Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Counter

I have heard from many a preschool teacher they need something but their school/classroom/personal budget simply won't allow for it, or they are stuck in the rut of same-old, same-old and are looking for new and interesting ideas and the supplies to do them with.

Enter your friendly neighborhood guy or gal behind the hardware store counter. This place has the best and free you and sometimes them stuff. If you happen to have a local mom and pop type of place start doing your home improvement shopping there, and start a relationship with the folks there and then when you need something they will most likely be happy to help.

If you don't happen to have a mom and pop place, head to your mega chain and make friends with the lead at the paint counter. You can score all kinds of cool stuff like discontinued paint chips, stir sticks, and paint they can't resale for one reason or another. Okay, sure you can just pull paint chips from the wall, but you need 85 red ones and you don't want to look like a crazy person or feel like a thief, so it helps to ask for what you need, they might just have a discontinued red sitting under the counter.

Now go outside and make nice with the garden department lead and tell her you need seeds, you don't care what kind because your just glueing them to a collage or they are going in a sensory bin, and she might just have a dozen open packages some precious angel left on the floor for her yesterday and she hasn't gotten around to returning yet. She may also have out of season or dying plants that she's willing to give you for you and your class to nurse back to help or try to keep alive. Just check your center's policy on plants and ensure the species isn't poisonous to humans if consumed.

In the plumbing and hardware departments ask if they have any out of package pieces they would be willing to let you have. My insider says anything floating around on the shelf out of its packaging isn't supposed to be sold without being repackaged and it is often far easier to give it away than waste their time. Do not take anything from a shelf that has been removed from its packaging, always ask for these parts!

In the lumber department, check for scraps. Folks will ask for their boards to be cut to size, then leave the scraps behind. They can't resale this, but they often don't discard it either.

Next, stop by the key counter. Some of these store have a big ol' box full of keys that don't work, they might be willing to part with some of them for your "You're the key to my heart" project for Mother's Day.

Finally, befriend the store or donations manager. This is the person that can hook you up when you want to build bird feeders next winter or maybe you're looking at installing a garden at your school and you need a community partner. If you already have a good relationship with the store manager they can help make this happen for you.

If or when you try any of these things be sure you fully represent who you are and the school you are from. Wear a name badge if you have one and/or a school shirt if you have one of those. Introduce yourself, talk about your school, the project, lesson, or learning center you want to use the items in. You may even consider bringing a letter of representation from your director with you. Do not go in just looking for free stuff from the hardware store, that is not okay, and they will shut you down the second they figure out that is all you want.

I hope you have a chance to enjoy getting to know the partner that is your local hardware store and I hope it enhances your classroom in a meaningful way.

Happy teaching!

~Sarah