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Dollar Tree Teacher Finds to Save You Money!

When I first started teaching there was no TPT.  Target, Walmart, and other discount stores didn’t cater to teachers as much as they do now.  The only place to go was the local teacher store, and everything there was exorbitantly priced! Thankfully now we have more options (including the wonders of Amazon) to spend our hard-earned money on now. Today I want to talk to you about my favorite Dollar Tree teacher finds!

When I really started to look around the Dollar Tree I couldn’t believe how many hidden gems they had waiting for teachers that only cost $1!!!!! The items I will share with you today are ones that I have tested in my classroom. I know that they will stand up to the abuse of 5-year-olds!

Art Supplies

For art supplies, I love the little six compartment palettes.  They are the perfect size for tiny hands. I can give them a little bit of paint, but it doesn’t hold enough to create a real catastrophe.

The Dollar Tree also has many different-sized canvas panels. I used this small size for our Christmas ornaments last year.  We did little fingerprint snowmen, and I hot glued ribbon onto the back to finish the project. 

Paintbrushes are something that I constantly seem to be in short supply of. It’s another one of those items that I wonder to myself – are they eating them?!?! These paintbrushes aren’t designer quality, but they get the job done, especially on our watercolor projects.

Fine Motor Skills

The large tweezers are always a big hit in my classroom.  We use them to pick up pompoms and create letters with the pompoms.  The tweezers really help to build hand strength. Check out this free activity I made using the tweezers!

Play-Doh is obviously a must-have for the kindergarten classroom, but I love that these ones come with the tools attached. Play-Doh tools are another one of those items that always go missing or get broken. I love that I can get Play-Doh, and the tools for only $1!

Lastly, I use the bingo daubers in my Read the Room center.  I also use them for art projects. It’s a fun way to use paint without the mess.

Centers

Plastic storage galore! Store your centers in these brightly colored plastic bins. I’ve also used various ones for book bins in the past, but I think they are a little too flimsy for that. I know that dress-up and kitchen centers are going the way of the dodo bird, but they really do build students vocabularies and social skills, so try to sneak them in if you can!

Last years’ students were puzzle freaks! I ended up getting a lot more puzzles from the Dollar Tree, and we even decided to designate a table in the classroom as the “puzzle table” where you could leave your unfinished puzzle and it would be left in peace and not destroyed.

Am I the only person who doesn’t like the kids using my pointer?  I feel like sharing it is one of the leading causes of colds! I’ve seen them do some pretty gross stuff with it. LOL  I like to purchase some pointers that are just for the kids that they can use in the Write the Room center and leave mine in peace.

The dry erase block dice have endless uses, not just in centers, but in your guided reading and math groups! Work on number or letter recognition, fluency, sounds, you name it! I also have an I-Spy center in my classroom, and the magnifying glasses from the Dollar Tree work perfectly.  I originally purchased some child, multi-colored plastic magnifying glasses and those didn’t work very well, and they were a lot more expensive!

Math Tools

My students love playing with cards and dice! I taught my kids how to play war last year with the cards, and they thought it was the greatest things ever. Little did they know they were practicing their number comparison skills (BOOM – got you!).

There are a million wonderful dice games out there as well, and I always have a big bin of dice readily available for my students to use. My kids last year were also obsessed with asking me if they could take dice home for the night, and bring them back in the morning! I pretty much always let my students take things home and use them. I’ve never had a problem with things getting returned, but even if I did, thank God for the Dollar Tree!

Classroom Organization

For classroom organization, I use the facial pads as erasers for whiteboards and early finisher task cards.  Once they start to get dirty, I just throw them in the washing machine and voila, good as new!  The Dollar Tree has tons of cheap prizes that you can load up on for your treasure box.  Word to the wise – avoid the ones that make noise!

The little craft storage boxes are great to keep letters in or small craft supplies organized.  If you follow the Jan Richardson model of guided reading you will know that students who are just beginning to learn their letters should only be introduced to a small number of letters at a time (starting with the ones in their name).  I like using one small craft box per student in my lowest group.  I put their names on it, and I can quickly grab their box with the letters when we have time to review.

The colorful pompoms they have in the party planning section are the perfect way to spice up my bulletin boards!

Lastly, the sandwich boxes and sponges make my glue tubs! I saw the idea of making glue tubs a couple of years ago, and ever since I started doing it (and using glue sticks sparingly), I’ve actually made it to the end of the year with glue sticks to spare!  Make sure you get the sponges that don’t have that harder scrubbing side on the bottom.  I made that mistake one year, and the glue didn’t seep in as well as I would have liked.  The sandwich boxes are really durable and have a tight seal! I also like to use the sandwich boxes to store fine motor manipulatives! Sand, sprinkles, rocks, etc. can all go in there for letter formation practice!

Dollar Tree for Life!

Honestly, I could keep going with this post, the Dollar Tree has so much to offer, and at a fraction of the price of your local teacher store! Next time you have an extra 30 minutes, grab a Starbucks and wander around the Dollar Tree, you won’t be disappointed!  What are your favorite Dollar Tree finds? Tell me in the comments below!

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