Fall Fun Dollar Store Deals to Engage Your Kiddos

This post has some fun ideas for using dollar store finds to engage your kiddos! There are also 2 free printables ready to go!


The dollar spots are full of fun things for Fall! Here are a few find from this week.

Love the note pads for write the room.
The tins are great to store games.

The glasses are fun for read the room. I always have a “light” on my teaching table. If I have it turned on, then the kids know not to interrupt me. Love the pumpkin light. I love the felt stickers for sticker stories. I give the kids a sticker to use in their illustrations. Then, they write a story to match their illustration.

Love these trick or treat bags. I used a piece of velcro to attach a picture on the front. They are going to sort small toys or picture cards into the bags. In this case, it is 2 different games. Day 1, have children find all the pictures or toys that start like pig and put them in the bag. Day 2, have the children find all the pictures that end like ant and put them in the bat bag.
Loved these pot holders in the target dollar spot. I added wiggly eyes and a pom pom nose. Now I can use the pumpkins (I made 5) to act out the Five Little Pumpkins song. The apple is for the Way Up High in an Apple Tree poem.

Found these clear plastic pumpkins in Target, too. The game boards are from my Math Attack pack. Instead of using the pumpkin clip art I am going to use these.

Target also has the clear plastic leaves and acorns.
This mummy box is so flippin cute!  I walked around with it in my hand for a while so I could think of what I could do with it. So here’s what I came up with:
1. Put a given numeral of bandaides in the box. Put the kids in a circle and pass the box around while you play music. When the music stops, whomever is holding the box, spills the bandaides and counts them. This is great for practicing cardinality. After they count them, ask “So how many bandaides are in the box?”  If they look at you and say the number, then they have cardinality. If they count again, they don’t. Cardinality means that the last number said tells how many are in the group.
2. Here’s another game. Decide if you want to play how many to make a 5 or how many to make a ten. Count out that many bandaides. Put some of them in the box and put the lid on. Now put the rest on the table. The children have to figure out how many are in the box by looking at how many are on the table. Is it too hard for them? Then use a 5’s frame or a 10’s frame to help them build that mental image.

They also had this Frankenstein box! So you can play the same games using the bolts.
Grab the recording pages for the Mummy’s Bandages and Frankenstein’s Nuts and Bolts at the bottom of this blog post.