I remember the first time I ever saw a photo of a classroom with flexible seating. I just knew I had to teach in a space like that! I spent the entire summer getting ready to transform my classroom!
After lots of planning and shopping, it was finally time to set up my classroom! My WOBBLE chairs
The night before my kiddos came, I was so nervous. I debated hiding all of my flexible seating options and just using traditional chairs to start the year. I haven’t been that nervous since my first year teaching! It took all of my teacher courage to stick with it, but I am so glad I made the decision to be brave and launch flexible seating!
Here are 5 secrets to success that made it work!
#1 Smart Spots
If you’ve been a teacher for more than 5 minutes, you know the importance of teaching and modeling everything…and repeating the process…and repeating it again! The same is absolutely true for flexible seating! Without modeling and practice, it could be chaotic.
After hours of searching on Pinterest, I found lots of cute anchor charts and seating signs, but I could not find what I needed to introduce flexible seating. What I wanted was a big book that would really help me TEACH my kiddos what to do….so I created one.
My kiddos fell in love with the idea of Smart Spots. Smart Spots are places they can choose to go to do their best work. The book included expectations for all the different kinds of seats in our classroom. We meet on the rug for whole group lessons, and then kiddos can choose their own Smart Spots for independent or partner practice.
For the first couple weeks of school, we read our Smart Spots book EVERY day. It stayed at our literacy center for months, and the kids loved rereading it with pointers! If I ever notice a few kids are not choosing Smart Spots, I get out the book and we read it again.
#2 Simple Seating
While on Pinterest, I found lots of ideas for scheduling or rotating seating options. I am impressed by teachers who can remember who sat in a ball chair last Thursday and who had the pink rocker yesterday, but I simply can’t do it. For that reason, we don’t have any rotation board or schedule.
Our seating really is flexible. My first graders pick Smart Spots all day. They sit in several different spots throughout the day, and that’s okay with me. I was initially worried that they may race for certain seats, but that hasn’t really happened. It’s been interesting to see their individual preferences switch from ball chairs, to low tables, to rockers, to baskets and back again. Everyone gets to try everything, and I don’t have to organize it! These are some of out favorite spots.
#3 Boxes, Bins, and Baskets
You’ve got kids working all over the room, but you don’t want supplies scattered across the floor all day! We have some community supplies and some individual supplies. Each kiddo has their own pencil box and their own bin. Their pencil boxes are filled with pencils, crayons, markers, glue sticks, etc. The outside of their pencil boxes have nametags on them. I always liked having nameplates on desks to reference things, and I didn’t want to lose that tool. Now they just carry it with them!
Everyone also has a bin. These storage drawers from Ikea were an investment, but I LOVE them! They are extremely durable and easy to use! The kids each have a sliding bin to store their journals, pencil boxes, notebooks, folders, etc. At the beginning of the year, I had towers of drawers side by side, but I realized that it gets crowded quickly. I spread the towers out around the room so it’s easier to get out supplies or clean up.
If your kids have bags of independent reading books, they could keep them in the sliding bin as well. We have extra bins for our independent reading books. These clear bins are from Oriental Trading. We keep them spread out on shelves all around the room too!
All of our bins have simple number labels so they can be used year after year. I love personalized things, but I just don’t have time to recreate oodles of labels each year! At the beginning of the year, I put a piece of painters tape on each drawer and wrote the name of kiddo who was assigned that number. When everyone knows their numbers, just peel off the tape!
There’s also a spot for community supplies with clear labels. The kids can get out these supplies and clean them up without help from me.
#4 Repair and Reuse
I have some good news and some bad news. The bads news is that if you poke a ball chair with a pointy pencil it really will pop. It doesn’t pop like a balloon, but it quickly deflates so whoever is sitting there will slowly start sinking to the floor.
The good news is that you can repair it using a Tear-Aid Vinyl Repair Kit
#5 Flexibilty First
Flexible seating does require….ready for it….flexibilty. Don’t run away Type A friends- you can do this! I have rearranged tables and moved rugs throughout the year to fit what we need. I am already planning a new reading nook to try before the end of the year (more on that later). I have gotten some new seating options for next year too!
Even if we are always moving, I know one thing that won’t change- we are sticking with flexible seating!
26 Responses
What are the storage bins ftom ikea called?
They are called Trofast storage frames with Trofaast storage bins. There are different configurations and sizes in the collection. I picked the towers with 8 thin drawers for my classroom.
Where did you get the cute gray chairs? I like both the plain gray and the chevron! It makes your room seem like home 🙂
Thank you! Both sets of chairs are from Target.
I've found that it is hard to keep cloth pillows and cushions clean. Germs spread more quickly with flexible seating (nobody talks about that) and it did not pass health inspection when they came through. Had to cover everything with a washable cover. Did you have this issue?
All of my large pillows are washable. The smaller pillows are outdoor pillows so you can wipe them off with wipes. It's good for germs and for stains!
Thanks so much for sharing your journey! I just started down this path with my kinders after 18 years of teaching and so far, I'm loving it (and so are the kids!) I love the Big Book idea you came up with – do you have it for sale? I'm new here, I'll go check out your products tab after posting this….maybe I can answer my own question! Thanks again!
Hi Susan! Flexible seating has been such a great change in my room too. If you didn't find a link to the book, here it is:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flexible-Seating-Smart-Spots-3369951
Thanks so much!
Where did you get the circular grey bin that you have your wiggle seats in??
I love the gray chevron top on the table, did you purchase it that way or was that a DIY?
The white table looks like an IKEA item (LACK is the name of the style) with contact paper.
Where is your white book ladder from? {LOVE} that idea! Thanks!
Where did you get the bins for your supplies? I love that they an pazzaz for a simple storage!
What are the bears for in the bins? Also, did you have to mount your furniture to the wall?
Your classroom looks FABULOUS!! In order to create this environment I imagine you spent a ton of money! Did you get a grant of some kind to help pay for all of this? Do you mind sharing how much money you spent? Thank you!
Looks absolutely amazing!!! Where did you get the little book display between your gray chairs??? Thanks!!
My school starts with breakfast in the classroom. Any tips on how kinder should enter the classroom and choose their seat for breakfast the first day before any modeling or expectations have been explained?
I just saw this on another kinder teacher's blog (Mr. Greg, I think). He uses trays like you get at a restaurant, then he teaches students how to clean them with a wipe.
I am taking on flexible seating this year, and this post is super encouraging!! Thank you for sharing your ideas and your successes! 🙂
Hi Emily,
After thinking about flexible seating a lot last spring, your post encouraged me to jump in this fall. I was so nervous the first week of school, but it went well and I've decided to give your smart seat book a try this week as students start picking their own spots. I came back to your blog and your classroom pictures just blow me away! So…quick question…did you get a grant to update your room? Did you have classroom funds or did you spend mostly out of pocket?
I’m a future teacher and not many schools in my area use flexible seating, but I absolutely want to! Any tips for a first year teacher trying it out? I’m really nervous that I’ll feel overwhelmed in any classroom, especially a flexible one! I’m someone who craves structure and control, but I refuse to be the kind of teacher who ultimately inhibits the magic of learning by forcing unrealistic rules and structure. I’ve learned that with children involved, you HAVE to be flexible. Things never go as planned! �� So, I’m trying to gain as much knowledge on flexible seating (and simply being flexible) as I can before I actually enter the field of education. Thanks so much, I know this was a long comment!
How do you clean your yoga balls. I use the ones with feet in my class but they are horrible to get and keep clean.
Hello! Thank you for sharing! What is the grey thing your wiggle cushions sit in?
Where did you get the container to hold your flexible seating disks?
How do you attach the pencil box name tags? I’ve used hot glue and clear tape, but the Ss still pull them off. How do hog attach them?