Dollar Store Alphabet Centers

 

LINK HERE

Note: The author says the ice cubes can also be purchased at Amazon.

Truth!

'Tis the Time of Year to Stock Up!

September/October is when the dollar stores are stocking up and preparing for the Christmas holiday. Which means their selection is at its best.

This is when I would buy my classroom Christmas gifts. With the holidays approaching, once I got this chore out of the way, then that would be one less item on my To Do list.

Hint: It's also a good opportunity to grab some stocking stuffers for fellow co-workers and family!

Dollar Store Finds and Ideas From TARGET

Run, don't walk, to your nearest Target store, and check out their dollar bins! I went in, hoping to find a few odd items I could use in the classroom, and this is what I scored.

* 5 write on/wipe off boards for working with small group writing

* 2 cans (30 total) of glow-in-the-dark bracelets (Super for treats, or to save until Halloween!)

* Flashcards featuring colors and shapes, counting to 20, and the alphabet (I have many ways to implement these as games!)

* more stickers

* sea creature erasers (details below)

These are my favorite. No more having to run off pre-lined worksheets!

Not only do these make great gifties/giveaways, but they're also make neat tokens for board games.

Dollar Store Finds and Ideas, Part 2

Today I'm showing you the rest of what I discovered during my recent jaunt to the dollar stores.

I saw these growing crystals. Although I've never used them before, for a dollar, I thought they would make a great experiment for the kids to observe. I found these over in the toy section.

Of course, any sort of puzzle/matching game that reinforces basic knowledge is worth buying. I'll put these in separate plastic containers for the kids to use. The same goes for these puzzle sequencing games (see below). Incidentally, I just got an idea for a game using the sequencing cards. I'll post it on Friday.

And, finally, who doesn't need stickers? The googly eyes were a bonus, as we use boocoos of them during the school year for art projects!

Dollar Store Finds and Ideas, Part 1

Within a five-minute radius, there's a Dollar Tree, a Dollar General, and a Family Dollar store. Each one carries similar items, but not always the same merchandise. Every so often I go in one to pick up something, and when I do, I always peruse the store for things that catch my eye and ignite my imagination. (This also goes for those dollar bins at the grocery store and Target.)

This go-round, I came away with a bonanza, which I'll be sharing this week in three parts. Most of these items I already have, but through use and "borrowing", my supplies needed replenishing or replacing.

One can never have too many shapes puzzles to use in centers, or to put out during my Ten Minute Smarters. These are great ways for the kids to use Tangrams, work on their fine motor skills, and to recognize shapes.

Seashells can be utilized in many ways: as part of your science center, to have the kids separate into classifications, as markers on a game board, or simply to count. The possibilities are endless!

Marbles are terrific when it comes to marble painting (rolling it in Tempra, then letting it go all over a sheet of paper.) They're also neat to use in science experiments (let them roll down ramps, and see if the angle of the ramp makes a difference in speed.) Have racing games with them. Play "croquet" using a pencil for a club. Or go bowling.

The chips are also great, and these multi-colored ones offer a wider variety of utilization. They make terrific tokens or markers. Toss them into a paper cup. Count them, or show math sentences for sums (ex: 2 yellow + 3 green = 5, the same as 4 yellow + 1 green = 5). Divide into different color classifications.

More to come!