bean counters!

I love a wooden Mancala board for sorting small items in the classroom. I think we have two or three in the classroom as they are easily found at the thrift stores. Here, we popped a handful of mixed beans into the large well, along with one of each in the small wells. Yay for sorting!

jewelry boxes in the classroom

I have been wanting a jewelry box for our classroom and it has taken me awhile to find one. I found this gentleman's jewelry box/valet at the thrift store for a dollar. Thrift stores are excellent resources for finding fun small boxes. You might also have luck at local estate or garage sales. While I do wish the mirror was still intact I think the drawer with all the cubbies is enough to entice the kiddos to explore.

The spring themed erasers are from Target's Dollar Spot and the acrylic flowers came from a local craft store. I set out these originally to go along with a spring theme we had been exploring in the classroom.

Of course...the drawers are not only for trinkets and such. Just about anything can be crammed into the wee spaces!

best two dollars I have ever spent!

Sometime last summer I wandered into our Goodwill Outlet and came out with a bag full of old school curlers. I had the vague notion that they would be fun sensory bin items for the preschool. It wasn't until I switched schools and had my own classroom that I thought to bring them in.

 

Before I dumped them onto our train table, they got a good soak in the sun then a spin in the washing machine. Now they were as good s new!

We played with the curlers for two weeks. I sorted out all of the purple curlers and we talked about all of the little blues yellows, and greens we had to play with.

 

The children sorted them by color and/or size, stacked them up, made designs and patterns, lined them up and blew them over.

The following week, the purple curlers were added as well as a couple of jump ropes for lacing.

 

Best two smackeroos I have ever spent!