Tonight I'm sharing photos of everything I bought along with a few ideas for how I'll use each item in my classroom.
{Cheerleader Batons}
These are cheerleader batons! You know, the kind that get thrown, twirled in the air, and caught again? I bought these to be used as super fancy pointers! I haven't shown them to the kids yet, but they are going to be so excited when I bring them out. Since they are fancy and full of glitter, I'm planning on only using them for special occasions: behavior motivation, student of the day privileges, leading the class in reading and tracking print, and things like that.
{Mini Sentence Strips}
I absolutely love these little word strips. I use them for our word wall words! You can usually write a couple of words on each strip, so even one little package lasts a long time. They have tons of fun designs available - I went for the polka dots this time.
{Magnifying Glass & Kitchen Dramatic Play Center toys}
On the fifth day of kindergarten, my team and I were going to be videotaped teaching lessons to each of our classes. My subject area was science and my students were going to be using their own magnifying glasses to observe seeds, so I grabbed this giant magnifying glass to use for modeling! It was big enough to magnify the seed to my entire class sitting on the carpet - perfect! As for the kitchen center toys, my students don't get to play at it very often, but I knew my "cooking utensils" left something to be desired so I picked up these 2 sets. When I brought them out for Fun Friday the first week of school, they were so excited! It doesn't take much to make kindergarteners happy.
{Baskets Galore}
And finally, the real reason I went to Dollar Tree... to stock up on baskets! There is no better place to get a variety of plastic buckets for this great of a deal. They have added much cuter and brighter colors to their collection as well! You can't see them in this photo, but I picked up multiple colors of the blue basket with white handles (front left of the photo) and filled them with goodies to give my team on the first day of school. It made the perfect gift basket and I knew my teammates would appreciate having a new one to use in their classrooms. My favorite Dollar Tree baskets are the big long ones in the front. They are big and wide enough to fit papers, clipboards, construction paper booklets, and center activities. They are surprisingly durable, too! I got the blue basket in the back (with the holes and 2 handles) for my kids to pick up book projects and put them in the basket themselves. The long handles make it easy for one kid to carry the bucket without dropping it while another student fills it with our book projects to store away after the glue dries.
What great items have you found at Dollar Tree (or any dollar store)? I'd love to hear about your ideas!
