Today I’m sharing some of my BEST Dollar Tree mom hacks. I’m super excited to dive into these and share some great hacks for parents using things from Dollar Tree. These are hacks and products I use all the time myself as a mom of two and I’m pumped to share them with you!
I’ll be showing you how I use some Dollar Tree products in unique and innovative ways to make mom life easier. As well as things I just love getting at Dollar Tree that are great for moms!
Dollar Tree Items That Have Another Use
Eyeglass Repair Kit
You can find these little kits at the front of the store with the eyeglasses. These are THE BEST because they come with the little mini screwdrivers. Every parent knows the struggle of having some toy that requires batteries and they ALWAYS have the tiniest little screws to get into the battery compartment. So I keep 1-2 of these eyeglass repair kits around, that way I always have a little screwdriver to replace batteries on kids’ toys.
Bonus Tip: while you’re in the eyeglass section, snag a few kid sunglasses. If your little one loves to wear sunglasses like my guy does, $1 sunglasses is the way to go. Because if your little one is also like mine they get lost, broken, and scuffed up very easily.
Cupcake Tins
Let’s move along to some kitchen items that are great to use for mom hacks, one item at the DT that’s great for moms is the cupcake tins. Cupcake tins are amazing for kids for a ton of reasons.
One, they work great as snack trays, you can fill each cup with a different snack and it’s a fun and novel way to introduce some new foods to your kids.
They are also great for art as you can use them to sort different art products or even use for paint and water.
And on top of all that there are just tons of activities you can do with cupcake tins. You can use them for color sorting, let kids collect nature items in them, use them with pompoms and tweezers, honestly the options are endless. So having 1-2 cupcake tins that you use for kids and not for baking is great, and no need to buy some fancy baking tins when you can grab these ones for $1.
Cupcake Liners
On that note, getting cupcake liners at the Dollar Tree is also a great find. You can use them in the trays for different play and activities. But, I also love using them for snacks. They are great for separating snacks in tupperware or lunch bins or for a fun and different way to serve a snack or meal.
Condiment Squeezers
Another item I love from the kitchen section is these condiment squeezers. These are AMAZING for letting kids help with baking. I use them to let my son help decorate cookies. It’s much easier for small hands than trying to use an icing bag or knife to spread icing.
Spice Shakers
One final kitchen item I love is these little shakers. My son LOVES to “help” cook and play cook. He often tries to grab my seasonings which as you can imagine can get messy. I actually remember one day he was suspiciously quiet in the living room and I went to check on him and smelled garlic upon entering. He had made little sprinklings of garlic all over each dining room chair. He was quite proud of his work. So anyways I love these shakers. You can put something inside too big for the holes like dried beans or peppercorn. My son loves to shake them like he’s cooking and gets to be part of the action in the kitchen.
Baby Section
Huggies Wipes
In the baby section at the Dollar Tree, you can often find Huggies wipes. I’ve compared the price of these per wipe to buying them retail and honestly they are a pretty decent deal. They aren’t as cheap PER WIPE if you buy a huge bulk box, but compared to buying just some standard wipes at the grocery store or pharmacy they are actually comparable in price. And I personally like having these smaller bags of wipes for, on the go, they are the perfect size for throwing in diaper bags or keeping in the car for messes.
Baby Proofing
Another product from the baby section is the baby proofing products. I find these work just fine and are comparable to similar ones for more money, specifically, the doorknob covers are honestly really good for $1 and do the job.
Sensory Play
OK let’s talk about sensory play. Dollar Tree is an AWESOME place to stock up on stuff for sensory play. Let me share some of my favorites:
- Decorative rocks
- Sand
- Stones
- Toy animals and figurines
- Dried beans
- Rice
- Wooden letters and numbers
I made a pond inspired sensory bin for my son using mostly all stuff from the Dollar Tree. I have a wooden sensory tray that is one of my favorite trays to use for my son. But Dollar Tree also sells these little activity trays which can work great for craft activities as a way to organize supplies for little hands.
I used it to set up a little playdough activity for my son and it worked great. The wooden letters and numbers at the Dollar Tree are GREAT for kids. You can play with them in playdough, which my son loves, or you can use them for letter and number games, recognition, let your kids paint them, and so on. They are just a great find for kids.
Another item you can often find in the teacher section is jumbo tweezers. They are great for fine motor skills for little hands and usually kids tweezers like this are way more than $1 or you have to buy big bulk packs of like 12, which most of us don’t need 12.
Also on the sensory topic, the DT has all the ingredients you need to make sensory bottles. My son loved these as young as 6 months and now at 2-½ he still loves them.
If you like these ideas for kid activities make sure you check out my free printable with 30 Toddler Activities.
Cool Kids Hack With Makeup
Whenever I’m getting ready in the morning my son always wants to grab my makeup and use the brushes and basically copy what I’m doing. All parents of toddlers know that toddlers basically just want to be part of the action all the time and do what mom and dad are doing. It’s adorable and how they learn, but I also don’t really want my son toting around my $40 bronzer because he’s prone to dropping and breaking things.
You can make a little playset of makeup just scoop the powder makeup out of Dollar Tree makeup and then also grab some Dollar Tree nail polish and pour it into the wells. Let it dry overnight and give them some Dollar Tree makeup brushes and they have their own little set to “use” like mom uses when you get ready in the morning.
Displaying Kids Art
The DT is also somewhere you can stock up on everything you need to display kid’s art. Just grab a few of the Dollar Tree wall hooks, some string, and some clothespins and it’s the perfect way to display kid’s art or a place to hang art while it dries. I have one in my son’s playroom and I love how simple it is to just hang art and swap out new art.
Toy Products For Kids
Stickers
First up, my little guy loves stickers and Dollar Tree is a great place to stock up and get all kinds of stickers for him to use without breaking the bank. They also usually have seasonal window clings which my son ALSO loves to play with as well.
Flashlights
Next up, flashlights. Kids love flashlights and they are a great toy. Little hands love turning them on and off, as they get older they use them for playing in the dark and making shadow puppets. Lots of great uses and the Dollar Tree flashlights are actually really great finds.
Balls
Dollar Tree is a great place to stock up on an assortment of balls to play with. They make this spikey ball which is my son’s FAVORITE ball. It’s good for smaller hands because the spikes make it easy to grasp and hold on to.
Bubble Hack
Dollar Tree always carries bubbles and if your kid is bubble obsessed like mine then they go through them very fast so it’s a great place to stock up. But let me share a mom hack that’ll BLOW your mind.
You’ll also need to grab some zip ties while you’re at the Dollar Tree. Then, zip tie the bubbles to a fence post, chair leg, or something similar. This way mom doesn’t have to stand there and hold the bubble bottle the entire time the child is playing with them and get bubble solution all down her arm and all over her pants (not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything…)
Alright, that does it for my mom hacks from Dollar Tree. I hope it was helpful.
