If anyone knows the daily frustration of lost marker caps strewn across the floor—and, consequently, dried-out markers left in their wake—it is a kindergarten teacher. But one such teacher has a trick that worked in her classroom last year and can also work for parents at home this year: Duct tape them all together.
Teacher Lindsey Sale Desormeaux posted this tip on Facebook a few weeks ago as a suggestion for elementary teachers; but given that many parents will be teachers of their own little kids this year, this is a trick you may want to try at home:
It was a true Kindergarten miracle, y’all! Not one cap was found on the floor and not one marker dried out! It was also GREAT fine motor work for those little fingers at the beginning of the year learning to cap and un-cap each marker!
In a series of photos, Desormeaux shows us how she lines up a set of nine markers and then wraps the caps in duct tape to create a marker mass that makes it impossible for a cap to roll and fall into the void, never to be seen again.
She uses the side of a cardboard box to line them up straight.Photo: Lindsey Sale DesormeauxG/O Media may get a commission
And then she folds the tape around the whole set, like so.Photo: Lindsey Sale DesormeauxNot only does this method keep the caps from being lost and the markers from drying out, it also makes it a whole lot easier for kids to find the color they’re looking for, which means less time rummaging around in their desk and more time actually coloring and creating.
