6 Yard Sale Bargains For New Teachers

In the summer, yard sales are everywhere.  As a new teacher, yard sales (also called garage sales) are exactly what you need to fill your classroom shelves and spaces efficiently and inexpensively.

The next time you are tempted to drive by that yard/garage sale, slow down and make sure they aren’t selling any of these items that you will likely need for your classroom:

1. Games. Games are a great garage sale find because they don’t have to be fully intact to be useful. Gameboards can be easily modified to fit whatever content you are teaching as a review activity.  The dice and spinners can be separated from the game for many classroom activities and as a grouping tool. While most games teach a skill or two, if you are lucky, you will find a game that serves a clear academic purpose.  Boggle can be a perfect station for spelling.  Zingo! provides picture cues to accompany words for your early readers and Mancala makes even those of us who love mathematic problems stretch our thinking.

2. Puzzles. Puzzles are the perfect indoor recess activity for students of any age. In addition, puzzles serve to enhance motor skills for our youngest learners. Puzzles also offer a creative way to form groups.  Pick six connecting pieces from each corner, break them off, mix them up, distribute one to each member of the class, and then have the students find their group members by searching out others with conjoining pieces.  If you think out of the box, there are also many other uses for puzzles in your classroom.

3. Puppets. Although not as easy to find as puzzles or games, it is not uncommon to find puppets at garage sales. When purchased new, puppets can be pricey.  However, at yard sales they are often affordable.  Don’t shy away from puppets that look “overly loved.”  Although they might look a bit shabby to you, there is some quality about that puppet that made some child love it so much.  Could your students feel the same?  Puppets have several uses in a classroom depending on the age of your students.  From the basic chef puppet that reads the lunch menu each morning, to the cat and mouse puppets that can be used to teach about dialogue, we think you can find a classroom use for even the most interesting yard sale puppets.

4. Carpet squares. If you are fortunate enough to come across these at a yard sale, grab them and run. If they are still at the yard sale, it means a more veteran teacher hasn’t been to the yard sale yet. Carpet squares provide much more comfort when sitting on hard classroom floors.  Plus, they create perfect boundaries for students when working on the floor and are easily transportable by the students themselves.

5. Furniture for flexible seating. Grab those bean bags, director’s chairs, and butterfly chairs with neon green faux fur. All of these and more are most likely waiting for you at the yard sale around the corner. They are inexpensive, easy to move, and will be a hit with your students. Most likely your students will give you credit for picking out such a “cool polka-dotted bean bag” for the reading corner.  You don’t have to tell them that your 12 year-old neighbor actually purchased the chair and you just bought it from her for $3 at the yard sale.

6. Books.  Books are teacher goldmines just waiting to be explored at yard sales. Lucky for you, parents love to buy books for their kids. When the kids grow up, the parents pick a few favorites to keep and the rest are yours for the taking at their next garage sale.   You will be surprised how quickly you can build a classroom library just by attending yard sales.  We know you may be hesitant to buy so many used books because your vision of a classroom library is filled with shiny new books.  However, trust us when we say that the favorites will be lovingly battered and bruised by November.  The garage sale books just got a bit of a head start.

We also advise you to watch your local ads.  Experienced garage salers will advertise by stating specific items they will be selling.  If you see any of the items on the above list in the advertisement, hop in your car and head over.  Also, if you see an ad that says it is a teacher hosting the garage sale, ask your parents for your birthday money early because that is a sale you don’t want to miss!

For a list of the teacher books we recommend you try to find at yard sales this summer, sign up for our guide entitled 25 Great Books About Teachers that Every Teacher Should Read.

Happy Bargain Hunting,