Dollar Tree Trip!

I hope everyone is having a great summer! I know by now most of us teachers are on summer break. My school has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I have been visiting my parents in North Carolina. We head back home to Savannah, Georgia on Saturday. 

So, I have a confession. I acted like I was an awesome Mom and told my 8 year old, Madison, we could go to The Dollar Tree since it is right by the grocery store we were going to. The confession? That trip to The Dollar Tree was not for her, IT WAS FOR ME! A teacher can always find something at The Dollar Tree! I thought I would share my finds:

A monster file folder game! I plan on getting it laminated and bringing it out around Halloween time. It is a matching game. For your higher level learners you could differentiate it by writing numbers or dots on  each creature on the mat as well as each creature on the tiles. When students find the match they add the numbers or dots. 

While in line to check out I noticed this pen. I plan on sticking it on the cubbies by my door that way there is a pen available to any visitors who come in my door. Since I teach PreK a lot of the parents 

escort their child to class. I am always getting them to sign papers or write absent notes they forgot to 

turn in. I hope the pen works! Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Next I found these adorable pet cut outs. I bought 2 packs giving me a total of 48 pieces. I plan on writing uppercase letters on the cats and lowercase letters on the dogs. The students will then match them up.  You could even give the students an alphabet recording sheet so they can mark off every letter pair match they make. Since I do my pet unit in February, I think I will put rhyming pictures on the remaining pieces and have a rhyming center. 

 

This was my favorite find! They are snack containers. I will be using these as a shape sorting center. In the fall it will be 2d shapes like the lids, in the spring it will be for 3d shapes! 2 for the price of one! I think my kiddos will sort the foam shapes you can find at stores like Michaels, but I might have them cut out pictures from catalogs and put them in the box that matches the shape of the object they cut out.

 Yay for The Dollar Tree! 

I am hoping to add to my blog a little bit more consistently this year, We will see how well that plan goes once school starts up!

One of my goals this summer was to find a comfortable large pillow or smaller pillows to put in the reading area. I didn't want to spend a ton of money but of course it had to be the absolute cutest pillow possible. That can be hard to do on a budget. As I was going through my things I noticed some scrap material with Owls I had bought several months ago. I had no immediate plans for the material but I just knew I could use it somehow. Ding! A lightbulb went on in my head. I could use the material to make a cover for a body pillow. I made it just like you would a no sew Blanket, you know, the ones where you tie knots around the edges. I had a yard of the owl fabric and bought a yard of green fabric. I unfolded the cuts of fabric and put the pillow in the middle of the two pieces. I cut the strips one at a time, tying them in a knot, and did this working my way around the pillow. It may not be the official way to do such a project but looking at the pictures below I think it turned out pretty cute!

 I plan on putting this pillow on top of my four crates that I have turned sideways as a bench and storage.

I still need to attach the cushion, but I wanted to go ahead and get the picture on here. I spray painted two buckets.  The plastic owl material came from JoAnns. It is a little pricey, so make sure you have the half off coupon. I like the idea of plastic material- easier to clean!

Once again, the seats are not yet finished, but here is my pinterest inspired listening center!

Thanks again Pinterest! Here is the popular 2 filing cabinets made into a magnet center pin! Looks like I need to straighten out the border a little.

The beginnings of my word wall!