good and is cheap! ? I also ran across this building cards/shapes HERE! Okay, these cards are not even about 3D shapes…these are for building critical thinking skills in those little minds! Even though these are purchased I have the perfect idea making something similar for cheap! I am also still planning to do it myself. I am going to take my wooden blocks and build structures, take pictures of them, and place them into a 3 ring binder. The kiddos will then get to be the architects and build the same structures they see in the book ? ? EXPLORE TUB POST #2 […]

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