We all remember doing show and tell in our childhood classrooms.
Whether you were the kind of kid who had the perfect item lined up weeks in advance or someone who’d show off a rock they found on the way to class, we rarely ever knew what our teachers thought of the various show and tell items kids would bring to class.
Well, we can wonder no longer. In the r/AskReddit thread, “Teachers, what’s the worst thing a kid broguht for show and tell?” , teachers dish on some hilarious little details.
Mom’s (only) set of car keys.
“Only been teaching one year but so far, mom’s only set of car keys.
“We did call mom immediately but unfortunately she was stuck at home all day until little one got home with the keys.”
Knives.
“I brought 2 knives. My dad is from a region in France where they make famous knives (Laguiole) and I owned two of them (one made of horn and one was bright orange). It didn’t cross my mind it could be a problem, but they called my parents (who weren’t mad at me)”
Cow eyes (unprompted).
“In 5th grade, we were studying human anatomy. When we got to the eyes, a kid brought in a bag full of cow’s eyes. His dad worked in a slaughterhouse. Teacher was horrified.
“I should add that my classmate brought them in, unannounced. The teacher had no plans for dissection, was going to show us a filmstrip about eyes or something.”
A lucky…tampon.
“The teacher across the hall from me had a student who brought what he thought was a lucky rabbit foot to show to the class and excitedly announced he had enough for everyone in the class. The rabbit foot was a tampon.”
A scorpion (from a student).
“My brother found a scorpion at our house and captured it to bring for show and tell. The scorpion got out somehow and the teacher had everyone on high alert to look for it and capture it. Several children returned to the teacher having ‘found’ the scorpion. That was the day we found out our school was infested with scorpions.”
Laundry rocks (???)
“In my school some kid brought in his collection of ‘laundry rocks’ which were crumpled up pieces of paper that he put in his pockets and when his mom did the laundry they would turn hard like rocks. He said he did it by accident once, liked it, and started deliberately putting crumpled paper in his pockets to make more.”
A dangerous RC helicopter.
“Not a teacher but one of the the kids in my class brought a remote control helicopter to class and flew it around. It was super cool until he accidentally got the blades wrapped around a girls hair. I think the nurse spent an hour getting it out.”
– u/BJT207
Two gnarly spiders.
“When I was in fifth grade and going to school in AZ, this girl in our class brought in a glass jar with a tarantula and a black widow (no clue how she caught both in one day, or WHY). Within an hour the tarantula was dead and upside down in the jar. Same day there was a fire drill and yep, someone knocked it off her desk and the jar broke, releasing the black widow.”
A smelly chemical experiment.
“1993, grade 3 primary school in Australia. My show and tell was rotten egg gas, I had a class mate hold a test tube that contained sulfur power while i added hydrochloric acid, no protective gear used. Non of the adults saw any issue with this.”
Mercury.
“There was a girl in my brother’s year whose dad owned a junk/salvage place. Girl brings in an old thermometer. Okay cool, whatever. She then goes ‘and then this is the most fun part’ and proceeds to smash the thermometer on the desk and play with the mercury.”
Compulsive lies.
“Had a kid aged 6-7 who had a lot going on but part of it was that he was a compulsive liar with absolutely no sense of when a lie was so poorly constructed that everyone would know. Every single day he would say he had something for show and tell. Most days we ‘didn’t have time’ for his show and tell, but every so often we kind of had to let him have a go. He’d stand up, ready to do his show and tell, then wander over to my desk, browse for a minute, pick up the most random crap and then say some poorly constructed story about how he found it in Africa.”
A human skeleton.
“When I was in prep (so about 5) I bought in a skeleton my dad used for study.
“It was a real skeleton. Back in the 60s/70s when he was studying medicine, you could just buy a skeleton! He used it to learn the bones of the human body.
“Thing is, my dad must have bought it in because it was in a big box and I couldn’t have done it myself.”
A (very) dead hedgehog.
“Wasn’t show and tell but once during morning break while I was a student teacher, two six-year-olds came to find the class teacher in the staff room. They had something to show her. She came back with pictures, these boys had found half a dead and decomposed hedgehog and decided to pick it up and put it on her desk. Needless to say hands were thoroughly washed and drenched in sanitizer.”
An expensive watch.
“In kindergarten, someone brought an expensive watch for show and tell and placed it in front of the room where the class kept it until show and tell time. Then some kid kicked it and it broke. From then on, you were not allowed to bring anything in for show and tell, so it was basically just tell.”
An action figure with human hair.
“A school bag full of his own hair.
“To be fair, he didn’t actually try to show and tell it. He also brought in an action man. I noticed him and his best friend playing with the action man. They were putting something on it’s head. I went over to him and asked them what it was.”
“It’s hair!” “Hair? Where did it come from?” “It’s Stevie’s hair! He got it cut at the weekend!”
Just Florida things.
“In the 6th grade, a girl brought a baby alligator to class. She lived about 2 blocks from the school. Her and her older brother had found it in a canal that ran behind the school playground. Yes, this was Florida.”
A stuffed bear.
“A student of mine brought in a taxidermed (stuffed?) bear from the shoulders up that his dad had killed with a bow. Best part was that his parents didn’t know he brought it, he snuck it to school in a huge black garbage bag.”
A sword.
“In middle school, while learning about Japan, I brought in a sword that my uncle had brought back from Japan. I wrapped it in a towel so the other kids wouldn’t pester me while carrying it inside. A teacher stopped me and jokingly asked if I was sneaking in a gun. I told them it was a sword and they just pretended they didn’t hear me and walked away.”
Very inappropriate art.
“The clinic I’m at had a sort of show and tell with the kiddos that come in and someone brought some very very very inappropriate Anime magazine that bordered on Hentai. He wanted to show everyone his favorite scenes and even brought a notebook full of his own drawings featuring characters that had the likeness of a lot of people on his life.”
A dried stingray.
“I’m the kid. I brought a dried stingray I found on the beach to show and tell on a Friday. Left it in my drawer over the weekend. Stunk out the entire classroom. Sorry to my lovely year 1 teacher!”
