Teaching used to be all about laminating EVERY SINGLE THING! But times have changed, and now we are all a little more conscious of the effect laminating has on the environment. It is also important that we as teachers model stewardship to our students.
We are not saying that you need to forget about laminating completely.
If you know it is something that will be used regularly and won’t last long without it, often laminating is the best solution. However, sometimes you discover there is a better alternative to permanently covering paper in plastic which leads to slowly cutting back and that is better than doing nothing at all.
To help you make some small steps in the right direction, or if you feel you can take a larger leap towards no laminating at all, we have put together some alternatives to laminating.
Some of these suggestions still involve plastic, but they are reusable options instead of one-time use like laminating is.
What are some alternatives to teachers laminating resources?
1. Print on thicker paper or cardstock
This is a wonderful alternative if you don’t plan on keeping a resource for a long time. Any game we print on paper or card, we often will send home with students who need further practise once we are finished with them in the classroom.
2. Reusable plastic pockets
We picked these up from our local dollar store in the stationery section. They are a great way to turn a worksheet into a reusable resource (plus the addition of whiteboard markers always makes learning a little more fun!)
3. Display folder to store games
Using a display folder allows you to group multiple games together according to skill and students can move onto the next game once they have finished or choose which games they want to play. We love using display folders for easy group work setup!
4. Use a clear clipboard as a dry erase board
Did you know you can use a clipboard and a dry erase board? Pop your sheet on backwards, turn it over and you instantly have a board that can be used over and over. Another fun way to reuse or repurpose worksheets.
5. Paper only versions to display on your walls
There is nothing wrong to sticking to paper. Yes, it gets a little tatty quicker BUT if you aren’t using something year in and year out, paper is the way to go. PLUS cutting out the laminating step is going to save you so much time when prepping bulletin board displays.
6. Write and wipe sleeves
You can get these from education stores, Amazon or even stores like Temu. They are very handy to have, especially for the younger years.
7. Large ziplock bags
The added bonus with this idea is you can store materials for games inside the snaplock bags!
BONUS Teacher Tip:
Eucalyptus oil is a natural and really effective way of cleaning marker or texta off any of these surfaces mentioned above. It can be found in the same aisle as the toiletries at the supermarket. Antibacterial gel also works a treat (and there is no shortage of that in our classroom these days!)
If you had to start with one of these alternatives, what would it be?
We would also love to hear if you have a wonderful alternative to laminating. We love sharing ideas from other teachers with our community.
Want to save these ideas for later? Pin the image below:
What to Read Next:
Grab our ‘Get Organised’ checklist for teachers
5 Ways to make Persuasive Writing FUN
8 Strategies for efficiently running Reading Groups
