Budget Montessori: Thrifting Montessori

I love walking around thrift stores and enjoy the excitement of finding a real treasure every once in a while.  Since I’m already in the habit of strolling around thrift stores, I'm naturally always on the look out for items to use in my classroom. Here are a few of the things that I keep my eyes open for:

1. Baking Pans – Baking pans come in a wide variety of sizes, quantities, shapes and materials. Look for smaller muffin pans, silicone baking pans and shaped cake pans.

2. Trays – I never seem to have enough trays in my classroom, so I’m always on the lookout for cheap or interesting trays to add to my collection. I really love bamboo trays and frequently find them at thrift stores for way less than they'd cost online or at Pier One!

3. Baskets – Again, I’m always in need of storage in my classroom and baskets are a great option! I keep my eye out for heavy duty rectangular baskets used with casserole dishes, large baskets for blocks and small baskets for little pieces. 

4. Utensils - whisks, spoons, cheese knives, juicers, melon ballers, hand-crank eggbeaters, citrus juicers, garlic presses, hand-crank food mills... the list of options goes on and on.

5. Candy Molds – Candy molds are usually made from clear plastic and come in a HUGE variety of shapes and sizes. I just recently started noticing these little plastic molds are pretty popular at the thrift store and are so cheap. I use them with colored water & droppers or with play dough.

6. Cookie Cutters – I rotate my collection of cookie cutters through our classroom during the year and I’m always looking for new ones. Small cookie cutters work great on trays with play dough. They can also be traced, dipped in paint and stamped and used with sand or dirt.

7. Teapots/Creamers/Pitchers -  Since I frequently switch out my pouring activities, I like to have lots of options to keep it fresh. The thrift store is great for finding lots of cheap little creamers, pitcher and teapots. I once even found a cute little sake set for pouring! 

8. Silver, Brass & Wooden Knickknacks – for polishing

9. Ice Cube Trays – all shapes and sizes! I have a growing collection of ice cube trays in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors that are perfect for tweezing, tonging, transferring and one-to-one correspondence activities.

10. Musical Instruments - Look for bells, wind chimes, drums... etc.

BONUS Ideas!

11. Books - Thrift stores are a great place to find lots of amazing books for a great price. Don't forget to look beyond the kid's book section for great non-fiction books about plants, animals and other topics. Check out my post about finding cheap books HERE for more ideas!

12. Toys & Games - I've found so many great games for my classroom in the toy section of my local thrift stores. It seems that the more educational games that are perfect for classroom use turn up at the thrift store often - maybe they weren't a hit at home!

10 Ways to Build a Classroom Library on a Budget

It's no secret that teachers don't make tons of money and that they often spend their own cash to purchase classroom supplies. I can't even tell you how much of my own money goes into my classroom each year - I really should be keeping track to deduct it from my taxes, but that's an entirely different post!

Over the years, I've acquired quite a collection of children's literature, amassing 20+ file boxes of books and miscellaneous teaching materials - It's a total mess right now since our move this past summer. I would love to have it all organized beautifully on bookshelves... but it looks like this right now:

My husband HATES this collection and is constantly pestering me to get rid of some of them. I repeatedly defend my ever growing collection by try to explain that being a teacher is a close cousin of having a hoarding problem...However, I am not actually a hoarder.  Teachers just keep anything and everything that they think might be useful in their classroom...  over the next 25 years!

Back to the classroom library... So how have a created an extensive classroom library without going desperately broke?! The majority of my books have been acquired cheaply through donations, thrift stores, yard sales and school book clubs. You’d be surprised at what you might find when you make the effort to look through the stacks of books at your local thrift store or who might donate books once they know you’re a teacher trying to stock your classroom without breaking the bank.

When building your classroom library, I personally think that there are two primary challenges: knowing where to look and knowing what to look for (I'll get to my thoughts on this in another post). 

Where to Look:

1. Thrift Stores - Check out your local thrift stores for a wide selection of used children’s books a low prices – often between $.25-$2.00 each. Don’t limit yourself to just the Goodwill or Salvation Army Store, but checkout smaller thrift stores and look for lesser-known shops. Consider the area that the thrift shop is located in; some of  my best finds  have come from thrift stores located near upscale neighborhoods!

2. Consignment Sales/Stores - Consignment stores can be a good place to find books for your classroom. Often the books at consignment stores are in better condition than thrift stores, as they have to meet certain standards to be accepted for consignment. Prices at consignment stores are often a little higher than thrift stores, but still very reasonable. 

3. Yard Sales/Garage Sales/Flea Markets - Yard sale season is coming up soon! A quick outing on a Saturday morning can be very productive for a motivated teacher. I usually mention that I’m a teacher while I’m searching through a seller's books and often they'll end up being extra generous with their pricing once they know that you’re a broke teacher trying to stock your classroom. I've even had sellers simply hand over boxes of books for free just to get rid of them and know that they'll be used again!

4. Freecycle.org - Freecycle groups are located all over the United States and are specific to cities and regions. You can find a local Freecycle group by simply using Google to search your state & city. Individuals post items that they want to get rid of or items that they’re seeking to the group and people respond via email to claim, pick up and offer items. Books are usually offered as a ‘lot’ and can sometimes be poor quality and selection, but whatever you don’t want can always be Freecycled again or donated to a local thrift shop after you’ve picked through them.

5. Amazon Used Books - I absolutely love Amazon used books! You can find just about any book that you’re searching for and usually pay only a few dollars for the book - often $.01 plus shipping! I have rarely had problems with the quality of the books, but shipping is usually media mail and can take several weeks to arrive.

6. Craigslist.org - Craigslist is a great place to find things for your classroom. Sometimes retiring teachers will post their items for sale on the site and you could score a huge lot of teaching materials for cheap. Books are often offered as a 'lot,' but since you can see the items before paying for them, you'll be more likely to get books that you can actually use. 

7. Library Sales - When the library clears out extra books, they usually offer them for purchase at a very cheap price. You might be surprised what the library is getting rid of! 

8. eBay - Often times, books can be purchased cheaply by 'lot' on ebay. If you take a little time to search through postings, you might find a seller that organizes book lots by age/reading level and/or type of book. Some sellers will even take special requests and create a custom book box for you. Don't be afraid to ask! 

9. School Book Clubs - Book clubs offered through school are a great way to purchase new books at low prices. I usually save my money for special collections of books based on seasonal theme, author or audio books. When the book order flyer arrives, I feel like a little kid with a pen and a toy catalogue! You might even earn points from all of the books that your students purchase that can be applied to purchases for your classroom! 

10. Warehouse Sales - If you have a Scholastic warehouse nearby (they're located all over the country), it's absolutely worth making a drive for their warehouse sales that they throw every few months. New books can be purchased for a couple of dollars and the selection is pretty good. Make sure that you go on one of the first days of the sale for the best selection! 

BONUS!

11. Social Media - Why not harness the full power of your social media accounts?! Post a request for gently used books that would be suitable for your classroom and see what people have to offer. Who knows, you might get a huge donation from someone who was cleaning out their kids' old books! You might also look for people who are selling books on social media - this is relatively new, but there are many used book sellers on Instagram that offer hard to find books, in good condition and many will even take requests. Two of my favorite book sellers on IG are @togetherweread @retroriotreads

Any places that I left off of my list?