Must Have Back To School Supplies

Back to school supplies are the cause of 90% of Back to school stress! Okay, that is not actually a legitimate statistic but I am still sure it is accurate. We are often asked why do we need to buy all these supplies. I often wondered why my teacher requires 4 boxes of tissues from each child in the class, Then I attended a reading morning and got to personally view the children “using” the tissues. Let’s say all those tissues ARE indeed justified. Let’s not forget the kid who was licking all the glue sticks, yep he munched down on 4 whilst I was there. Here is a quick list of the basic Back to school supplies you are going to need. We added some great buys found at the Dollartree. This doesn’t have to be expensive just shop around and don’t panic buy the day before it is back to school.

Only $1 at DollarTree

Plastic Sentiment School Stationary Boxes

Crayons
Colored pencils
Washable markers
Pencil sharpener
Erasers
Glue sticks
Blunt-tipped scissors
Backpack
Lunchbox or bag
Highlighters
Ballpoint pens
Erasers

$1
Jot “Big Mistakes” Jumbo Erasers

Glue sticks
Washable markers
Book covers Plastic folders
Assorted construction paper
Wide-ruled notebook or pad
Colored pencils

No. 2 pencils
Ruler

After talking about the pirate themed chalk obstacle course the other day, I got to thinking about other easy, low prep games and activities you can do with kids outside. A lot of these are ideas I found on Pinterest that don’t link to blogs anymore if they ever did, but often that’s all the detail you need to figure out what’s going on.

First, a couple from blogs that are still alive. If you have a lot of trees in your yard or in your park, you probably also have a lot of sticks, so you can pretty easily do this stick maze activity from Mother Natured. Build the maze yourself or have one child build if for another. Either way it’s lots of fun and you can keep it built to use as a labyrinth or for pretend play.

If it’s hot where you live you might want outdoor activities that involve water like this fill the bucket relay game. The only thing you might not have at home is giant sponges, but this is still pretty low prep, inexpensive and lots of fun if you have two or more kids to play. Check out how to do it from The Resourceful Mama. And check out my post all about ice and water sensory activities for more ideas to beat the heat.

Make some x’s and o’s or use something you already have to be your game pieces (you can also just draw them on paper plates for a super fast version) and make a large tic tac toe board on the sidewalk. The bonus of reusable game pieces is kids can play with the same grid over and over, which is great if you don’t have a ton of space.

I also love the idea of drawing a big bullseye on the sidewalk or driveway and using beanbags or sponges to try to hit the target. If you have hula hoops you can also set them in a grassy area and have kids try to hit them.

Check out more fun outdoor games for kids from The Printable Princess. These are more for big groups of kids, but if you’ve got a classroom full these are good ones to have on hand for getting some energy out.

Do you have favorite outdoor games for kids to play when it’s hot? I’d love to hear about them!

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