The 10 Things I Always Purchase at Dollar Tree

Although I love Dollar Tree seasonal products, these are the 10 products I purchase regularly from Dollar Tree to use for kids crafts and activities. I go about once a month for a restock. Next time you are near a Dollar Tree, pop in and check them out!

1.Balloons

When I first became a parent, one of the best pieces of advice I received was to always keep a ready supply of balloons. When we travel, I toss a few in my luggage, and I have an activity for the hotel or AirBnb. It's true- I keep a few balloons in my First Aid Kit (because let's face it, tantrums need remedies), and these offer 30 minutes of entertainment while you unpack. My kids will toss these up, chase them, and play keep away. Easy, simply, lightweight, and cheap.

Other Ideas for Balloons:

*Hot Lava Game

*Write review letters, numbers, or shapes in permanent marker on the balloon. As you toss it, look where your fingers land and review by shouting it out. (Example: A and C!)

2. Shower Curtain

I make a lot of sensory bins and a shower curtain is the simplest way to contain the mess. These shower curtains can lay under any table, tub, or bin. They are waterproof and take nothing to clean. When play is finished just roll up and shake outside, hang it on the banister to let it dry, then ball it up and store in my laundry room for the next time.

Other Ideas for a Shower Curtain:

*Using a clear shower curtain, hang up outside on the fence or place on the ground and use as a painting canvas. Add in spray bottles.

*Keep stashed in the car for a quick and easy cover for on the go picnics (you can use over grass as a blanket or on a picnic table as a tablecloth)

3. Shaving Cream

Shaving cream is my kids' most requested sensory base. Their favorite way to play with shaving cream is to squirt it on our art tray and use their fingers. Sometimes we will add little figurines or food coloring, or couple it with a winter book and pretend it's snow.

Other Ideas for Shaving Cream:

*Marble Art- Place shaving cream and a little food coloring in tray. Use your fingers or a toothpick to mix and swirl. Lay a sheet of cardstock or other sturdy paper on top of the tray, making sure to press down lightly, covering as much of the paper with cream as possible. Lift up and lay flat, then scrape the paper with a squeegee or ruler. Once it dries, it makes beautiful abstract art.

*Puffy Paint - equal parts white glue + shaving cream

4. Gems

My 4 year old loves having little collection. He will put these gems in tiny containers or inside Magna-Tiles cubes and they have been all kinds of imaginary things. Most recently, they created a "force field" and no one could touch him since he had the gems. I think that's the best thing about this "toy" - there is no set way to play with them. Creativity reigns here.

Other Ideas for Gems:

*Play Doh add-ins

*Use in sensory bins (use different colors; for example, I use the blue for water and the clear for snow)

*Use for counters

*Patterns

5. Googly Eyes

Dollar Tree carries a pretty good variety of sizes of googly eyes. You can get medium sized ones, small ones, and even different colors. We use these most with art projects. When we create character art, my kids will use these to make their creations look more realistic.

Other Ideas for Googly Eyes:

*In a Sensory Bin with water or dyed spaghetti (especially works during Halloween!)

*As counters

*Use various sizes to work on size discrimination

6. Clothespins

I use clothespins for all of our pantry bags, but I also purchased them to use with our Word Wall (regular clothespins) and Weatherboard (mini clothespins). You can find both those tutorials here on the blog.

Other Ideas for Clothespins:

*Clip Cards (use for beginning letter sounds, shape recognition, rhyming words)

*Work on fine motor skills with toddlers - give them a bowl of clothespins, and they can scoop and transfer pompoms

*Use a marker to mark the clothespins a variety of colors. Have child match the clothespins to to different swatches or playscarves

7. Scoops

Dollar Tree has a wide assortment of kitchen tools for little hands. They have smaller sized whisks, tongs, and even colanders. I love their cups like these as they come in various sizes and are plastic. We keep some in our play kitchen, in the sensory bin, in our sandbox and dirt pit.

Other Ideas for Scoops:

*Learning about measurement

*Cooking/baking with kids

*Size discrimination

*Bath/water play

*Pouring/transferring skills

8. Eggs

Of course these are more widely used at Easter, but I actually love using eggs for matching activities. I'll cut a sticker and place one half on each. I've always written on the eggs upper and lower case letters for. matching.

Other Ideas for Eggs:

*Sensory bin tool

*In reward bin to hold little candies/stickers

*Add rice or beans, hot glue and use as a music shaker

*Color sorting (add same color pom pom to egg and close)

9. Stickers

As a former teacher, I acquired a ton of stickers and wasn't sure what to do with them. I had a huge drawer I was going to toss. But after some trial and error, I've learned how to use them for some of our morning activities, which are little activities I lay out for Declan in the morning as I make breakfast.

Other Ideas for Stickers:

*Use for counters

*Tracing (draw the line and child traces over with sticker, early pre-writing skills)

*Collages

*Matching -cut in half and placed on Magna-Tiles or placed on 2 sides of a paper, draw lines to match

*Rewards for potty training

10. Popsicle Sticks

Strangely, on my last visit to Dollar Tree they did not have any popsicle sticks, but this has never happened before. I always pick up a pack of these as we use them often. My favorite way to use them is as a "loose part" meaning I will put them in the play kitchen, sensory bin, or playdoh tray and my kids will play with them in their own way.

Other Uses for Popsicle Sticks

*As a puzzle (you can print a picture, cut it and place on popsicle sticks to put in order)

*For popsicles or making ice or "mud" pops you can paint with

*For use with crafts making frames, houses, mini goals, trees

*Glue different textures on the end and babies can explore (rough, smooth, soft, bumpy)

*Creating shapes

*Letter matching

*In posting activities for younger toddlers, for example, cutting slits into an oatmeal container and allowing them to push the stick through