How many of you remember visiting the dentist and sensing the excitement of being able to pick a toy from the treasure chest post cleaning? When it comes to taking the kids in for their semi annual checkup, I think I am more eager to go than the kids. I'm always hovering over them when it's time to pick a special toy because, you know what... I want one, too! I don't know what it is about a bin full of little toys but it sure gets kids (and kids at heart) excited. And, as a teacher, it is so worth having little prizes to give away just to see the smiles on my students' faces. But with over 200 students, I find it hard to collect enough prizes to ensure each of my students gets one. Luckily, I have recently discovered a site that makes me grin a goofy grin from ear to ear - SmileMakers!

This treasure chest is listed under Value Treasure Chests because it comes with 500 toys along with the plastic chest, which measures 18 x 12 x 14 inches. The current list price is $149.99 on the Canadian site but the super size treasure chest is also available on the US site for $99.99. 

The selection of toys is pretty impressive, from sunglasses, airplanes, bouncy balls and toy figures...

... to bracelets, rings, spinning tops, creepy crawlers and vampire teeth. Please note that, due to small parts, these toys are not suitable for children under age 3. I always remind my students to show their prizes to their mom or dad when they get home so they can determine whether it is a suitable toy to have in the home.

Update: I recently brought my new boîte aux trésors into my two grade 8 classes since we were playing a game to review vocabulary words. I suggested if they felt the toys were too childish, they could pass them on to a younger brother or sister. Ahem,... well, they were like kiddies in a candy store. Many of them opted for the disk launcher, ball, spiders and lizards. We're talking teenagers here, people! So glad they loved them.

I ended up going with the plastic treasure chest because, as a French teacher, I travel from class to class and wanted something durable. If I had my own classroom, however, I would have totally gone with the School Bus Treasure Chest. Isn't it adorable? One of my colleagues has this one in her classroom and it really brightens up the room. 

I would definitely recommend SmileMakers as an excellent source of school supplies for teachers. Browsing through their online category, I kept finding countless items that I would love to purchase. To make it easier to find what you're looking for, try shopping by occupation and select Education. You'll find decor, arts and crafts, rewards, writing accessories and other items sorted by subject. Unfortunately, I didn't see a link to French products but a simple search rectified that problem. There isn't much yet but I'm hoping they will add more. I am definitely going to get their French pencils, which cost $19.99 for a pack of 50. French-specific rewards and prizes are always so hard to find.

Disney Planes Activity Pads 4-pack $2.99

SmileMakers has a huge selection of generic stickers and the much coveted character stickers, such as Skylanders, so I'm adding that to my list as well. As a Staples company, they also have a selection dedicated to Staples office supplies, something else I'm going to look into. You can even find a tonne of ideas for birthday party loot bags such as lollipops, race cars and activity books, including Disney Planes. And for a limited time, you can enjoy free shipping on online orders of $75 or more, or a flat rate of $7.99 on orders less than $75. Teachers can join Teacher Perks to take advantage of the same shipping offer year-round.

Disclosure: I received product to help facilitate this review. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.