Fun Hall Passes

While wandering the aisles of Wal-Mart (I knew there was something I had to have, I just hadn't found it yet), I found a selection of plastic character kids cups with straws. I found one shaped like a robot and knew I had to have it.  I have a robot theme in my classroom and knew I could use it someday.  Well someday happened the first week when I realized I didn't have a hall pass for the class.  I grabbed the robot cup, pulled out the straw and fed the cord of a lanyard through the hole.  Voila!  Instant hall pass.  Not a bad deal for  $.97!  My students fell in love with the little guy and named him "John" for obvious reasons.  Now they ask if they can take John for a field trip which is code for a bathroom visit. I found the pumpkin a few weeks back and traded him out for October. They named him "Jack". I am looking forward to having a different buddy for each month.   Now to figure out something to do with the straw!