Career Finds from My Recent Ikea Trip

Big Blue Ikea bag = Happiness! :)
I LOVE Ikea!

One of the perks of living in Pittsburgh was having an Ikea close by! I would go to Ikea all the time and find lots of cool things for my school counseling office.

On Monday, I presented at the Montgomery County Counseling Association (MCCA) on "Essentials of Becoming a Tech Savvy School Counselor" in King of Prussia, PA. I took a personal day so I would have plenty of time to get there and would not be caught up in something at school.

Before I left I looked to see if there was a Ikea anywhere near King of Prussia. Sure enough there was one in Consohohocken, PA! I was so excited to make an Ikea stop!

One of the things I went to Ikea in search of was this DUKTIG Toolbelt. When I found it in the store it was much smaller than I expected (I think it is for a toddler) but I still purchased it anyway. I figured I could still use the tools in a Home Depot belt that I had at school. I was also thinking about adding more velcro to it to make it longer... but not sure.


Then I saw this adorable GOSIG Vet Bag! So many of my students expressed interest in being a veterinarian. I thought this would be a great addition to the career items in my office.


I had to get a stuffed animal to go with the vet bag... so I got this adorable GOSIG VALP Stuffed Dog! I was looking for a cat too, but I they didn't have one. :(


Here is a picture of the GOSIG Vet Bag in action with the GOSIG VALP Stuffed Dog. He looks so sad in his cone!


My new Ikea finds have only been in my office since Wednesday, but they are already getting lots of use. Students LOVE the vet bag and the dog! He has had all of the band aids, cast, and cone on him at once! (poor thing...) ;) I love that these items can start a dialogue about careers!

While at Ikea I got the idea to dress up as a veterinarian for our school Dream Career Day on October 24th. I am going to borrow a white lab coat from my brother and bring along the vet bag and the dog! Dream Career Day is part of our career-themed Red Ribbon Week.

I purchased this KUSINER Wall Pocket to hang on my wall at school. There are so many things you could store in this 6-pocket wall storage. I plan to store career dress up items in it.



There are lots of colorful and fun children's items at Ikea. I probably could have spent hours in there and purchased many more things, but my focus was career items while I was there.

What school counseling finds have you found at Ikea? What are your favorite things to purchase there? Comment below, tweet, contact Danielle, or share on the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page!

Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via email, follow her on twitter, add her on LinkedIn or Google+, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.

Popular posts from this blog

Take What You Need, Give What You Can Sticky Note Board

Image
Last year, I saw a lot of "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" Bulletin Boards popping up everywhere. I decided to fuel my new found love of printing on sticky notes and make a sticky note version. The idea behind the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" board is that you take a positive message that you "need" to hear or "give" (write) a positive or uplifting message for someone else to take. I displayed the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board on a window near the school counseling office. A traditional bulletin board could also be used to display this sticky note board.  I created 18 different positve messages to print on sticky notes for the "Take What You Need" side of the board. To make this "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board, you will need the following items: A printer Printer paper to print the sticky
Read more

Spring Mindfulness Bulletin Board with QR Codes

Image
I created this colorful, interactive, spring bulletin board for our March & April PBIS theme, mindfulness. I made this bulletin board interactive for students by adding QR Codes with different mindfulness activities. Since most things need to be touch-less right now, I thought using QR Codes would be an easy way for students to access some mindfulness activities. If you are not familiar with QR Codes, QR stands for Quick Response. QR Codes are scannable with a smart device camera (iPad, tablet, or smart phone). you can easily make your own QR codes by using a QR Code generator. You can link the QR Code to a website or online document. When the user scans the QR Code they will be directed to the link. I used  QR Code Generator  to create the QR Codes.  I got the idea for this bulletin board while looking for mindfulness resources. I stumbled upon a New York Times article about "Pinwheel Breathing." This sent me down a rabbit hole of brainstorming a
Read more

FREE Career Interest Games and Inventories on VA Career View

Image
I have been searching for fun and interactive career activities to facilitate with students this year. I rediscovered  Virginia Career View , which has a wealth of computer based and printable career activities. I have used this website many times, but each time I visit I am surprised by how truly awesome this site is. In the K-5 Section of  Virginia Career View  there is an interactive game called  Career Town ! I used the  Career Town  game with some 5th grade students last year and they loved it. Career Town has three levels with different games to learn about jobs on each level.  The  Career Town  has an educators guide  for each "level' of the game. The  educators guide  has ideas of how you can utilize the game to meet standards and includes ideas for extension activities.  In the 6-8 Grade section, there is a career cluster assessment activity called "Who R U?" . It is web-based. The Virginia Career View website also has printable resources tho
Read more