• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Brown Bag Teacher

Teach the Children. Love the Children. Change the World.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Meet the Teacher
    • Disclosures
    • Professional Development
  • My Classroom
    • Back to School
    • Differentiated Instruction
    • Distance Learning
    • Management
    • Organization
    • Technology
  • 1st Grade
    • Art
    • Daily Five
    • Guided Math
    • Reading/Literacy
    • Science
    • Writing
  • 5th Grade
    • 1:1 iPads
    • Book Displays
    • Community Building
    • ELA
    • On Demand Writing
  • Shop
  • Blog

June 22, 2015

Teacher Hack: Pool-Noodle Card Holders

Hello friends! If you are a regular reader, you know we love games in our classroom – especially card games. It’s the perfect opportunity to practice core math and reading skills under the pretense of fun! 🙂 With my 1st graders, the struggle of handling the playing cards is REAL. Most of the time, the cards are too big or too many for our little hands, so we have to turn around and lay our cards on the floor. Then, students spin around to face their partner when they are ready to make a play. This means that we can spend more time getting ready to play than practicing our learning skills – ha! So, today I wanted to share with you an easy solution to make cards more manageable.

The supplies are simple – a cutting board, a smooth knife (if you use a serrated one, you’ll have blue noodle-foam everywhere), and a pool noodle.

I cut the pool noodle into 1-2 inch segments. You could pre-meausre the holders, but I just eye-balled it.

Then, after you’ve cut your holders, you need to cut the slit in each holder. I cut all around the circle down about 3/4 inch. It’s enough so cards can fit, but not so much that the noodle will fall apart. I cut a 360-degree slit so students don’t have to worry about holding the correct side of the card holder.

Before using the card holders, you will need to teach students how to fan cards. I always teach them to put one card in and place the rest of the cards on top. Then, swipe.

With 1 pool noodle I was able to make 50 card holders. Enough for my classroom, as well as, one of my teaching teammates. Typically I would only need a small-group set for centers, but at the beginning of the year, we do practice card games in partners as a whole class.

Well friends, there you go! This is a simple, inexpensive ($1), and quick (less than 30 minutes) way to make card-games more manageable for little hands.

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Related Posts

  • 10 Frame Song & Printable Lyrics10 Frame Song & Printable Lyrics
  • Place Value Bootcamp
  • Differentiating Word Problems: An Easy Solution
  • Place Value Bootcamp – 1st Grade

Filed Under: 1st Grade, Guided Math, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: 1st Grade, Math

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel Lantay says

    June 22, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    Love this, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Primarily Penguins says

    June 23, 2015 at 12:54 am

    I love this! What a great idea, especially for the little friends!
    Amanda

    Reply
  3. Jen Bonner says

    June 23, 2015 at 2:38 am

    Well that's simple, easy, and BRILLIANT thank you 🙂

    Reply
  4. Kristy Pruett says

    June 23, 2015 at 3:19 am

    I love this idea. Your pictures are always so clear and pretty. Could you tell me what kind of camera you use? So good to get back in touch with you after our Nashville meet-up. Would love to meet up again. Kristy from Teaching Times 2

    Reply
  5. Linda Groce says

    June 23, 2015 at 12:11 pm

    This is awesome! Inexpensive and easy….that's makes it a big winner!! Thank you! lindaslearningloot

    Reply
  6. Patti Loya says

    June 24, 2015 at 2:55 am

    Genius! I'm going to make these tomorrow! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Mary W says

    June 24, 2015 at 4:19 am

    What a great idea! I think I am going to make some of these when I watch my young nieces next week. Thank you!

    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

    Reply
  8. Shelli Rohr says

    June 25, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    Wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  9. Melissa Nuckolls says

    May 12, 2016 at 12:41 am

    Where did you get the math cards? Love the ten frames on the card!!!

    Reply
  10. Brenda Campbell says

    May 19, 2016 at 12:39 am

    This would be great for senior citizen centers!

    Reply
  11. rosario martin says

    August 5, 2016 at 1:52 am

    Did you make the ten frame game cards on the pool noodle?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      August 8, 2016 at 2:58 am

      Hello! Yes, you can check out the game here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Centers-1st-Grade-26-Centers-Labels-and-Visual-Directions-1668540

      Reply
  12. Lavern Hollis says

    September 28, 2016 at 4:27 am

    A great idea. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  13. krati says

    March 18, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    SmileBazar is an online shopping site offering made in India Products. Buy Credit Card Holder Combo online at lowest prices. Hope you enjoy discovering new products.

    Reply
  14. wjpc says

    March 25, 2021 at 7:48 am

    Print your playing cards with the best manufacturer in Asia

    Customized playing cards and game cards WJPC produced have spread to very corner of the world and our WJPC reputation has been recognized by every tier of the industry. We have many standard card sizes and cardstock available which you can customize the face and back of.

    This is how easy it is to get yourplaying cardsprinted:

    Choose the card size: 57*87mm, 63*88mm or custom.
    Select your card stock, number of cards per deck and tell us the finishing: Gloss/Matt lamination or varnish,foil gold/silver, spot UV, embossing etc.
    Determine packaging such as tuck box/bottom-lid/magnetic gift or other customized box.
    Send us your artwork
    Leave the rest of the work to us.
    Most Popular card sizes:

    Standards: 62*86mm
    Bridge: 57*87mm
    Poker: 63*88mm
    Trumps: 62*100mm
    Tarot: 70*120mm
    A6: 105*148mm
    And many more…

    Reply
  15. Jaun Richard says

    May 3, 2021 at 8:44 am

    When it comes to giving protection through packaging boxes, we can never deny the significance to choose the right material. There are different types of packaging material accessible on the lookout.

    Reply
  16. Headline Insider says

    May 25, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    SmileBazar is an online shopping websites offering made in India Products. Buy Mens/Womens/Kids Clothing & Accessories online at lowest prices. Hope you enjoy discovering new online shopping sites.

    Reply
  17. Katie Murray says

    May 27, 2021 at 10:49 am

    Many famous brands today have been using the playing card boxes wholesale along with the logo of the of their company. These boxes are a smarter approach to promote your brand without investing a heavy budget in advertisements on TV or in newspapers.

    Reply
  18. Buy Mailer Boxes says

    June 29, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    I appreciate your post thanks for sharing the information.

    Reply
  19. Linda Powell Teller says

    January 21, 2022 at 12:45 am

    What type of knife do you use to cut the noodles?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 22, 2022 at 5:15 am

      Bread knife!

      Reply
  20. James says

    May 31, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Thanks for providing this informative article. Packaging Boxes Wholesale is famous as one of the market leaders in the packaging industry.

    Reply
  21. Next Custom Boxes says

    June 7, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    Amazingly described post . we as the best Food packaging suppliers provide the best food packaging boxes for all food items

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

My name is Catherine Reed, and I am in Year 10 of my elementary life, residing in small-town, Kentucky.  I student taught in 1st grade and never ...

Read More

Find it Fast!

Join Me!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

Don’t Miss These!

Working together to meet a goal builds classroom community & encourages teamwork. As a PBIS school, check our our 20 favorite nonfood, low-cost rewards!

20 Positive Behavior Rewards that Aren’t Food

Guided Reading offers students intentional reading instruction with texts that are just a little too hard! From lesson planning to benchmarking students to word work activities, check out these awesome ideas to make Guided Reading work!

Guided Reading: 1st Grade Style

Weekly Lesson Planning Routine

Overwhelmed by math centers? Check out these SIMPLE ideas for create predictable patterns and routines that allow for streamlined planning!

Managing Math Centers

Wordless Picture Books

Categories

Archives

Footer

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Join Me!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Powered by ConvertKit

The Brown Bag Teacher © 2022Built with and Genesis Framework by Bellano Web Studio