Have you ever thought about putting together an Amazon wishlist for your classroom but then just couldn't come up with what to ask for? It's silly because obviously there's tons of things we're lacking and can't get school funding for, but I find often in the moment it's hard to come up with stuff to ask for, especially as a music teacher, because usually the prices and selection for instruments and other elementary music specific things on Amazon are not as good as other vendors. But last summer I finally put together a list, not sure if anything would actually get purchased, and I was shocked to get everything I asked for! Here's a list of things to consider adding to your elementary music classroom Amazon wishlist.
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To keep this list at a manageable length I'm not including any books on this list- I'll share my recommendations for books I love using in my lessons in a future post. This list includes all the other things I've gotten on Amazon for my elementary music room that I love!
These are the carpet spots I use to mark my circle spots- I highly recommend them because they lasted all school year without much sign of wear and tear, and the colors are bright and easily distinguishable (not the case with every set I found) and just the ones I need for my color teams.
I used these when I had students socially distanced to mark where chairs were supposed to go. This set, like the carpet spots, has the right colors and holds up better than other ones I found (although for lines in front of chairs I find they don't last all year like the spots do).
This set has all the colors I need for any sort of karate belt system for learning songs on instruments- I give students these to put on the bell of their recorder when they pass each level. It is so much cheaper and way easier than buying yarn, cutting pieces, and tying them onto the recorders like I did when I first started teaching! This set is the most cost-effective way I've found to get all the colors I need even though there are a few extra colors I don't use.
I am a triangle holder snob. In my experience there is no competition here, this type is far superior to any other solution, hands down. And shockingly most music stores don't carry these. If you don't have them, get them.
Yes, our school nurse gives us bandaids to keep in our rooms each year, but these are far better quality (meaning I end up with fewer bandaids falling off or getting ripped off and landing on my floor... IYKYK) and I love having the different skin tones to choose from, especially for my older students. They will go out of their way to come to my room and ask for a bandaid rather than take one from their homeroom teacher or the nurse! I call that students feeling cared for.
This item is more expensive than the others on this list, and it's the only item I don't already have myself- it's on my own wishlist right now! But it's too cool not to include. I saw a presentation years ago (like over a decade ago) at TMEA where they showed how they use these for games in music class and I have had it in the back of my mind ever since- especially since, again, they match my color team colors, this would be perfect for having teams race to answer questions, name a note, etc.
This may seem random but I use black painter's tape A LOT in my classroom. For most of my posters, I staple them to the wall and then put the black painter's tape around the edge. It looks a lot neater, makes them last longer, and helps them stand out against my white walls better.
I got these from my Amazon wishlist last year and my students and I have loved them! Of course they match my color team colors, but because they are plastic they are much sturdier than the wooden ones I had before and any doodles and marks that end up on them are much easier to clean.
Discbound Planner Cover and Discs
This is how I set up my teacher planner so I can add and remove pages and customize my cover- this set is super cost effective and comes with clear covers and discs so you can add your own cover inside and it will show through. These have held up well for me but it's nice to have the backups in this set (it comes with 3 sets of covers) so if a cover gets dirty or bent you can replace it.
To add the pages inside the teacher planner with the discs and covers above, you'll need a hole punch. This one is the one I have and the price is amazing! I highly recommend this.
What else do you have on your wishlists? I need some more ideas to add for this year so let me know what you have on yours!
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