Some New Favorite Things!

I love good deals.  If you're like me, on a teacher's budget, we're always trying to find the next best thing for our classrooms at a great price.   Here are a few of my recent finds!

When I'm on a mission for new things, one of the first stops I make is the famous dollar bins at Target.  My heart skips a few beats just looking at all the little treasures to be found in all that chaos :)

  

Manipulatives are always needed for staff and rhythm activities.  I generally use these with 1st-3rd, but sometimes my 4th and 5th graders enjoy them  too.  This time I grabbed some cupcakes, owls, and robots (for the boys!)  Usually I work out my storage issues with something back in the classroom I already have, but then I stumbled upon these cool plastic boxes.  I love them because they stack nicely on top of each other, and I can actually see what's in them.

 My next trip led me to the Dollar Tree-a teacher's playground when it comes to plastic containers.  So, I found these cute little drawer boxes.  To keep my crayons and pencil erasers in an orderly fashion, this will be perfect for the kids to go grab what they need, then simply slide the drawer back in.  Glue sticks would work well in there too, for those fun music projects we do every once in a while.  Teacher desk organizers?  Oh yes....perfect.

 Another Dollar Tree find.  I hand out tickets for positive behavior in class, then draw for pencils every two weeks.  I was using some large buckets that were taking up too much space and weren't really that cute.  These little things were the perfect size for my shelving and the kids enjoy seeing their tickets inside.  Speaking of tickets.  Did you know Dollar Tree sold tickets?  I didn't until I found these.  I think there were 250 for $1.  I usually order the big rolls at the beginning of the year and pay much more, but these will get me through until school is out in June.  A great quick fix!

 Last, but not least.  These are some of my fave new munchies.  Nature Valley has these new nut crisp bars.  YUM!  My lunch is really late this year, so I grab one mid-morning to get my energy level back up.  They are scrum-diddly-umtious and packed with all kinds of nuts, including sunflower seeds.  Mmmmm.  My all time favorite is the dark chocolate pomegranate candies.  If you haven't tried them yet, then you just haven't lived.  These are my "go to" snack right after lunch.  About six or seven of them make me very, very happy:)  Let me know what you think!

What kind of bargains are you finding lately?

 

A Super-Sweet Deal!

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those who always looks for a bargain when I'm out shopping.  As a music teacher, my head is on the constant swivel for little treasures that I can bring into my classroom.  Target has some of the coolest dollar bins around, so I just happened upon some cute little pumpkins and erasers when I was out yesterday.

 

Of course, I could not pass up these great little "finds."  They will work perfectly for my little ones who are practicing high/low and sol/mi.  I'll just whip out my handy dandy staves and let the kids have fun with manipulatives.  

If I put some erasers inside each pumpkin, the students will enjoy their little jack-o-lantern carrier and the fun "treats" inside.  Yea!  I can't wait to try this fun activity.  Something else I might try is using the erasers on a beat sheet.  One could represent a "ta" and two could stand for "titi."  Oh the possibilities are endless.

In other news, I am currently working on a candy corn activity to use with my older students.  Be on the lookout over the next couple of days for it to be available.  It'll be free on TpT for the first day.  Follow me on Facebook for notifications!

 

 

And so Halloween begins on this Music-Go-Round!