Amazon has become a shopping haven for many teachers over the years. Every year I open up the app and click multiple items into my shopping cart to ship to my classroom. I’ve found some really nice Amazon additions over the past few years. Keep reading and I’ll share ten different Amazon items that will go perfectly in your elementary classroom.
This blog post includes affiliate links which means that at no extra cost to you I will earn a small commission to help offset the cost of running this site.
- Plastic Envelopes with Snap Closure
- These plastic sleeves came in handy when we would send homework home to the families. We added a cover sheet for parents to sign and return to school. The parents knew to look for the colored envelope on specific days and having the snap closure ensured that work wasn’t accidentally becoming lost on the way home.
- Carabiner Magnetic Hooks
- These carabiner hooks were the perfect fix for wanting to hang student work and items from the ceiling of the classroom. These hooks hold up to 80lbs and connected easily to the metal framing between each ceiling tile.
- Carpet Floor Spots
- I love having these in the classroom. I two of the same colors right next to each other to help students quickly understand expectations for peer-to-peer conversation on the carpet. These are set up in the first day of school and I have students engaging in full peer to peer conversations within the first two days. If you have carpet in your classroom, this is an absolute must!
- Laminator and Laminating Sheets
- Having a personal laminator in the classroom is a game changer. Now that I have a laminator, I can laminate an 8.5×11 sheet and not have to use scissors to cut it out. There are many types of laminating sheets that you can buy but the Herkka sheets have worked well for us and come in a price friendly pack of 200 sheets.
- Tru-Ray Shades of Me Construction Paper
- To go along with our addition of “Colors Around the World” Crayola products, I purchased these shades of me construction paper packs. I enjoyed every minute of watching students testing different sheets of paper to find the correct shade when making art projects or designing something for a friend in the classroom.
- Folding Picnic Table
- Two years ago, I was looking for different items that I could add to the classroom to have a flexible classroom environment. I stumbled upon this folding picnic table late one night and decided that I needed to have it. This picnic table has become one of the favorite places for students to interact with each other. It’s also very simple to fold up and put away for the summer months in storage.
- MeMoreCool Convertible Kids Couch
- I’ll be the first to admit that I was quite nervous about adding this to our flexible environment. I wasn’t sure how the students would interact and share time. I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness that our kids had when using the couch. The couch is a nice calming place where kids grab books and read quietly.
- Bike Water Bottle Holders
- We allow our students to have water bottles in the classroom all day. As you can imagine, water bottles all over the place is not a welcome sight. I was trying to figure out the best way to store water bottles in the classroom without having them walk to a different location to grab them. I decided to try these holders on the leg of the desk. Perfect fit in our classroom! The kids love having their bottles within arm’s length without invading their desk space.
- Adhesive Wall Hooks
- The description says that these work for walls, but I’ll be the one to tell you that they work well under a students’ desk while hold a gallon sized freezer back that stores the students’ computer headphones. In our school, we have a tiny desk cubby that doesn’t allow for headphones to fit so we decided to try these. I’ll also proudly mention that we haven’t had one fall off in three years. Durability!
- 4 Pack Fluorescent Light Covers
- This 4 pack of light covers was very helpful for our classroom. I’ve struggled at times with having the fluorescent overhead lights on in the classroom. Sometimes the brightness of the lights would give me headaches that I couldn’t seem to shake. I tried these light covers from Amazon and they blocked enough of the light in the classroom that I was able to teach without worries of getting another headache. Now, I usually turn on half of the lights and have lamps set up around the classroom. The environment is more like being at home and the students are way more relaxed now.
- Foldable Drying Rack
- When you click this link, you may see socks and underwear being hung from this rack, but we have a much different use in the classroom for this lol. We hang this drying rack from the ceiling tiles (with the carabiner magnetic hooks from earlier) and use it to display student artwork, projects, etc. We do remove some of the inside hooks but that isn’t necessary. When you hang these racks from the ceiling, they kind of look like chandeliers in the classroom. If you struggle with wall space to add student work, try this as an option.
- Mesh Zipper Pouch Bags
- In our class, we begin our morning with Soft Start. (If you’re interested in learning more about Soft Start, you can click the link to find that blog post). We add board games and different materials for the students to use during that time. Sometimes, the board game boxes don’t hold up and we end up with duct tape fixes. I bought these mesh bags because they were large enough to fit most of the board games. These bags are so durable and have been helpful in prolonging the life of many Soft Start board games.
- 11″ x 14″ Large Zip Bags
- Our school district just started using the UFLI phonics program this past year. With the program, they also purchased marker boards, magnetic letter tiles, etc. for each student to have. I was looking for something that would store all of those items in a way that they wouldn’t get lost. I wasn’t sure how durable a set of plastic bags would be for students to use each day, but these worked extremely well. Not only did they hold up throughout the school year, but they also minimized the amount of lost letter tiles we had. Yay!
- Mini Flashlights
- I love giving students adequate amounts of time to read in the classroom. I also enjoy making it extra fun for them to read on certain days of the week, such as Fridays. I purchased a classroom set of these flashlights to have on hand for those extra special times that our kids need. Needless to say, these were a hit! (This product only comes with 18 flashlights, so we had to buy two. I chose this one because it also included AAA batteries for each flashlight).
- Paint Tray Palettes
- This item took me way too many years to purchase. We have the students pull out acrylic paints approximately 4-5 times per year. I used to have students grab the acrylic paint and move around the classroom to where the bottle was, and they could paint. The students always did a nice job following the expectations, but I didn’t realize how much paint I would save by having each student have a palette and dripping a few globs of paint on their palette. If I could start teaching all over again, these palettes would be on my purchasing list for year one!
- Balance Board
- A few years back, I added the first balance board to our classroom. Students were eager to try the board for the first time. Students started using the board to rock back and forth while reading, chatting, etc. It was a great way for students to expel energy right before lunch and the end of the day as well. This product was the perfect addition to allow students to self-regulate their bodies when they needed it.
- Wescott iPoint Pencil Sharpener
- A teacher always needs a handy pencil sharpener for the classroom. I purchased this sharpener to fit in the rolling caddy by my desk. I had limited space available, but I knew that I needed to have it located there. The sharpener was great because it took up a small amount of space and I was able sharpen pencils through the top and have it right next me.
- Learning Resources Answer Buzzers
- If you’re like us. You love to play quiz games with students while splitting them in groups. Another layer that we were able to add to this fun time were these answer buzzers that make different fun sounds so you can always hear which group answers first. We all know the teacher struggle when you can’t decide who stood up or raised their hand first. No more worries, these buzzers have solved all of your problems.
