DIY Pretend Play Cleaning Caddy

I fell in love with this cute Melissa & Doug "Let's Play House" housekeeping caddy but just couldn't justify the $19.99 price.

 

 

 

After taking  a closer look, I realized I could put together my own cleaning caddy for just a few dollars! I LOVE how it turned out! Everything fits just right in the caddy and seems to be the perfect size for my preschoolers!

 

 

 

The orange plastic tote was last weekend's clearance find from the teacher goodies in Target's dollar spot but you might already have one around your house or classroom you could use. Items such as the plastic spray bottle, sponges, scrub wand, and mini broom can be found at Target or Dollar Tree. I had a package of microfiber cloths at home so I added one of those to the caddy, too.

 

 

 

 

The cleaning powder container was made from an empty cardboard salt box! It's the perfect size for the caddy and very sturdy. I simply covered the outside with construction paper and secured it with clear packing tape.

 

To complete my cleaning products, I made labels and adhered those with clear shipping tape.

 

The Homeliving/Dramatic Play Center is still under construction but I had to put the new Cleaning Caddy in there just to see how it looks! 

 

 

 

I can't wait for this year's youngsters to "clean" our classroom!

Target Tuesday

Looking for cute activities with hardly any teacher prep?

 

Here you go!  Everything you need is at Bulleye's Playground!

 

You'll want to pick up several of these plastic storage containers for this project.  They're available in a variety of colors and, of course, priced at only $1. I didn't really need these for storage purposes so I started thinking how I could use them in the classroom.

 

 

 

 

For a quick counting activity, you simply write numerals on small post it notes and place them in each section of the container.

 

 

 

 

Have your students use the Target erasers to count out how many.

 

I lucked up and found these adorable cat and dog erasers that I'm sure my kids will ❤ to use as math counters!

 

 

 

 

For a little alphabet fun, let's use these colorful magnetic letters!

 





 

 

All you have to do to prepare this activity is put the letters you're focusing on in the storage container. How's that for no teacher prep!

 

 

Your students will do the rest as they work on making a match with the lowercase letters!

 

 

How will you use your Target treasures?