Learning Wall With Tape

In our school learning walls are used in almost every classroom.

And for further development of students skills teachers ask students to make the base of the learning wall (A wide sheet which children can attach articles on it) by themselves for the new classroom.

And this time I am the lucky one!!

In our school, we make a class magazine at the end of the year by collecting A4 sized neat articles which were been attached to the wall throughout the year.

Therefore no damages should be done to the articles while attaching or removing them from the learning wall.

However, the traditional method which is practiced by most of the classes in my school is gluing a silk cloth on a sheet of rigid foam or thick cardboard, fixing a decorative wooden frame around it and hanging the unit on wall with two nails. (Articles written by students are attached on it by thumb pins or drawing pins)

But if I follow that method I have not only to find those materials and build the thing but also to transport that big fragile unit all the way to the school from home without damage.

That doesn't sound easy.

But when thinking about this issue for some time I came up with a super cool idea. And in this instructable, which is my first instructable I am going share the idea that saved me from all the problems I described above.

Of cause I made it with just a roll of tape(tape won't stick permanently to the non sticky side of the same kind or most of the other kinds of tape that is the theory behind all this ). But I must say that my teacher was really happy about it. As thumb pins or drawing pins (which can be hazardous in the presence of my aggressive friends ) are not needed to attach things on this learning wall teacher said that this is the ideal student-friendly learning wall. Also, students liked to write new articles because the stylish L.W. adds value to them.

So why not attach articles on the wall just with tape without the tape-frame described in this instructable? Refer to the list of advantages below.

Advantages of this learning wall: -

1). No damages or are done to the old articles when they are removed from the l.w (as tape bonds strongly on walls, articles which are directly attached on walls with tape tear when tried to remove). So they can be easily added to the year-end magazine. Or just distributing them back among students for their own works or applying to competitions become possible.

2). hazardous pins which can cause injury can be removed from the immediate environment of children.

3). the decorative design encourages students to add more articles and to read previously added ones. (Believe Me. next time you attach a short note on the wall add a 2' thick frame of your favorite color around it. The fact in your short note will last forever in your memory.

4). Super easy to make.

So let's get to work!

There are 2 methods to make this

method 1:- sticking the frame directly on the wall - the easiest way

You can follow this method if there is a blank wall in the classroom/ study room. This method is permanent and will damage the paint on walls when tried to remove. But as things like this are usually kept permanently on walls until a repair or a paint job is needed to the classroom it won't be a problem. This method is described below.

method 2:- using a sheet of cardboard as a base

Learning wall made by following this method is portable. but it still needs double tape to hang on the wall.For this kind of a L.W. follow all the steps described below on a sheet of cardboard 37.2*26 inches in size(measure it and cut using scissors)

materials needed

2 inch wide tape rolls of 2 colors (i use red and yellow)

electrical tape

cello tape

sheet of cardboard 37.2*26 inches in size (only if you follow 2nd method)

double tape(only if you follow 2nd method)

tools needed

pencil

eraser

scissors

big set square

meter ruler

Step 1: Measurements

I took the measurements shown below by considering the size of an A4 sheet(A4 measures 210 × 297 millimeters or 8.27 × 11.69 inches). Make all the markings on the wall using a pencil.on the selected wall draw a line perpendicular to the floor using meter ruler and something like a box file. this line represents the left edge of the learning wall. Then mark the height that the bottom of the learning wall should be on that line. Then mark other measurements as shown in img1. Use a big set square and a meter ruler to mark the horizontal lines(mark them perpendicularly to the vertical line).

Step 2: Stick the Tape

Cover the two areas darkened in img2 (I use 2 inch red color tape)

Then stick 3 long pieces of tape (I use yellow) along the 3 horizontal lines.The exact place where tape should be attached is shown in img5 Next simply attach two pieces of tape vertically as in img7 and cut the ends neatly with scissors.Erase the remaining pencil marks on wall.

Step 3: Write the Title

Stick electrical tape to show the word "LEARNING WALL" on top.

Step 4: Make Use of It

As described in the introduction, tape won't stick permanently

to the non sticky side of the same kind or most of the other kinds of tape.

So when attaching articles on the tape-frame of the learning wall stick two pieces of cello tape on the article as shown in image or just stick one piece of tape on the top of the article. Stick it on the learning wall in such a way that the two pieces of cello tape on the article sticks on the tape-frame of the L.Wall.Use the red areas to attach smaller or irregular shaped papers.

When needed to remove the articles carefully pull the pieces of cello tape attached on the article.The article will easily be removed. To collect older articles cut the pieces of cello tape on it along the edges of the paper. Of cause 2 shiny stripes of cello tape will remain on the top and bottom of the article. In my opinion (also was the teachers point of view) this adds a decorative touch to the class magazine that we make at the end of the year.