Dollar Tree Hacks: Tempera Cakes Container

I love Dollar Tree!  So many great things that can be used in the art room.  I think my Cumberland University students think I'm secretly working for Dollar Tree because I'm a walking advertisement! You share what you love, right?!?! 

I purchased these muffin tins from Dollar Tree about 2 yrs ago.  They are the perfect size for the tempera cakes I have in my classroom.  I have one for primary & one for secondary colors.  They are compact in size.  Both trays will fit in the center of their table, and still leave plenty of room for students to work. The trays I saw online for the tempera cakes was much more expensive, and my school budget would not allow me to purchase those. 

Too Big Erasers

When the back to school sales started...I found these amazing large erasers at Wal-Mart for .20 a piece!  They were bright green & blue...which are the colors of my room this year.  HAD TO GET THEM!  I though that the larger size would be great because they'd last longer.  

However...there are some issues with them!  

Here is the eraser beside a standard eraser I have in my classroom.  They aren't the jumbo ones like you find at Dollar Tree, but they are about an inch larger than the standard ones.  The problem is that they they are soft & bendable....and a bit larger than small hands seem to be able to manipulate easily. I've seen many of my younger artists struggle.  This is not what I wanted!!  Erasing should not be a struggle for them.  

I saw a few of the teachers buying the large jumbo erasers from Dollar Tree cutting them down into 4 to 6 erasers.  I decided cutting my erasers in half would probably be enough to make them easier to manage!  Here is hoping!