6 Dollar Tree Items to Use as Props

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 One of my absolute favorite things about working with children is the fun and creativity that I get to have as their therapist/teacher. I love taking ideas presented in music therapy songs as well as scenes presented in piano lesson books and making them come to life— not only with music but also with tangible items. And to think that many ideas can come to life with the purchase of Dollar Tree items! Here are a few of my— as well as client— favorites…. 

1. Bath Toys/Net

. “Octopus” (also known as “Slippery Fish”) by Charlotte Diamond is a favorite children’s song whether they mimic hand motions or hold representational bath toy animals during the song. Personally, I chose to purchase the toy animals ($1.25 each, these just happen to be Finding Nemo but you can use any fish toys) as well as a butterfly net ($1.25 for a pack of 3). I store the toys in the net and during the intervention, simply hold out the net for the child to choose 1 animal at a time. Total Cost: $2.50 Therapeutic Goal Ideas: 

  • Vocalization (animal sounds/“glub”)
  • Color identification
  • Animal identification
  • Impulse-control/sharing (group setting)

2. Frog Toys

“Five Green & Speckled Frogs” is another children’s classic that primarily focuses on counting. I typically use a turned-over drum as our “pool” and have the child add 1 toy frog to the “pool” as it is counted. (Note: Sold as a set of 3, for $1.25 each). Total Cost: $2.50! Therapeutic Goal Ideas:

  • Counting
  • Vocalization
  • Impulse-control/sharing (group setting)

3. Play Doh & Wooden Beads

                           “Cookie Dough” is a fun activity in My First Piano Adventure - Lesson Book A (pg. 17) that has been designed to focus on teaching firm fingertips. The writers encourage students to pretend to push chocolate chips into cookie dough. They also focus on having students correctly number fingers. Initially just for fun, I bought 1 pack of Play-Doh ($3) and 1 strand of wooden beads ($1.25)  for my students to have a tangible visual for this activity. However, considering the fact that I primarily work with children who have disabilities, I also use this activity to focus on strengthening finger dexterity. Total Cost: $4.25! Therapeutic Goal Ideas:

  • Strengthening finger dexterity

 Music Lesson Goal Ideas:

  • Finger number identification
  • Hand differentiation (right vs left)

4. Dry Erase Dice

 While working with a student on correctly pairing clefs with hands, I came up with a game in which I drew treble and bass clefs on a dry erase dice. I then had my student roll the dice and play a few piano notes using their corresponding hand. These can be used for so many games as well! Total Cost: $1.25! Music Lesson Goal Ideas:

  • Musical sign identification
  • Letter identification of string names/piano keys

5. Pencil Topper Erasers

While working with another student on correctly identifying groups of 3 black keys versus 2 black keys, I purchased a package of brightly colored pencil-topper erasers and gave erasers of 2 colors to my student to label black key groups (1 color for groups of 2 black keys and a different color for groups of 3 black keys). I later started incorporating these erasers into interventions focused on piano key letter identification, as well as scale patterns, and accidental visuals. Total Cost: $1.25! Music Lesson Goal Ideas:

  • Piano key identification
  • Piano black-key grouping
  • Scale pattern visual
  • Accidental visual

6. Fly Swatter

A few years ago, I spent an evening with my childhood piano teacher assembling several music theory games printed offline. In fact, just that afternoon, I had an interview for my music therapy internship. One of the primary focuses of my internship was working with children in adapted piano lessons. I use these assembled games every week! They are a favorite part of many lessons for my students! One game, “Fly Swat,” is used to practice staff note reading. A pictured fly “holds” a staff note on each card. (Note: Sold in a pack of 2) Total Cost: $1.25! Music Lesson Goal Ideas:

  • Staff note matching
  • Staff note identification

 Other supplies/toys that are generally great to buy at Dollar Tree:

  • books (sometimes you can find some real gems, as far as children’s books goes!)
  • bubbles
  • chalk
  • stickers (great if you use them for rewards for your students or to help track practice goals!)
  • stuffed animals

  What fun & affordable props do you like to use? Comment below to let us know!

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