10 Ways to Use Walgreens in the Classroom

I've pretty much turned 'Walgreens' into a verb. I'm often asked, "Are you gonna Walgreens that?" I laugh and say, of course!

Walgreens photos are a little treasure I've been addicted to for the past four or five years now. I love printing things for my classroom in color, but ink is just too pricey. So, I started printing the small stuff as 4x6 photos and I now benefit from the glossy color in what I create! They often have 10 cent prints and that's when you put your order in!

Here are 10 ways to use Walgreens' 4x6 prints in your classroom.

1. Name Tags
There are many different name tags out there but making your own allows you to personalize them. You can design them with your class theme, quotes, or add the resources your students need.

My theme this year is superheroes - My kids really need to work on skip counting so I added that on my name tags.

  

2. Certificates
We have large class sizes at my school and often, one package of certificates isn't enough. They can range from $3-$4 for 25-30 but now I design my own! You can really personalize what the certificate is for based on what you're doing in your classroom.

3. Invitations
My classroom is open to parents. All. The. Time! Additionally, throughout the year, I hold "Parent Universities" or "Coffee Talks". Parents are invited to visit our classroom for a workshop on testing or a specific content area that I feel needs some extra explanation.

4. Incentive "punch" Cards
Each family receives a Parent Involvement (now called my Family Engagement) incentive cards. In an effort to get families more involved, I offer a pizza dinner delivered by me once a family has 10 marks on their card.

I put four cards per print which really maximizes the value when they are 10 cents a print...do the math, that's only $0.90 for 36 incentive cards!

It's a bookmark and a punch card. I use these for my Reading class. When they return to class, I hole punch their cards. After "x" punches, they earn a prize or other praise.

5. Mini Anchor Charts
I needed a compact and quick way for my students to access anchor charts. We start with chart paper in the room but space is limited and I can't have every single one up all the time. I print them at Walgreens and slide them in 4x6 photo albums. My students can quickly access them all in one spot.

6. Scratch Off "Lottery Tickets"
I found this idea on Pinterest and wanted to make it work in my classroom. Printing the tickets as photos eliminated the step of using glue and contact paper. Because it's a photo, the paint will scratch off very easily.


After designing these for our state testing week, I put two on one print. Points earned ranged from 10 to 25. I did have to get enough for 4 days of testing but still, the cost wasn't too bad. The paint had to be applied three times so you can't see through it. Next time, I'll probably use an even lighter shade of gray for the color of font.

7. Tags...any kind you can think of!
You can put 2-6 on a single print, depending on size. Personalizing them makes it even better! As we track our fluency progress this year, I made lightning bolts which will have each student's name. Super simple design!

I downloaded these free Motivational Test Taking Candy Notes from Danielle Mastandrea's TPT store. Printing them as photos made it affordable to the get them in color.

 

 8. Student Reward Coupons
A while back, I downloaded these fabulous reward coupons as a freebie from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations blog. Now, they can be purchased through her TPT Store. I kept them in tact but added a colored frame around them.

 

9. Thank you's
As teachers, we get many drawings and trinkets from our students. I like to give thank you cards. I created some that I can quickly grab, write, and give! Which reminds me, I need to make my super hero thank-you's!

10. Recognition Award "Pins"
Funds got tight at school (imagine that) so we needed an alternative at our awards ceremony. While we usually gave "Smart Cookie" t-shirts to students who Exceeded on assessments, we used these instead. It's no t-shirt, but we had to make do. 

With four to a print, I cut these and super glued them to a clothespin. Students were then "pinned" by the principal and given a certificate for their accomplishments.

This was a similar idea used with a STARS pin.

These are just a few things I print on a regular basis. I'm sure you can think of many more ways to Walgreens it!

*Superhero graphics purchased through Etsy from Partypapercreations, Whitefoxgraphics, and Prettygrafikdesign.