Up-cycling your kid's virtual learning space
School districts across Ohio are going fully or partially virtual for the 2020/2021 school year. The prospect of your child trying to distance learn may seem daunting, but your local VOA thrift stores are here to set you up for success. Here are a few ways to transform a space in your house to optimize learning without breaking the bank.
Message Board & Calendar
A schedule is key to keeping everyone organized (and sane!) during virtual learning. A DIY message board/calendar project is a great way to get your kids involved in their own schedule and promote responsibility for their activities and time. This particular project takes a simple thrifted mirror and turns it into something amazing.
What you need:
- Thrifted Mirror
- Painters Tape
- Chalkboard Paint
- Chalk
- Ruler
Link to full project here.
Give the Kids Space
It’s hard enough to stop siblings from annoying each other at home and now they are going to be in the same space for school. Rather than buy a new house so everyone can have separate rooms, you can easily (and cheaply) separate their desks with a thrifted tall bookshelf or DIY room divider like the one below.
What you need:
- Thrifted curtain(s) or fabric cut to size
- Steel or PVC pipe, 3-4 pieces.
- Wood board cut to length
- 2 elbows to connect the pipes
- 2 flanges to attach pipes to the board
- 4 castors
- 16 screws and washers to attach the castors
- 4 bolts and nuts to attach the flanges to the board
Link to full project here.
School Work Station
Now that the kids have their own space, let’s get organized! Customize a work station to your kid’s needs this school year using a thrifted tray and school supply sized containers.
What you need:
- Thrifted tray
- Thrifted glass jars & containers
- School supplies (Pens, pencils, erasers, post-it notes, rulers, etc)
- Paint
Link to full project here.
Feeling inspired? Head to your closest VOAOHIN thrift store and find what you need to start your back to school DIY project.