I've purchased many things too that I've never used, or that broke quickly. {honest confession: we call it the $20 store since I never seem to make out of there for less} So here's my list of things worth purchasing and how I like to use them in my classroom. Not every
dollar store is the same, so take these ideas, what your dollar store has to offer and my opinion with a grain of salt.
what is worth purchasing from the dollar tree
Oh yeah, in full disclosure this is not a paid endorsement for the Dollar Tree. It's simply a collection of things I've purchased and ways I've used them in my classroom.
1. Craft Foam
Craft Foam - Craft foam from the dollar tree comes in packs of multi-colors and usually has at least 5-6 pieces of each color. This works for me since I have enough to make a set of small group materials without having to purchase multiple sets. My favorite use has been to create
ten frame manipulatives, but I have also used it to make a
flash card flash game, and rekenreks.
2. Sunglasses & 3. Mini Clipboards
Sunglasses and Mini-Clipboards - Sunglasses are cheap enough and come in fun shapes to use in my
detective {read and write the room} literacy center. If a pair breaks, no tears shed since they were only a buck for a pack of 3. This mini clipboards are perfect for making this center feel special with its own set of tools. They have held up for years.
4. Wooden Pointers and Finger Pointers
Wooden Pointers and Finger Pointers - This snapshot comes as a
sneak peek behind my teacher easel. These pointers are always on hand for me to grab during whole group instruction. These definitely get grubby after a year or two so I give them a scub or toss depending upon how much I love them still. I like the variety and having enough to let students use them at literacy centers as well.
5. Magnifying Glass Pointers
Magnifying Glass Pointers - I call these pointers and we use them during
guided reading groups. Students love seeing the print magnified when reading their leveled books through for a repeat reading to make it fun and keep it fresh. I buy another one anytime I see them on the shelves {seriously}
6. Water Blasters
Water Blasters - No water ever gets to see the light of day in these water blasters. But we turn them into craaazy long pointers that are perfect for
reading the room. I like they make normally unreachable spaces now reachable to even my smallest kinders. Note: there will need to be a mini-lesson on not using them as swords {yep yep}
7. Water Squirters
Water Squirters - These are the mini-version of the blasters above. They are great for using whole group instruction since you can point directly in front of you or across your entire easel. I also add a few of these to our
big book center to encourage word and print exploration.
8. Bingo Daubers {Dot Makers}
Bingo Daubers - I'm not fancy. I call these 'dot makers' because that's what they are. I *love* using these for two main purposes in my classroom. We use them quite often in math to illustrate our work when working with
ten frames or large quantities. I also reserve one color each year to be the color for when a student earns a
reward coupon. They get a stamped dot in their
daily folder to show they earned the reward and I like that it can't be duplicated by kinder hands.
9. Small Regular Dice & 10. Large Foam
Small Regular Dice and Large Foam Dice - You won't go wrong with a large set of dice that make playing
math games fun. You'll love how *quiet* these dice are. I love purchasing the small regular dice since they come in different colors. I feel as if I can buy plenty so that no matter how many games I create or download to print, I'll always have enough to store and still have some on hand for
'in the moment' teaching. I also love not panicking in case some get lost since they were a buck.
11. Baby Socks
Baby Socks - For real? Baby socks? Yes, baby socks. I purchased for my first year of teaching when I had a
house literacy center. Once I retired it I had a whole bunch of baby socks that were perfect to fit onto kinder hands as quick-slip gloves. More often we just hold them rather than actually wearing them, but my students each have one in their pencil boxes since they use them daily to erase in their
calendar binders.
12. Marbles or Puff Balls
Marbles or Puff Balls - If you like to use a
whole class reward/incentive system, then pick yourself up some marbles or puff balls from the dollar tree craft section. In order to reward the entire class, we transfer marbles from our apple jar to a "party" box {which may have also come from the dollar store}. When all of the marbles have been transferred we get to have a special class party. But perhaps you may love the idea of using
warm fuzzies and these puff balls work great for this too.
13. Timers
Timers - Oh, am I considered old-school for having a timer in my classroom? I use a timer on my phone for everything related to keeping me reminded of specials {yes, seriously I lose track of time}. But I purchase a few of these in order to have my students give themselves a time out. It's part of our
classroom management plan, that if they have already had one think card and still haven't gotten back on track, then they obviously need more time to get it together. They learn to use the start/stop button (which I always have pre-set to 5 mins) and take the time to reflect on their choices.
14. Placemats
Placemats - I love bamboo and green. When I found these lime-green border placemats I knew they were the perfect solution to hiding my eye-sore science kits. I've got you hooked up with my
no-sew tutorial on how I used shoelaces and pins to create a curtain above my cupboards. I also have two more hung on a wall in my classroom to create a calming wall hanging and to break up some visual space.
15. Exercise Bands
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source: teacherlisasclass.com
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Exercise Bands - Full confession here, I just bought these {like today} but you can see my plan up above on using them as
kicking or fidget bands for a chair or two in my classroom. It's part of
my plan on giving students the best and varied seating options within my classroom. I don't know how long they'll last, but I'm hoping to start with two chairs to test the waters.
16. Giant Magnifying Glasses
Giant Magnifying Glasses - These insect exploring giant magnifying glasses are something that have always caught my eye. Remove the insect tweezers and you have a tool that invites reading. My kinders love using these in our
big book center to explore print, sight words and punctuation. I love also using one during whole group phonics instruction when we are finding bits or chunks.
17. Headbands
Headbands - I'm a fan of headbands for myself on special days in addition to
t-shirts {wink} and I'm on the hunt for crown ones in order to give an extra
reward coupon option for this coming school year. I think they feel less awkward than a hat to wear all day and I've found the same can be true for kinders. These headbands will become an option for my students to wear on their birthday.
18. Giant Fly Swatters
Giant Fly Swatters - Grab a pair of scissors and a giant fly swatter {or three} and you'll have fun word-finding tools. Snip out a rectangle shape in order to make a word-finder. Cut out a deep rectangle including the top edge and you have a word-framing pointer. Cut out a smaller and taller rectangle and you'll have a pointer that encourages student to look for
digraphs, vowel patterns in addition to other word chunks and bits you're learning.
19. Chip Trays
Chip Trays - Cleaning up after an art project isn't my favorite way to spend classroom time, but I've learned to simply both prep and
clean up by using snack or chip trays. These are great since they wipe or rinse very clean and you can put out anything you need to pass out to a table. Pass out becomes quicker when its in a tray and clean up too, since it everything can get stacked, picked up or dumped. These last me years.
20. Plastic Bins
Plastic Bins - I have such a love for plastic bins. Let me repeat... *Love* If you're browsing any photos of my classroom you'll probably see these in the background. I haven't seen them recently in our Dollar Tree, but they are one of the reasons I visit regularly {just in case they should appear}. I love the colors and love how lightweight they are. They allow my students to carry
center materials anywhere, have no holes {so less gets lost} and make clean up much more simple when I add snazzy picture labels. I don't love that the handles break especially if I pack a bin too full of
leveled books, but for the sheer number of bins I have, they are totally worth it.
21. Cameras
Cameras - This is another fun way to promote students reading the room, looking for focus letters or working on finding digraphs or word patterns. These cheapy, plastic cameras are a bit harder to find but if anyone has (get them donated) old digital cameras that don't work anymore - they work too. My students "snap" {albeit imaginary} photos around the room and like the feeling of being a
sneaky letter detective.
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