It’s time to head back to school, which means school supply shopping! I love shopping for school supplies. It probably has something to do with why I started studying education in the first place. To help you get your kids ready for back to school, I’ve gathered some awesome back to school tools that can help your family get organized and get learning!

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of these supplies and books in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Get Organized

Crayola is a trusted name in school supplies. Who doesn’t recognize the iconic style of their crayons and markers? Over the years Crayola has branched out from classic school supplies to include products for middle and high school students, college students, and even adults. They also offer a range of fun toys and activities that encourage kids to use creativity to learn and create. (Check out our review of the Crayola Color Chemistry Lab Set).

We had the opportunity to check out a range of the products from their Take Note! line, aimed at tweens, teens, and adults. These products are perfect for capturing your thoughts and notes in bright colors and quick dry ink. The Take Note! Permanent Markers, Take Note! Felt Tip Pens, and Take Note! Gel Pens offer fun options for keeping your to do lists organized, filling out your planner, or labeling supplies to keep your family organized.

Take Note! Erasable Highlighters provide you with the opportunity to focus on important points in text, while also allowing you to change your mind. As a student, I usually made the mistake of highlighting way too many points. These highlighters would have been a huge help in narrowing down what I wanted to remember. These would be great for teaching kids to highlight while reading, because they can make mistakes and easily fix them.

When I was teaching, my students loved when they were given the opportunity to use dry erase markers. By providing them with their own boards and markers, they felt involved in the lesson. Now my daughter already loves using her own wipe off board and markers to practice letters, numbers, and more. Take Note! also offers a range of dry erase markers in various shapes and tip sizes.

Get Learning

Flash Cards

TestingMom.com offers a range of fun and educational flashcards that cover a wide variety of topics and skills. We had the opportunity to check out their Social Emotional deck of flashcards. These cards use social stories to help kids increase their emotional vocabulary and learn how to handle familiar social situations. The stories are illustrated with fun monster characters, and the cards include questions and conversation starters to help you talk to your kids. They also offer flash cards that develop skills in memory, problem solving, math, and spatial concepts.

Check out our full review of these flash cards here!

Clever Publishing is a publishing company that creates interactive educational books and products. We had the chance to try their First Words flashcards and Riddles flashcards. The First Words flash cards introduce 100 words to kids with colorful text and cute and easy to recognize illustrations.

The Riddles cards offer 20 rhyming riddles for kids. The fronts of the cards feature a large, adorable illustration of an animal and a cute rhyming riddle full of clues about the animal. There are colorful puzzles on the backs of the cards, so kids can put four cards together to create a picture. Both sets of over-sized flashcards come in a handy box for easy storage and portability.

ABC See, Hear, Do offers an innovative way to teach kids to read. The book and flashcards tie each letter to a different animal and physical movement, as well as it’s sound. By combining all of these, kids have lots of clues to help them remember the letter sounds. The flashcards can be used as flashcards, or as a memory game, making letter practice into a fun activity.

Related Post: The Big List of Back to School Books

Reference Books

TinkerActive Workbooks: Kindergarten Science was written by Megan Hewes Butler and illustrated by Taryn Johnson. The TinkerActive series of workbooks encourages kids to explore educational topics with engaging activities and fun hands on experiments. We had the opportunity to check out the Kindergarten Science workbook and we have had so much fun with it.

The activities allow kids to practice skills like writing, drawing and tracing, while learning basic kindergarten science. Once they have practiced their skills, they can bring the science to life with easy hands-on experiments. The book is full of brightly colored illustrations, and each section includes a merit badge sticker, so kids can track their progress. When they have completed the book, they can open the collectible badge at the end.

Clever Publishing also offers easy to read encyclopedias for kids. We had the chance to check out the First Animals and First Words encyclopedias. Both were written by Cecile Jugla and illustrated by Marion Piffaretti. The First Animals encyclopedia features large photographs of animals, as well as brightly colored illustrations. There are tons of interesting facts about the animals, their eating habits, and their habitats. The First Words encyclopedia covers a wide range of topics for young readers, including shapes, colors, animals, and opposites. These are great starter encyclopedias for kids who are interested in exploring various topics.

Related Post: Nonfiction Books for Kids

My First Quiz: Picture Book of Animals was illustrated by Tiago Americo. This illustrated quiz book uses adorable animal illustrations to teach kids about animals, their habitats, their habits, and more. Each two page spread is covered in small illustrations, each paired with a different question. The correct answers are listed in a key at the bottom, with the correct illustrations matched with the answer.

Subscriptions

KiwiCo boxes are a great way to get kids excited about learning. My daughter receives the Koala box every month, and she adores it! Every month, a box comes to our door with an educational magazine, 3 activities and all the materials to complete them. The magazine also offers ideas for further learning. I love how much thought is put into the activities. Everything you need is included, and I have been very impressed with how well thought out the prep is. My daughter loves doing all of the activities and she remembers what she has learned. Check out our full review of the KiwiCo boxes here!

Digital Learning

Reading IQ is a digital library that offers you access to thousands of books on your desktop, tablets, or phones. The library includes selections featuring some of your child’s favorite characters, as well as award winning titles and more. Kids 12 and under will find plenty of books that they will enjoy, and Reading IQ offers unlimited access. Sign up today to receive a free trial!

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited offers unlimited access to thousands of kid friendly books, games, movies, shows, and educational apps. Kids can access educational content on all compatible Fire, Android, iOS and Kindle devices. So they can read and learn wherever you are. Click here to learn more, and to start a free trial!

What are your favorite back to school tools for the new school year? Share in the comments below!

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