Dollar Store Ideas

As I prepare to head out to I Teach K in Vegas and Frog Street SPLASH in Texas,
I heard many of you ask how you can be included in some of the professional learning FUN at home.

I can’t share with you my sessions,
which are on Technology, Science and Social Studies, Phonics, and Google for I Teach K
as well as QR Codes for Frog Street.
BUT I can share with you some great Dollar Store Ideas that I picked up this week and so can you!

Most of these are going to be phonics based since that is one of my upcoming sessions. 🙂

First, all those pink, green, blue, and yellow facial pads will be used for eraser during center time activities and dry erase board fun.

Next, there are two things I constantly buy at dollar stores are hair hands!

I use these tiny elastic bands during my calendar time to bundle those straws in ten sets.
These elastic bands are tiny enough to old the straws together.
Plus, you only have to buy them once every few years.

I also love to grab these hair bands.
It is always good to keep several on hand to help a long hair child out on the playground
on a hot day or during a messy art project…
BUT… they are also great help with handwriting.

A student who has a band grip on their writing utensil can put the band on their wrist. 
Next, they put the pencil through backwards.
Last, TWIST the pencil to the correct way.
The twist holds the pencil in hand so the student has to grip the pencil correctly.

Now onto the FUN stuff.
I found these long hair rollers. You can see the three different pack, each with a different color. 
I also used scissors and a sharpie.
When I pulled the roller back, I saw how easily I can take them apart. 

Once the rollers were off,
I cut the rollers into three sections each.

I wrote the VOWELS on the pink, then consonances on the blue.
Then, I wrote blends on the green. 

Now I reassemble the rollers, using the mixture of sections.
Now your students have small blending rollers to sound out real and nonsense words.

 

Feel free to use a blue, pink, blue combination as you need.
The best part is… these are so small they are EASY to store.

Here is another way to use the larger curlers.
Again, I take the curler apart.
I cut into two parts.

Now you can write the initial letter on one side and the word family ending on the back.

You could also easily do this with addition or subtraction problems as well.

Don’t forget to swing by the teacher section.
They stock a plethora of these decor.

There are 36 in a pack.
They make INSTANT games.

I found the kite and rainbow this week.
I put number sense items in each of the areas on the kite.
Then I cut it apart.
Now it is a SIMPLE but fun number sense puzzle.
You can make numbers 1-10 and 11-20. 
You can also see the rainbow image above.
I used to practice rhyming words.
Just add the words to rhyme on both parts then cut in half.

And if you want to add images to these activities.
I recommend these books to help you create sorts.

With this book and dollar store decor, you can make some incredible learning games.
I bought them years ago and use them on a regular basis.

My favorite find was this mini Jenga style game.
It is VERY small and perfect for word work, centers, and really EVERYTHING.

I look the pieces out of the box and write lowercase letters.
NOW my students can practice letter identification, letter sounds,
or BOTH while playing this game.
I am dying to go back and grab MORE of these.
I am thinking sight word games as well.
And what about addition practice?

 

My last idea involves the ABC pasta, that I did not find at the dollar store, but these small plates.
(You can grab the pasta at most grocery stores and larger chains stores like Target.
AND they also make a number version.)You can also use small beads or letter beads.
You can have your students SORT the vowels and consonances into the small two sections at the top.

Then they can create words using the pasta.

Looking for more dollar store ideas?
Head here and enjoy!