teacher freebies?

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ok i work in a small daycare. they just opened pretty recently so theres not alot of extra money. I teach 1-6 year olds in a night care program (5-11:30 pm) and also team teach with the 4 year old teacher. We are working together to improve our classrooms and make it a better learning center for our children. Anyone have any links for freebies that we could get? We really need some stuff for our sciene and music area and could use some posters for our very bare red walls!! Any links would be great! Thanks in advance from two very poor inner city teachers!

 

[StephMK]

There are some great blogs and websites out there but I'm not sure about specifically free things.

Check your local CL for teacher postings. Sometimes I see posts from teachers who are exiting the profession and selling or giving away classroom things.

Scholastic has semi annual sales with really low prices. I bought a bunch of posters and bulletin borders last spring for $1 each.

I have gotten good tips by attending local association workshops and seminars. For instance, I went to the NE Assn for Science teachers and heard wonderful speakers and got several giveaways there. A local museum holds a teacher fair once a year. Many presenters and exhibitors come with lots of giveaways and ideas for resources.

Pinterest and teacherspayteachers are good sites for online ideas. A-Zreading.com and superteacherworksheets.com have great ideas but are paid membership sites - $20 a year.

Here are some places where I have found good resources. There may be areas on the websites to request free materials sometimes.

-our local art museum has a monthly program for teachers, they give out free items. They also have trunks of materials that they rent out for free for a 2 week period. I got one on Egypt last year and the kids loved it!

-US Treasury - local office also had a rent a trunk and gave away free workbooks.

-US Soybean association - I ordered free coloring books and soy crayons from them.

_zoo - they usually have items for low prices or may donate to your cause

-National Geographic for Kids, Smithsonian, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago (neat interactive coral reef) are all sites where I have either found info or received items from them.

I know some of these might be for kids older than your little ones but it's still fun to check around and see what you can find. Hopefully this will lead you to some ideas in your local area. I would give exact links but my laptop with all my info fried so I haven't yet recreated all of my favorite places.

Good luck & have fun!! There are many low cost ideas out there!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I create and sell teaching resources. Two sites that I sell on are:
www.teacherspayteachers.com
www.teachersnotebook.com

These aren't links to my personal store on the sites. I am not trying solicit here!

Both sites have thousands and thousands of free resources as well as ones for sale. I am sure you could find a lot of stuff.

 

[Aliceacc]

I order lots of stuff from vistaprint.com Once you get on their mailing list, they're constantly offering freebies; you pay for shipping and handling.

 

[worm761]

Sign up at Donorschoose.org and ask for what you need. Anonymous donors will fund things for you. I put small amounts of money in my sister in laws account for things that she needs when I can.

 

[clori]

It is a bit early but keep an eye on sales at Staples in the summer usually starting the Sunday after July 4th for cheap school supplies. Ask what credentials you need and if there is a different quantity for teachers for the sales.