DIY Pick Sticks

I use pick sticks almost every day in my class. It’s very hard to actually pick someone randomly all while ensuring you’re being fair and giving everyone a chance. My solution is double sided pick sticks.

Why double sided? Because it’s easy to keep track of who you’ve already picked.

I start with them all pointing up and once I’ve pulled a name, I’ll replace it in the jar with the tip facing down. This makes it very clear which ones I can pick from without having a separate jar or leaving them scattered on the table.

To make these DIY sticks, I used large popsicle sticks (the size for a tongue depressor) and cut off the end to make a point. I then used acrylic yellow, pink and silver paint to add the sections of the pencil. Once dry, I used a sharpie to add the finer details of the lead, the sharpened edge and the rings on the metal ring.

But wait, don’t write names on these directly (unless you feel like making new ones every year?). You do you!

Instead, you can find removable labels (I use Avery brand). I wrote the student’s names and stuck them to the pencil. They stayed on all year and all I had to do in June was peel them off.