A few years ago I was asked to lead a conference at a preschool leadership event: "Teaching from the Dollar Store and Dumpster." The conference focused on making your own teaching resources from inexpensive or recyclable materials. I have always made resources or repurposed items for use in my preschool or kindergarten classroom. But this particular conference has sent me on a journey to D.S.D.D. or Dollar Store/Dumpster Disorder. I now look at any item and begin thinking "How could I use that in my classroom? What could my kids do with that?" It happens with pieces of laminate or the odd packing piece in a shipping container. It happens in the kitchen gadget section of any store. It happens a lot in Walmart and at random sites online.
In the grocery store the other day I saw a kitchen sink drain strainer (or whatever you call it). I immediately began thinking: "What could we do with that? What if we put that on a piece of paper and painted over it? What if we dipped that into paint and pressed it on a piece of paper?"
And that's when I realize it. I am a sick man.
This photo from Amazon.com is similar to what I saw in the store. (Now you can have your own fantasies of using it in a classroom!)
