Valentine's Surprise

I am so excited for Valentine's day tomorrow!  My students get so amped up for every little holiday and I love seeing the joy on their faces when they get to celebrate at school.  It's one of the parts of my job that I just feel so lucky about.  I always like to get my students a few little goodies for each holiday and I've discovered a wonderful secret weapon.  I have fallen in love with...the dollar store!  Costs can add up quick when you have a classroom full of students to shop for, so when the holidays rolled around I thought I would check out some options.  I went to the dollar store to see if they had some small holiday decor items, I thought for sure they would have to have some gift bags of some sort.  To my surprise, they had everything!  I'm talking EVERYTHING!!!  I was able to get gift bags, pencils, erasers, and some small little candies for under ten dollars!  I was  a little nervous that the students would not be excited about them, but when they came bouncing in my room on the last day before break they were squealing with happiness.  It was confirmed after we got back from break when a student who had been absent when I gave out the treats came back to find hers waiting on her desk.  One of the other kiddos quickly told her, "You're going to love it, it's the coolest thing!"

At that moment I decided the dollar store would be my go first stop for large volume purchases.  As Valentine's Day approached I was hoping to myself that they would have just as good of a selection as they did during the holidays.  Lucky me, they sure did!  I was able to find some cute valentines, pencils, stickers, suckers, and some cute bags to package them up.  I can't wait until the morning when I get to see their grins when they walk in to find them waiting on their desks.  

Here is a little preview of the loot and the packaging.  My go-to dollar store is Dollar Tree.  There is another dollar store close by but I haven't had much luck there.  My advice is to scope out the different dollar stores around you and don't give up if one is not promising. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

P.S. They also have an amazing selection of plastic bins...you can NEVER have enough plastic bins!