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Teach, Create, and Engage with Oriental Trading!

When Oriental Trading asked if they could send some goodies to review for the classroom, I was so very excited! I have been shopping with Oriental Trading for years now, and they are always my go-to online store when I am in need of cute, fun, and engaging supplies for my classroom, PD sessions, and even family parties.  When they told me I could even pick out my own goodies to review, I was so happy! In this post, I would love to share some of the things I picked out and how I plan on using them with students. 
Do you have these in your classroom yet? If you don’t, RUN and grab these babies! These neon dry erase sleeves are the perfect solution for center time – especially word work! I slipped my Word Family Warm-Up Sheets into these sleeves and it became an instant word work center for my kiddos. They can work on the printable, erase it, and it is instantly ready for the next student. These neon sleeves save me so much paper, kids love them, and they are perfect for the guided reading table. I love to use simple graphic organizers with them. We can work through the organizer as we read our small group story. This allows my kids to practice the skill, but they don’t feel like they are doing a “worksheet.” I can also reuse my graphic organizers over and over again, saving us time and resources. 
 These lanyards are perfect for ______________. <–Insert ANYTHING you can think of. I’m planning on using them for some really fun vocabulary activities. (I’ll be sharing lots of vocabulary activities with you this year! I worked on a ton of new vocabulary lessons with my first graders last year and I just haven’t had the time to share them all yet. Stay tuned!) I’m also planning on replacing the ribbon around my technology coach badges with these super soft, bright colored lanyards. (You can find my FREE technology coach badges by clicking here.)
These pocket dice are perfect for games and small group activities in the classroom. Oriental Trading has square cards that fit into the pockets. They have activities that are already created for these dice, or, you can design your own games. I see lots of sight word games in our future with these adorable dice!
Have I ever mentioned on my blog that I love all things organization? (That’s a joke. If you’ve ever visited my blog before, you know I’m o-b-s-s-e-s-s-e-d with organization.) These super bright index storage boxes are making me SO happy! I don’t know about you, but I always have tons of little small group activities and games. I NEVER know how to store all of it nicely. I’m planning on using these index boxes to re-organize my small group phonics games. I actually ordered two sets of these boxes. I am going to put my math cards, dry erase markers, and erasers for my Small Group Independent Math Games into these boxes, too. They will be the perfect size and much more colorful than the ones I currently have. 
Do you want to know something I haven’t told my husband  yet?! Next year I am planning on replacing ALL of my library baskets for my classroom. (Shhh!!! Haha, just kidding! He is always teasing me that I am re-vamping and re-doing my classroom decor every single year!) The ones I currently have are going to be NINE years old next year. I got them for $1.00 each at the Dollar Store when I landed my first teaching job. They are falling apart, cheap, and just plain OLD.  I have been searching and searching for the perfect baskets for my books.  When I say “search and searching,” I’m not exaggerating. I have even bought baskets and sent the back when I saw the size or the colors. When I saw these neon storage bins on the Oriental Trading website, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check them out.  They.are.perfect.  I love the option of the lids, and they are the ideal size for my bookshelves and small picture books. Plus, I am in LOVE with the bright neon colors. Right now, my bookshelves are painted blue. I’m planning on painting them black and adding these bright bins to my library. You can just imagine how happy my teacher heart is just thinking about it! These bins would also be great for classroom school supply storage, math manipulative, games, and center work. 
I have one last thing I would love to share with you! Oriental Trading has a Wish List feature on their website. It is SO very easy to use. You sign into your account, shop around, and add items you would love for your classroom to your wish list. Then, you can easily and quickly share the wish list with parents, your PTO, and other members of your school. I love this idea for Open House because teachers know exactly what they need for their rooms, and often it’s hard to share those items with parents who want to donate to the classroom. This makes it easy-cheesy for them to donate and purchase items you really want and can use with your students. 
You can find my own wish list by clicking HERE. It features all of the items I shared with you above, plus additional items I plan on using and picking up in the future! You can head over to Oriental Trading to set up your own wish list, and have it ready for your classroom newsletter, Back to School Night, or Open House!
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I hope you all have a wonderful week and that perhaps this blog post inspired you for some learning activities and engagement ideas of your own! 
Happy creating and learning,

Oriental Trading sent me the items described and shown in this blog post, in exchange for my personal opinions and review. I never endorse anything I would not personally use in my classroom. I’m happy to be able to share products and resources that I absolutely love with you! 🙂 -Christina

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