This guide may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of my affiliate links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission which doesn’t affect the prices of your purchase. Please read my disclosure for more information.
As a parent, shopping for school supplies can be stressful. You’ll need pencils, paper, and socks! Not just regular socks, but I’ll explain that later. Your school or teacher will have a list of requested supplies, and then during the year, there will be unexpected events, like dress up days or projects. Online shopping is the way to go! You can put in what you need and get it delivered a few days later. Of course, there’s local stores that have everything, and there’s the dollar stores which have things cheaper. However, you get what you pay for with many things, such as backpacks. If you want supplies to last for the whole year or longer, you need to check for quality first.
School Supply Basics
Some school supply lists just cover the basics, like pencils and paper, but some lists can be extensive!! You tend to go to the store several times each year, sometimes because you need more, and sometimes because what you bought has broken or gotten lost. Children are rough on things and lose things easily! The post below is an all-in-one resource for parents to shop online for what they need, and a few things they want!
So, what about the socks? Patience… I’ll get to that, too.
Basic Supplies
Pencils:
Tricondera are by far the best. Great quality pencils, sharpen evenly, and don’t splinter when they’re sharpened. The erasers work well, too.
Mead makes good quality pencils as well. There are several other brands that do well, but when you get pencils at the dollar store, just be aware that they might not sharpen evenly, and one side of the pencil won’t write.
Get a hand-held pencil sharpener… or splurge and get a good quality electric one. Either way, if your child does homework, they will need sharpened pencils at home.
Crayons, Markers, and Colored Pencils:
Crayola are most affordable best quality in this area. You can get better quality if you go to an art supply store, but for most elementary students, they just need some way to color things. Rose art and others have made crayons and markers, but I’ve found that the markers dry out easily. The crayons have a little different color than Crayola, which is usually fine. For colored pencils, I haven’t found much difference.
Paper, Composition and Spiral Notebooks:
Filler paper, or lined paper, comes in wide rule and college rule. When children are younger, they write larger and need the wide rule paper. As they get older, they might prefer the college rule because they want to be able to fit more on a page. My personal children have used college rule since the 5th grade, so we have lots of extra wide rule after I purchased a pack of 500 sheets when they were younger.
Copy paper is usually pretty basic. Some packs of paper have less in them, so if you’re comparing prices, just know you might not be getting the same amount. Most teachers are fine with the basic copy paper, so don’t splurge on higher quality paper unless it’s specifically requested.
Primary paper or tablets are used by some in Kindergarten, while children are learning to write letters. This is the paper that has the dotted line in the middle of the top and bottom line. There are several varieties of this, so just get the basic unless your teacher requests it. Go ahead and get a pack for home practice, too. If your child practices writing just a little at home, they will remember what they’ve learned easier.
Composition vs. Spiral Notebooks… the battle begins. Some teachers request that students not bring spiral notebooks, because they make a mess when they tear out the pages. The problem is that some students still tear out a page and then the other side of the composition notebook falls apart. It’s a never-ending battle to keep the pages in the notebook. Some teachers want specific colors. Some want a specific size, wide rule, or college rule. Just check the supply list. If there’s not specifics, just get a color and size of rule your child likes.
Glue:
Glue was always liquid when I was a kid. Now there are a ton of options. Glue sticks are much less messy, but they don’t last very long. This is why you see them in packs of 4 and more. Get some for home as well. Even if your child doesn’t have projects because they’re in kindergarten, they might have to make up a cut-and-paste assignment if they’re out sick.
Scissors:
I recommend the blunt tip scissors with the cover for young children. As they get to second or third grade they can usually handle the pointed tip. There are many brands, but Fiskars has good quality and the plastic will last longer. If you choose a cheaper brand and the plastic handle cracks, go ahead and replace the scissors. That one crack will pinch little fingers!
Pencil pouch or box:
Depending on how the teacher wants to organize supplies, they might request a pencil box or pencil pouch. If they want a pouch to place in a binder, get a good quality pouch. Mead and a few other brands hold up to lots of wear and tear, the zipper doesn’t break easily, and it’s large enough to hold sharpened pencils without breaking them or making a hole. Some are double sided, but packing them full will not only be hard to handle, it will break whatever binder they’re in.
Erasers:
Get the pink erasers. Pencil erasers can get used up, messed up (especially if you have one who sticks things up their nose – yuk!), or broken off. Having extra erasers doesn’t mean your child will need to correct EVERYTHING, but it gives you a way to help them understand that it’s okay to make mistakes. We just have a way to fix them.
Folders and binders:
There are simple folders with pockets, then folders with prongs and pockets. These come in paper or plastic, in a variety of colors. You can also find pocket folders with designs to match all interests.
Backpack:
Look for quality unless you plan on replacing the backpack during the year! Some schools require clear or mesh for safety reasons, but those will also need to be quality unless your child takes care of their things well.
Headphones or earbuds:
My children’s earbuds always tore up or stopped working during the year. I ended up getting two sets, just in case they broke. There are also some earbud pouches for those children who will take time to use them. (I had one that would and one that wouldn’t!) If your child’s teacher allows headphones, they last longer. If you get cheap headphones, they’ll still break, so don’t just get the cheapest ones.
This guide may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of my affiliate links and make a purchase, I may receive a commission which doesn’t affect the prices of your purchase. Please read my disclosure for more information.
Items that are commonly shared in the classroom
Dry Erase Markers – Expo reins superior to other brands, because they don’t run out of ink as fast and erase well. Some cheaper brands will stain the dry erase boards.
Construction paper – Some teachers request it, some don’t. If they do, any brand will do. If you need construction paper by the color, check out the Amazon link below.
Cleaning Supplies for the Classroom – used by teacher
Some teachers request cleaning supplies. This is not unusual, because some school systems simply don’t have extra funds to provide these for the classroom. If this applies to your school, here are a few cleaning supplies you could expect: paper towels, disinfecting wipes (like Clorox or Lysol), baby wipes (for younger classroom to wipe hands and faces), disinfecting spray, plastic baggies, hand sanitizer, facial tissues, or even hand soap.
Supplies specific to grade level
Wide pencils – used in younger grades
Nap mat or blanket – used in Pre-K or Kindergarten in some school systems
Bag to hold the blanket or extra clothes. There are lots of cute places to get these. I like having the name on the bag and found these awesome stores online!
Highlighters – If these are going in a pencil pouch, get the narrow ones.
Graph paper, Protractor, Compass – used in upper elementary for math.
Don’t forget the socks!
At some point during the year, there will be dress up days or projects at all grade levels. It’s good to plan ahead, so you don’t stress when that unexpected announcement comes. Some common times of the year for dress up days are homecoming week, read across America week, holidays, Red Ribbon Week, and even Johnny Appleseed Day! During special weeks, dress up days such as white out, hat day, or crazy sock day will have you scrambling for clothes. Projects can come on a monthly basis, depending on what is being studied in the classroom. To prepare for these things, I have some suggestions below.
Dress Up Tub
Some suggested contents of the tub are white shirt (white out day), black shirt (black out day), crazy socks, a hat, something green, and maybe something Hawiian or camoflage.
Project Box
This is a good place for extra school supplies, such as scissors, glue, construction paper, and markers. Some craft sticks, pom poms, chennile sticks, and stickers are good ideas, but any extra art supplies will do. You’ll still probably need to pick something up, but you’ll have a starting point!
Good luck and happy shopping!
