Thrifty Thursday: I Need a Life

Because it's summer and I have no life, I have TOO many things to share in one "Thrifty Thursday" post!  I've been a regular at the local Dollar Stores.  Yesterday I even got the, "You're back again!?" from the Dollar Tree cashier.  Embarrassing?  To most people.  Not me.  I think I should get an award.  But that's neither here nor there.  Today I'm going to post my most recent purchases from dollar stores and how I intend to use them.  But please read to the end today because I need your help coming up with creative ideas on some precious finds that I just don't know what to do with. So, here we go...

These plates and bowls not only go with my Seuss theme, but they're currently at the Target Dollar Spot!  Woo hoo!  I decided to make a little phonics center activity.  This is one I am calling "Horton Here's an 'oo'"  Get it!?  I'm pretty proud of that one ;)  It's really simple.  Basically, I printed a bunch of pictures.  They go in the bowl.  The ones that have "oo" in them go on the plate.  The ones that don't, get discarded.  Then they can record the oo words on the recording sheet I made.  (Really simple, I made a table in Microsoft Word and added a Horton clipart from Google Images).  Done.  I also got a Yertle the Turtle set, One Fish Two Fish set, and Cat in the Hat set.  I think I'll make the exact same game only using bossy r (Yertle the Turtle), sh/th/ch/wh (One Fish, Two Fish), and CVC words (Cat in the Hat).  So simple.  But these cute little pieces make the center activity seem that much more fun!

I'm in LOVE with this one.  I also found these cardboard coasters in the Dollar Spot at Target, leftover from the summer BBQ themed stuff.  I created a math game for the sums 7, 8, 9, and 10.  I put each of those numbers on a piece of bread/bun.  Then I put a bunch of equations on the toppings.  They have to make a complete sandwich by finding all of the toppings that add up to the correct sum.  I tested it on a girl I'm tutoring this summer and she loved it.  She asked to play it twice!  That's a good sign.  I'm HOPING that some of you can find these little cuties in your Target Dollar Spot!  The possibilities are endless!  And now I want a hamburger.

As if it could even get any cuter, I remembered that LAST year, the Target Dollar Spot had these Dr. Seuss sandwich containers.  I bought them and didn't really use them for anything.  But how PERFECT is it for my sandwich math game!?  I think I was entirely TOO excited when I remembered I had it AND when everything fit just right.  It may or may not have been the best thing that happened to me that day. 

But wait, there's more!!  These cardboard squares were placed in between each sandwich topping in the package they came in.  So...I decided to turn them into little hundreds chart puzzles.  I like these puzzles because not every piece is there.  They have to use their number sense and problem solving to place the numbers in the correct position.  I was able to make two of these puzzles.  And boom a perfect "Early Bird Work" idea!  AND I found some cute teeny tiny red containers at Dollar Tree for them to be stored in! 

This is by NO MEANS my original idea.  I got the idea from Pinterest and just Seussed it up/came up with a cute title.  It's so easy.  Take some envelopes and seal them (bleh!).  Cut off the left side.  Write a bunch of CVC words on index cards with the letters slightly spaced  out.  Now they can pull the index card out slowly and blend the word to figure it out!  Easy cheesy.  I noticed I could see the letters through the thin white envelope so I decided to find some Dr. Seuss clip art.  I found the cute Thing 1 and Thing 2 graphic so I decided to call it "Blend With a Friend" and it fit together perfectly.  Now I just have to (read: want to) laminate the envelopes and re-slice them open so they look nicer and last a little longer. :)

And last...I got these puppies yesterday at Dollar Tree!  These tiny little trash cans have been around for years, but for $1 each, I decided to get one for each of my desk clusters.  When we're working on cut and paste activities, we'll put these trash cans out and they can put their trash directly in here instead of getting up to throw stuff away constantly.  I got the idea originally from Pinterest.  The teacher used "trash buckets."  But if anything is in miniature size I can't resist, so these cute little trash cans didn't have a chance!

 Now, here's where I want your help...Dollar Tree has these precious little cutouts of two things that go together.  I've already purchased ones that look like bread with peanut butter and jelly and bees with honey.  I numbered each with a number 1-12.  I'll use them to partner my kiddos.  The person with the #4 bee is going to be partners with the person with the #4 honey pot, etc.  

Then, the store got a new stash of these sets.  I realized I didn't need to use them all for partnering, but I'm trying to think of a creative use for them! I used some of the milk/cookies to match a main idea with some supporting details.  But I am just stuck with any other good ideas. Help! 

Are there any other good buys out there? Share your thoughts and great finds!