The Joys of An After-Christmas Sale!

     So, I was scrounging in the clearance sections of the after-Christmas sales and found this beauty:

     I have learned that some of my best ideas come from going down random aisles at craft stores asking myself, "What could I do with that?"  So, when I saw this, I had to have it!  Here's what I've decided to do next year:
     Each day of music class, I am going to have my kindergarten students learn one of the songs from The Nutcracker with a movement activity (great for teaching same and different).  Here comes the fun part:  just like the Elf on the Shelf, our Nutcracker will be magical!  If the students master the song and bring "magic" to the music, something special will begin happening to our Nutcracker each night.  Perhaps the next day, he will have painted boots!  And the day after that, a red jacket, followed by buttons, eyes, a belt, etc. until the final day when his hair appears!  Then I will draw the name of one lucky kindergarten student who gets to keep the Nutcracker and take it home.
     When we make our classroom seem magical, students WANT to be there and they WANT to learn and even more importantly, they are engaged in what we are teaching them.  That's the beauty of an unpainted nutcracker doll on clearance--it has all of the potential in the world, just like the students we teach every day.
     What have you found on clearance or at the craft store that has inspired you?
     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!