A Thrifty Find My Students Love!

One of my favorite stores to find things for school is the Dollar Tree!  There is one close to my parents' house, which is about an hour from work, that always has great "teacher items".  On a recent trip, I found some educational magnets that my students love to use during centers.

I picked up magnet sets for compound words, color & shape words, initial sounds and numbers.  Each set is a sheet of magnets that break into many smaller magnets.  Below is a closer picture of the initial sounds set. I think the graphics are great for a dollar!

My students are in love with these magnets.  They have been out at centers for 2 days, and at both the math and language arts centers, students have spent 20-25 minutes just manipulating the initial sounds and number magnets!  They are trying to make words, matching initial sounds and matching upper and lowercase letters at the language arts center.  At the math center, they are matching numbers to sets of objects and putting numbers in order.  My advanced students are trying to match the numbers to the number words.

Using the math set of magnets.

Where do you find great (cheap) materials for your class?  I'd love to hear!