How to Set Up Math Centers

Math centers set up is a very important piece of a successful math centers time. Questions to consider would be the following. Are the materials organized in a way that easy for the students to understand? Does everything have an intentional place for organization? Do I have the right containers?

Set Up With Baskets

Baskets are your friend. It sounds silly but this should be a huge takeaway. Every center in my classroom is placed in a basket. If that center needs glue sticks or dice or coins or markerboards they will be placed in the basket. When prepping your math centers, be thinking about anything and everything that the students will need to complete the center. The goal is not to have them coming up to ask you for something when you are working with students.

Basket Location Matters

Always keep your baskets in the same place so that the students know where to put them back when they are cleaning up. Below you will see an example of what each of my center baskets might look like. I always try to keep the center activities consistent from week to week. More on that below.