Create a Learning Station for Virtual Learning Students

Back to School Time

It’s back to school time in the US and school looks a little different for the 2020 – 2021 school year. Most of our students are doing either all virtual learning or a hybrid of virtual and in-person learning. Either way, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how school looks this year. A great addition to virtual learning is creating a learning station.

Virtual Study Environment

Now that students are at home learning, the question is, where in the house do they learn? Though I’ve seen a lot of teenagers with laptops and headphones in their beds or cozy chairs, wouldn’t it be great for students to have a dedicated space for learning.

Let me tell you, where there is a problem, a creative person will create a solution. So lately, I’ve seen lots of cool looking learning stations for our virtual learning students. These learning stations are basically tri-fold presentation boards that are decorated with fun and encouraging motifs to enhance learning. It can make an ordinary kitchen table (or any area) feel like a real classroom. It also creates an enclosed “cubby desk” feel that the student can call their own. Though Google, Pinterest and Etsy are full of these cutesy boards, they can be pricey, ranging from $25 – $100 a piece.

So Craft Auntie to the Rescue. I shared a picture of a cute learning station board and announced that I would make it for any of my little e-nieces and e-nephews that needed one. I know, crazy right? Why do I do these things to myself 🙂 I thought maybe two or three moms would want one. I was wrong. Surprisingly, within like an hour I had 15 requests and had to cut it off. WOWZERS! So just to be helpful, I asked the parents to give $10 and I’d do the rest. Well after 15 boards, a bunch of running to dollar trees all over the city, and a craft explosion in my basement, this e-Auntie is worn out. So I’m gonna show you how you can make your own learning station for less than $20.

Create a Learning Station for $20 or less

If you have scissors, a glue gun and about an hour and a half, then you can make a learning station. I promise! Ok, here’s what you need:

Yield: 1 board

Learning Stations for Virtual Learning

Prep Time 30 minutes

Active Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost $20

Materials

Cardboard Tri-fold Presentation Board
Bulletin Board Border
Black craft paper
Scrapbook or Wrapping Paper
Calendar or Included calendar templates
Stickers
Inspirational Quotes
Small Dry Erase Board with Marker
Pocket Folders or Homework Folders/bags
Post it notes
2-4 pieces of decorative cardstock
Clothes pins
Glue sticks
Hot glue sticks
Any other decorative element you desire

Tools

Scissors
Ruler
Glue Gun

Instructions

Start with creating the chalkboard look on the top of your plain trifold board. This will go in the middle section. Cut a piece of the black paper on the roll to the width of your board and about 1/2 way down the board. Glue it down on the edges with your glue stick.
Now, frame the "chalkboard" by gluing down your border of choice.
Next, glue down the rest of the borders around the edge of the board. Be careful not to put anything in the folds of the board.
Prepare the calendar elements. Print and cut out each piece on cardstock. To hold the calendar pieces, you can use the template or use paper an envelope cut down to size. Lay out the Day of the week, then the month then the date holders. Place the "Today's Date is" piece above them. Then glue everything with down with wet glue or hot glue.
Attach the name on the top of the "chalkboard" area.
Now layout out all your other elements (post it notes, white board, folders, inspirationals words, etc. Once you have it laid out, glue everything down with hot glue or wet glue.
Finish the boards off with any fun elements like stickers, pictures, etc. Voila, you're done!

Click Here to Download the FREE Calendar Pieces Printable

Tips from the Craft Diva:

The trifold boards are available at the dollar store but are very hard to find around back to school time. There are better quality boards at Walmart , Target, or any craft store but they also cost more, $3-$6/piece. If you want a board that is super thick and will outlast your rambunctious little angel 🙂 than grab a presentation board from a place like Office Depot. They range between $12-$20.
You can use scrapbook paper as a border. Find your favorite paper and cut it into 2″ strips. Glue them around the border of the trifold board one strip after another for a unique border.
Glue sticks work the best on thin paper, Elmer’s glue or any wet glue works better on cardboard and flat objects, but takes a while to dry. Hot glue works best on items you need to stay in place immediately put not on plastic.
Head over to Google or Pinterest for inspirational quotes. Find your favorites and save them to your computer. Insert the quote into MS Word (or any graphic or word processing software) and resize it to whatever size quote you want on the board and print. Boom, cute inspirational quotes. However, if you don’t see any you like? you can use apps like Canva or WordSwag on your devices to create custom sayings. They have pre-made templates that help creating easier.
Plan your color scheme before you buy to make sure you get all elements that flow well together and match.
If you don’t have a Cricut or cutting machine, you can freehand write the student’s name or most craft stores sale bulletin board letters that you can glue on for their name.
Certainly be creative and have fun. There are no rules. No right or wrong design. For instance, I decided to make my nephew’s board with Spiderman. I printed out a cute Spiderman figure I found on google. While cutting it out I realized that Spiderman would probably spew some of his web so I took some twine and draped it across the board to look like webbing. Then I said, well Spiderman moves around a lot, so I glued the cutout to a clip and now my nephew can move Spiderman around the board…makes it interactive. This is just one suggestion. Have fun with any idea.

Crafts Can Help Create Successful Students

All in All, this is a fun, quick and inexpensive project you can do that can yield a great return on your investment. Get the kids involved. Build the learning station together as family time. Anything we can do as creatives to help support students learn, is well worth our efforts. I mean, look at these cute faces below. It makes it all worth it.

Happy 2020-2021 school year to all students. GO BE GREAT!

Until next time, stay crafty!

Always Angie, (The new “e-Auntie” – Learn more about me and my love for my nieces and nephews HERE)

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