I love school supplies. In fact I am overloaded with many school supplies from previous years, so we really didn't need a lot this year. So, for this post I decided I would show you just a few things that we purchased for this school year, and some of our other favorites that we already have.
Maps
Lets start with maps! I think these are a definite homeschool must have.
I first noticed this World ScrunchMap at Target when we were perusing the school supply section. I didn't buy it the first time, but thought it was really cool. Later I decided it would be a really useful tool in our lessons! So, on our next trip I picked it up.
This thing is absolutely genius. No more folding, and it can scrunch up to take anywhere. I sure could have used this for co-op last year when I had to cart my globe back and forth every week. This would have been super convenient. I'm excited to have this new "school supply" for our use this year. The kids absolutely love that it can just be wrinkled up too. Oh, and the non-tearing feature, so happy for that too. I've gone through many maps because they got ripped up.
I haven't found the scrunch map for the states, so I have a regular paper one for that.
Basic School Supplies.
Now we've got the basics, like pencils, and coloring utensils.
Here's the 1st graders caddy. He absolutely loves this thing. All the items in here are old. We didn't have to replace any scissors, do-a-dot markers, or glue. Just wanted to show some of the things we use almost daily, and replace as needed.
We also use these things on a pretty regular basis. Some of these things are new, some old. We have erasers, watercolors, stickers (for sticker charts or incentives, or decorating lapbooks), glue sticks, expo markers, colored pencils, regular markers, and crayons.
I usually keep all these things handy on these shelves in our dining room (see bottom shelf!), or the drawers next to them.
Booklights.
This is something new for us. I purchased a 2 pack of the my light booklights from Costco, and love how well built they are. Super handy, and they are also very bright. The little white one on the right was purchased at IKEA before I purchased the other 2 (it's not as bright). These are great for projects that need a little more light, and for book reading.
Trays.
I have had these for years. They were originally purchased for Tot school. Now that my kids are grown out of tot school we use them for all kinds of other things, and they are still super useful. Some of the things we use them for now are: Lunch (yes we eat some meals on them when the kids eat and watch something), messy art projects, drying trays for those messy art projects, playdoh, slime, experiments, etc. The list could go on. I purchased these particular ones at Oriental Trading. They are a good size for most everything!
Games and puzzles.
These are a definite staple in our "school supplies." There is so much valuable learning in playing games and puzzles. We have boxes of games. We had so many that we had to pack some away. I am showing a few games we are going to use as we study the states this year, and a new puzzle.
Computers and laptops.
We definitely need to have these in our home. So many resources on them, and we have to have access to the internet for some classes, and research. We have a new laptop this school year, so I'm excited to have that for us to be able to take learning on the go, or just to other places in the house.
Backpacks.
Admittedly we don't really need backpacks on a daily basis, but I like the kids to have them so we can pack them up once in a while if we are going to be out and about a lot. The only one in need of a replacement backpack this year was Aric. Those things are expensive, so we only replace when needed!
Toys and manipulatives.
I list this as a school supply because I just love to have hands on stuff for the kids. I have collected a lot of these things over the years, so we don't have to buy a whole lot anymore. It's fun to pull out something to go along with a theme, or lesson, and adds excitement to our homeschool days.
Minute to Win it.
To wrap this up...
As part of our back to school supplies fun today we played some minute to win it games. I found the games on Etsy, and they were a real hit. We did things like building glue sticks, pencil catching, peanut butter sandwich bouncing, apple stacking, and crayon sorting. All the kids agreed it was super fun.
minute to win it games are a blast. :)
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