Volunteers are an invaluable resource to our classrooms and schools. Make sure to celebrate and thank them this year with these Free Volunteer Thank You Cards!

You know me, I love celebrating people and love to show appreciation to them! These Volunteer Thank You Cards are such a easy, inexpensive, thoughtful gift that give to your volunteers that have helped you this year!

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Ways to use the Free Volunteer Thank You Cards

Below are just some different ways that you can use the volunteer thank you cars.

• Have you class each make their own thank you card for your volunteer/s. You can give it to them during School Volunteer week in April, or give them to the volunteers at the end of the school year. They will go home with a nice pile of cards to read and have as a keepsake.
• As a whole school project, give each class the thank you notes to decorate for all of the volunteers at the school. Or you could set up a table at lunchtime recess. Give the kids access to decorate them during that time. Collect all of the thank you cards, and then make a beautiful thank you bulletin board somewhere in the school to display them all. If your school has hallways, this would look amazing too!
• If your school has a volunteer thank you breakfast, or luncheon, this would be another great time to use them. Set each table using the cards as place settings or as a form of a centerpiece.

I made two different versions of the thank you cards so you can choose one to use or mix and match. You’ll simply print them out, and the students can color the heart hand, fold the card in half and write a message or draw a picture inside.

You can download the Free Volunteer Thank You Cards cards by clicking the green box below.

I hope these cards make it easy for your class or school to thank all of the special volunteers out there. We couldn’t do it without them!

Jenette

The post Free Volunteer Thank You Cards appeared first on Primary Playground.

Volunteers can be an invaluable resource for teachers! You may have the volunteers but wondering, how do I use them in the classroom? It can be overwhelming when you have people volunteering but don’t know what to have them do for you. I’m going to share how to use those volunteers in the classroom.

There are all types of parents and grandparents that would love to help but just don’t always know how or aren’t able to come in during the school day but are still willing to help.

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Volunteers in the classroom

• Make copies
• Laminate
• Hole-Punching/binding student work to make books
• Assist students with a craft project
• Put together book orders
• Help with math or reading centers
• Help in the school garden
• Assist/monitor students on the computers or iPads
• Put flyers in folders/cubbies/mailboxes
• One on one help with students that need extra help
• Be a room parent and set up class parties
• Organize/level books in the classroom library
• Prep center activities
• Sharpen pencils
• Taking down/hang up bulletin boards
• Taking down/hanging up student work
• One on one reading with students
• Guided reading groups
• Assist with lunch (huge help in the first 2 weeks of school with kinders).

Volunteers from home

• Cut laminated materials
• Donating items to the classroom
• Separate Scholastic magazines (why do they send them that way?)

Your once in a while volunteers that work full-time

• Be a guest/mystery reader
• Chaperone field trips
• Donating items to the classroom
• Help room parent with class parties

Now that you have a ton of ideas of different ways to use your volunteers, make sure to check my post about how to get your classroom ready for volunteers.

And if you’d like even more guidance and printables to help you along with the process, you might like our parent volunteer pack.

Do you have any other ideas of ways to use volunteers in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post How To Use Volunteers In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

Volunteers can be a huge lifesaver in your classroom. Getting your classroom ready for volunteers set up ahead of time before the school year starts, will save you a ton of time later when you’re busy with students and make things run smoothly all year long.

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Designate a volunteer area

Choose a special spot in your classroom to make your volunteer area. When you have your curriculum night, you can introduce the area to all of the parents so if they do come in during the school year, they’ll know exactly where to go to find out what needs to be done that day. It doesn’t have to be a large area, just enough room to put a few things they’ll need.

What’s in the volunteer area?

Set up an inbox where they can find out the instructions for the day and a completed box for items that you’ve asked them to completed. Ie cutting, laminating, copying. Explain to your volunteers that this is where they can go to find out what is needed during their visit to your class that day so there is no need for them to interrupt the class as they come in.

Create a supply caddy for your volunteers to use. I like to use one with a handle so if they will be headed to the copy room, they can easily carry it with them so they’ll have any and all supplies they would need with them so there’s no running back and forth.

Some things I like to have in my volunteer supply caddy at all times is:

Post-it notes so they can write me notes

Pencils, pens, Sharpies

Scissors

Stapler

Staple remover

Extra roll of tape

Paper clips and binder clips

Copy clips

Create copy clips. When you need things copied, use the copy clips by easily clipping them to the papers you need to be copied. Want them collated and stapled? Attached those clips too.

Small Groups

If your volunteers will be coming in to help with small groups. Set them up another volunteer inbox. You put your guided reading groups book and worksheets in the box together. Or do you want your volunteer to work with a small group of students by playing a literacy game with them? Put the game in the box with a note attached with the names of the students they will be playing with today.

If you’re looking for even more guidance and all of the printables shown above you can find them in my Parent Volunteer Pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I hope you have gotten a few good tips to use for Getting Your Classroom Ready For Volunteers to start off a new successful year!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Getting Your Classroom Ready For Volunteers appeared first on Primary Playground.