Tips and Tricks: Target Dollar Spot Finds

Have you checked out Target recently? Well, duh, I'm sure you have. In my neck of the woods (Massachusetts) I've found some excellent finds at the Target Dollar Spot. I've snapped some pics below to show you some of the finds and include some ways you could tulize these in your classrooms, during 1:1 ABA sessions, at play at home with the kids, etc.

Jar of Super Heroes/Jar of {Insert Small Object Here}

These are as low-tech as it gets. These figures can be used for a variety of games, activities, skill concepts, etc.

• Sorting (by color, type, size, etc.)
• Counting/Math activities
• As game pieces (for either homemade game boards, or board games in which you've lost the pieces!)
• As tokens for earning reinforcement (earn one super hero for x behavior, or x time period without engaging in x behavior)
• Sensory bottles (having a few small toys in a bottle of beans, rice, etc. to search for. This is a great coping strategy
• Parts of speech (prepositions, adjectives, verbs)
• Hide the Super Hero (skills you can target include: listening to directions to find the object, asking questions/20 questions to find it, following multi-step directions, written or verbally)
• Receptive sorting (for use when you have a variety of different themed figures, such as sorting by ability to fly, sorting by living/nonliving, sorting by real/make-believe, etc.)
• Patterns and sequencing
• Receptive identification
• An adapted version of this really simple, cool idea!

Magnets

This box was robot magnets, but there were other shapes/themes in the basket.

• Social skills such as:
• Commenting
• Answering questions
• Pretend play
• Tacting/Labeling
• For tokens - used on a magnetic token board
• Describing features/adjectives
• Parts of speech - prepositions
• Same/Different attributes

Craft Supplies

Who doesn't already have tons of idea for arts and crafts supplies?

• Different crafts (obviously)
• For token economies (like earning pom poms in a jar)
• Leisure activities for reinforcement
• Following directions
• Learning to copy a model/exemplar

Grow Kit

So cute and spring-y! Even if you don't do anything with it, how cute this would look on your desk?

• Life cycles instruction
• Taking care of plants/life skill
• Making science predictions and experiments
• Pruning and maintaining plant (reinforcement or life skills)
• Classroom job
• Teaching responsibility
• Maintaining a schedule (to care for plants)

Grow Capsules

• Making predictions
• Developing hypotheses (for example, what would happen if you put the capsul in milk instead of water?)
• Observation and note-taking skills
• Describing/adjectives

Building Blocks

A cheap alternative to Legos! Perfect for your prize bin :)

• Building toys (obvi)
• Learning how to follow a model/exemplar
• A fun alternative to a token board (earn reinforcement after completing a building/shape/etc.
• Sorting by attributes such as color or number of bumps

Peel and Stick Board

There were a couple different themes available at Target!

• Play skills
• Social skills
• Pretend play
• Commenting
• Requesting
• Labeling
• Describing/adjectives/verbs
• Leisure activity as reinforcement 

Mini Erasers

Um, adorable! I remember LOVING these when I was a kid and wanting to "earn" these.

• Reinforcement (like, for me)
• Prize box
• Counting
• Sorting by category, color, shape, size, etc.
• Token system (for example, when you earn all the different types of vegetables for the basket, you get ____)
• Pretend play
• Erasing things? - No. Why would you?
• Check out this great list of ways to use erasers in the classroom!

ABA at Play: reinforcement, verbal behavior, sensory-based interventions, ABA teaching procedures, errorless learning, generalization, social skills training, stimulus equivalence, life skills, adaptive living skills

Any other ways you would use these items? What else have you found at the Target Dollar Stop?