I’ve had rug envy.
I admit it.

For years and years I had this type of “rug” in my room…

Then I couldn’t take it anymore. That foam gets VERY dirty. The kiddos break off pieces of it. It’s bothersome to put away and store each summer so the carpet underneath can get cleaned.

Frankly, I just found it gross. And uhm… it doesn’t match my room!

So I got rid of it. I haven’t had a rug of any kind in my “rug area” for many years.

Thus, the rug envy.

I REALLY wanted a gorgeous rug for the kiddos to sit on when we met on the floor. I found a lot that I loved, but I absolutely HATED the price tags. AND… I worried about how filthy it would get.

Then I saw a few blogging teachers using colorful duct tape to note sitting spots for their kiddos.

That was something I thought I could do. I simply cut circles out of sheets of duct tape.

Then I took it off at the end of the year because the edges of the tape looked a little ratty and they needed to be replaced before the new year started. AND removing that tape was NOT easy!

But after the carpets were cleaned, there was a non-removable stain where the sticky residue left by the tape absorbed dirt. It looked horrible. I panicked. I was permanently ruining my classroom carpet!

So I ditched the duct tape idea and didn’t use it again.

The problem with 1st graders not having a defined area in which to sit is that they spread out… FAR. So when we gathered on the “rug area” (that’s what I call it)… they were back by my desk, under tables and …well just spread wide. It bothered me. Actually, it drove me NUTS!

So I was back on the search for a fabulous, affordable rug that matched my room and was large enough for 30+ bodies!

I found some – but not within my price range! Not even close! And I was still a little freaked about how dirty it would get.

Then I presented at the Southern California Kindergarten Conference and found little removable spots under my feet.

They were adorable. And everywhere!

I was intrigued…so I followed them to this booth.

You guys… the colors are ENDLESS! There was something there for everyone. All kinds of shapes. Well it was just amazing.

The fabulous kindergarten TEACHER who developed these SitSpots, Joyce, is BRILLIANT! What a fantastic answer to a costly problem.

They are MACHINE WASHABLE and DRYABLE (apparently not a word), easily removed from and stuck to that industrial classroom carpet, leave no residue whatsoever, lie completely flat, do not curl up on the edges, and I think they are going to last and last.

I’ve written on them with Vis-a-Vis and was able to remove all but the slightest hint of the ink with nothing but water!

You can write on them permanently with Sharpie and Paint Pens … a perfect way to use them for a sight word walk.

Or a line up spot….

Seriously AH-MAZ-ING!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my SPOT area! LOVE IT!

All of us CaliGals LOVED these so much we could not wait to come back and blog about them. We knew you HAD to know about how incredible these things are. We could not stop talking about all the ways we could use them. We were all beyond obsessed.

So we begged Joyce over at SitSpots to let us share them with you and she graciously agreed!!!! In fact, she is generously letting us all give away a class set of 32 … EACH OF US are giving away a set!!! Did I mention how much we love Joyce? Read on to find out more details on how YOU can win a set of SitSpots for your classroom!

Now’s your chance!

Are your “wheels” turning? How would YOU use SitSpots in your room?