A Toy Story classroom transformation is the most fun you will have all year! Seriously, there is just so much engagement in something like this that it makes the work in preparing it all worth while!
For my Toy Story classroom transformation, I started with some ideas from none other than the amazing Hope King (I just happened to visit The Ron Clark Academy last year while she was doing her Toy Story classroom transformation and you can read all about my experience here and here). I was also fortunate enough to go to the Get Your Teach On Conference and hear all about the activities Hope did for her transformation (you can catch up on that over here). I also scoured the internet for other ideas for decorating my classroom. Hope's decor was amazing, but I needed something a little bit more budget friendly. I landed on Amy Lemon's page here and found that she also had a video explaining all about the transformation and how some other teachers all got together and created this experience in each of their rooms...a bit differently according to their personalities. You can find a Facebook live for that right at the bottom of her blog post. She really focused on creating the Toy Story classroom transformation on a budget, which I LOVE!
So here is a peek at what I did to set this Toy Story classroom transformation up. It was not that hard and did not take me more than a few hours of time, but the results and the reactions from the students make it all worth while.
First, I purchased some white poster board, colored poster board, foam board, 4 square boxes, some tablecloths. These supplies are all very cheap and can be purchased from Walmart for not much more than $10. I created some kid-like drawings to represent the drawings in Andy's room from the movie Toy Story. I covered the boxes in brown paper that I already had and cut out some strips from my classroom stash of construction paper and added around the border on the front of each box. I cut out a letter for each box to spell the word Andy.
For the claw machine, I took a box I already had, cut out a window and covered it in a garbage bag. I used plastic wrap for the window. I cut out shapes from red poster board to make a rocket ship and glued it onto foam board for durability. I threw in some Easter grass that I already had and purchased a few green Easter eggs. I added three wiggly eyes to each egg to make little aliens and put some math problems inside. We used a pair of kitchen tongs as the "claw" to grab out space aliens for this activity. I borrowed Toy Story characters from my son and also purchased two inflatable crayons from Amazon for super cheap.
I added blue tablecloths to the wall and created clouds from white poster board . I created an Etch-a-Sketch by adding a red frame around my smart TV from red poster board and added some white lids for the dials. I also cued up the Toy Story theme song and playlist to start us off.
At each table, I placed a different color of tablecloth. I put a small strip of a cow-themed tablecloth on top and added boxes with supplies for the activities as well as a sprinkling of aliens toys, army guys, and small Lego boxes that I found at Dollar Tree. I placed a cowboy hat and bandana at each spot for the students to use during the transformation. I have had both of these for a while and keep them to reuse.
I did not decorate the entire room, but just a piece at the front, as you can see here. I also cut out letters to spell Toy Story from red and yellow poster board to add to the backdrop.
Outside of the room, I placed a poster that said Andy's room. I hung black tablecloths over the sliding doors in my room, so no one could see inside.
When my class came up to my room that morning, they saw the poster and the black tablecloths....well, to say they were excited would be an understatement! They were jumping up and down and asking a thousand questions....engagement from the beginning. I LOVE that so much! They had experienced other transformations throughout the year, so they knew they were going to have an amazing time. You can check out some of my other transformations here, here, here, and here.
The focus of most of the activities was STEM and teambuilding. I used this during the last week of school when students had a hard time staying focused on work. This transformation helped to change things around for them. The challenges I used were mostly ones from Hope King that I experienced myself at Get Your Teach On.
One of the activities that I threw in on this transformation was an unlock challenge. I had never done one in my classroom before, but it was super easy to set up and I had experienced one at Get Your Teach On when I went to the conference. I found this one that was called Save the Toys on TPT, printed the tasks, purchased 4 tool boxes from Dollar Tree and also some locks on Amazon (as described by the Save the Toys activity). Overall, I really loved this activity. I found out, though that some groups will have a hard time sticking with the task. Some were not able to solve the codes on the first try and for some, they had several tries. Next time, I will prep them with some strategies for failure and getting up and trying again.
Transformations can be a lot of work, but they don't have to be. You can put into it whatever you want. I have done very simple ones and ones way more elaborate than this one.
Transformations can be expensive, but they don't have to be. You can spend whatever you want on it. For a budget-friendly transformation, use items you have, check out things your own kids have, ask friends, and also don't forget Dollar Tree. You will be surprised what you can find there.
This year I have three new transformations I want to add it. I have been dying to do a glow transformation. I also want to do a candyland one and a cupcake shop for math. Is it a lot? Maybe, but I am determined to continue to grow and use engaging methods that do not sacrifice rigor, but stimulate it, and I have found no better way to reach those goals.
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