Small object for visual tracking

September 6, 2023 4:54 PM

I'm going to visually track the number of picture books I read from my school's library this year (I'm the librarian). What is a small, cheap object I can put in a jar for each book to show my progress? There will be around 825 max and don't want to use a huge container (think a larger mason jar). Any creative ideas?
posted by wsquared to Grab Bag (33 answers total)

Pennies?
posted by Ideefixe at 4:56 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Plastic or glass beads?
posted by fiercekitten at 5:00 PM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Shiny beans? Runner, cranberry, turtle?
posted by clew at 5:08 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Jellybeans seem like a classic for putting in jars.
posted by sagc at 5:11 PM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Do you need to count them afterwards? If so, I would use something that can be counted in some automated way by a machine (like coins) or something that is very uniform in weight (like, well, coins).

Or maybe use jellybeans so you can have a jellybean party when you are all done.
posted by niicholas at 5:12 PM on September 6, 2023

If they don't need to be regularly shaped, how about Nerds?
posted by fedward at 5:13 PM on September 6, 2023

Mini M&Ms could also be worth thinking about.
posted by fedward at 5:16 PM on September 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

For something similar I used pirate gold coins from a party store.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:18 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Do you drink soda? Can tabs would be great for this IMO.
posted by Night_owl at 5:33 PM on September 6, 2023

Origami stars.
posted by ttyn at 5:34 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

guitar picks, you rock star
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:41 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Grains of rice, in honour of the Chinese invention of true paper (thereby also providing a fascinating teaching hook)?
posted by heatherlogan at 5:43 PM on September 6, 2023

A small post it note (folded in half so it sticks to itself) for each book - optionally, with the title of the book written on it and a tiny review.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:45 PM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Alphabet beads or word beads? At the end, you could take them out and use them to write a new story!
posted by kittydelsol at 6:01 PM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Beans. And, since this is Metafilter, instead of a jar, can I recommend a plate?
posted by snofoam at 6:04 PM on September 6, 2023

I'd print a teeny pic of the book and glue it on a square item. Maybe even a sml piece of cardboard.
posted by aetg at 6:17 PM on September 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

I use arcade and transportation tokens and exonumia (i.e. coins that are not currency) of all sorts. There's a collectors market, but you can often get large lots of common types at auctions and antique shops.

The variety of designs is kind of fun to interact with.

They're not as cheap as pennies, but also nobody's going to be motivated to try to make off with your hoard.
posted by BrashTech at 6:25 PM on September 6, 2023 [5 favorites]

Buttons
posted by warriorqueen at 6:52 PM on September 6, 2023

If you're really where your page says you are, stop by Math 'n' Stuff and see what kind of counters they sell in bulk. That many Pass the Pigs dice are going to run you over $300, which is probably a budget buster, but they have other little doo-dads that would add an exciting visual element to lure in the students.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:14 PM on September 6, 2023

I second the suggestions of beads or origami stars. If you wanted to get fancier, you even could color code them by month or genre and do a breakdown of the categories at the end of the year! either way, they’re fun, colorful, and convenient! And those shapes have enough thickness that the collection’s growth will be visible father away than with flatter counters.

I’d be a little wary of using food items as counters over the course of an entire school year—even if you pick dry beans or something your students won’t try to eat, there’s always a chance of insect problems.
posted by threecolorable at 12:55 AM on September 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

Following aetg -- dollhouse miniature books
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:12 AM on September 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Pasta?
posted by Hermione Dies at 2:20 AM on September 7, 2023

Marbles?
posted by pangolin party at 4:51 AM on September 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: How about pompoms? They come in all sizes and colours, including glittery, and you could do special ones for special events (e.g., an extra big pompom on the day of the book fair or read-a-thon, special colours for various holidays, etc.). Readily available at craft and dollar stores, and online.
posted by notquitejane at 5:23 AM on September 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Something you can buy a thousand of easily and cheaply, that won't degrade. Paper clips come to mind, but they might be more annoying to count than some other things. Same for map pins.

I vote for pie weights, but the thread doesn't say how many come in the tin.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:26 AM on September 7, 2023

I love the idea of miniature books. The dollhouse ones are cute and fairly elaborate but for 800+ books, time consuming. You can cut matte board into uniform shapes, say 5/8” by 7/8” in advance and then wrap a piece of paper around the front and back “cover” and paste it on. On the front cover, handwrite the name of the book with a very very fine gel pen or fountain pen. You have to experiment to see what works, ordinary photocopy paper will probably cause the ink to bleed and paste or glue stick vs pvc white glue which will cause the paper to wrinkle. It’s not very colorful though unless you add some markers for decoration. You could skip the paper jacket but the backside of matte board is beige.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:29 AM on September 7, 2023

Tiny "bb"s as in for bb-guns; which are basically tiny metal ball bearings. Usually can buy about 2000 of them for between $10-$15.

If you don't want metal ones; I believe the make "soft" ones nowadays.
posted by Jade Dragon at 6:19 AM on September 7, 2023

Does it have to be items in a jar? 825 origami cranes in flight hanging off fishing wire would look great, if you have the space for it.
posted by tavegyl at 6:39 AM on September 7, 2023

Peppercorns -- pretty sure 800 would fit in a mason jar. Too small? Coffee beans
posted by olopua at 7:51 AM on September 7, 2023

How cheap is cheap? You can get 180 tiny ducks for $10 at Amazon. Scroll down to the various related items sections to see tiny babies, tiny frogs, tiny axolotls, tiny glow-in-the-dark ducks, tiny marine creatures...
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 10:01 AM on September 7, 2023

Seeds of some kind. The implication is that every book read is another opportunity to grow.

When the project is done, plant the seeds.
posted by Ookseer at 10:14 AM on September 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

A strip of post it note, twisted into a little... well, twist shape? Or go smaller and hole punch scrap paper and use the punched discs as counters. It's not plastic, it's small, and it's minimally wasteful. Also, you can do what L&D nurses sometimes do for newborns and color code them -- like a hot pink strip or punch out for books you liked, yellow for books that were fine, green for books that sucked or were abandoned.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:38 PM on September 7, 2023

Popcorn. When I started my job, there was (an unused) reward jar partially filled with popcorn.
posted by kathrynm at 4:06 PM on September 7, 2023