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Every teacher loves the Dollar Store. I’ll say it again in bold- every teacher loves the Dollar Store. I don’t think our love for Dollar Stores can be emphasized enough. We will go into retirement forever professing our love for 99 cent classroom necessities and trinkets. We also know the things that should (and shouldn’t) be bought there. Storage containers? Yes. Candy? Yes. Small prizes? Yes. Crayons? Absolutely not. Pencils? Please stick with Ticonderoga. We know the ins and outs of what to buy there. But every now and then we find a hidden gem, something not originally meant as a teacher supply item, but hacked to be perrrrfect for classroom use. These palm tree cups were it for me. When I saw them, I KNEW they were meant to be paired with the classic book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
(Image from Amazon, but you’ll definitely want to get them from your nearest Dollar Store!)
If you haven’t read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, it’s a book about alphabet letters that climb up a coconut tree until the tree becomes too heavy and falls down. It’s a cute story with lots of ways to extend the book (see our DIY Chicka Chicka Boom Boom costume and sticky wall activity here!) For this story retelling scene I simple places the cup in a tray with alphabet stickers. My kids knew just what to do from there! I loved hearing them retell the story as they decorated the tree with the letters!
There’s not a whole lot of prep work to go along with this activity, which is a big reason we love it <3
Now that I stay at home to teach my kids, I only had to buy one cup. But if I was still teaching in the classroom, I’d think about buying one for each student and maybe letting them decorate the tree with their names. This would even make a great craft for a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom themed party!
How will you be using this idea? Are you planning a party or will you turn this into a preschool center? Let me know your ideas below!
What a cute idea! I love that book! My husband starts his job next week so we are going to need some more fun activities to do every day, and this one is perfect!
It’s such a cute Idea, Chelsea! We also filled it with smoothie later and had some alphabet cookies on the side for a fun themed snack!
This is such an awesome idea. What a great way to use an otherwise tacky dollar store cup. I always wonder who is buying these crazy cups, but now I’ll be the one!!
Right?! Now I look for all those tacky cups to see which we could use for learning fun!
Love this idea! I feel a strong urge to head to the dollar store and see if I can find these. 🙂