GOLD MINE STUFF:

• balance scale (the old-fashioned kind for measuring dry items)
• pulleys
• sewing basket
• mortar & pestle
• large magnet (doesn’t have to be horse-shoe shaped, just nice and strong)
• wooden clothes pegs (the old-fashioned kind, not the ones with a spring)
• eye-droppers (or medicine bottles with a dropper i.e. infant Tylenol)
• plastic syringes
• aquarium stones
• rotary phone
• manual type-writer
• Dress up clothes, scarves, shawls, old costumes, men’s ties,
• jewellery box
• magnifying glass
• jumbo calculator
• silk scarves
• wooden crates
• milk crates
• watering can
• tiny glass bottles and jars
• chalk board brush
• felt-board & pieces
• flat sheets
• plastic table cloths
• steering wheel
• pegboard with pegs

Treasures

• buttons
• silk flowers
• old calendars with nice pictures
• animal books or magazines ( can use just pictures so do not need to be age appropriate)
• old coffee table art books
• envelops, writing paper,
• film tubes
• plastic petri dishes
• beads
• glass beads & baubles
• sea shells
• sea glass
• costume jewellery
• glass or plastic “gem stones”
• marbles
• old fridge magnets
• different size smooth flatish stones
• acorns/chestnuts
• magnets
• teeny collectibles & miniature sets of anything (animals, dinosaurs, sea-life, houses…)
• scrabble tiles
• board-game pieces

Craft Supplies

• artificial flowers and leaves
• tissue paper
• bubble wrap
• paper tubs
• plastic bottles with lids
• paper doilies
• dried beans, seeds and grains
• ribbon/fabric scraps
• stamps/ink pa
• bingo daubers
• spray bottles & squirt bottles
• wine corks
• egg cartons
• feathers
• “easter grass” (that colourful plastic grassy stuff)
• pipe cleaners, felt, foam shapes/letters, pom-poms, jingle bells, sparkly stuff etc
• stickers
• paper plates, coffee filters,
• crêpe paper streamers
• card-stock
• spools (wood or plastic)
• Contact paper both clear and non clear
• Small notebooks
• Thick pencils
• Wigglie eyes
• Cotton balls
• Sand paper
• Straws
• Old balls of wool
• Velcro
• Q-tips
• Popsicles sticks/craft sticks

Art Supplies

• paint brushes (any size – either foam or brush type)
• mini paint rollers
• shirts I can use for paint shirts.
• white glue, glitter glue, modge-podge
• tape!! (painter’s, masking, scotch, coloured etc.)
• tempera paints, finger-paint
• food colouring

Containers

• sorting trays (wood or plastic)
• plastic fruit baskets
• old spice jars
• muffin tins
• Pringles OR Lays Stacks cans with lids
• ice-cube trays
• jewellery box
• sewing box
• wood baskets/bowls
• plastic storage bins and containers
• large cardboard boxes (if you get a new fridge or stove)
• mason jars
• old wallets, purses,
•  

Instruments

• tweezers (metal or plastic)
• kitchen utensils – scoops, large spoons, basters, garlic press etc (anything that does not have sharp edges)
• tongs
• kitchen timers
• stethoscope
• chopsticks
• golf tees
• castanets
• finger cymbals
• maracas
• tambourine
• wind-chimes
• jingle bells
• triangle
• harmonica

I’m sure there are things that I’ve forgotten to add, so when you’re “cleaning house”, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have something that’s not on the list, but you think might be of interest to us.

Thanks for keeping this list in mind!

Adrienne