My Top Favorite Teacher Supplies
Originally posted on May 5, 2021 on Facebook Notes
CONTENT WARNING: This blog post may contain affiliate links and is not sponsored by any of the following mentioned companies and/or brands.
[Image Description: A white and black tote bag that says "It tAKES A Big HEARt to HELP SHAPE LittLE MiNDS" in curvy black text above a pink, black dotted, lavender, yellow, and blue rainbow imprinted on it with "#teacherlife" in center-aligned cursive black text below the rainbow.]
To put all of my supplies in for safe keeping. Shoutout to the tote bag pictured above that my former third graders and mentor teacher from my Field Experience internship gave me last year☺️🎒
2. Markers
[Image Description: Rectangular yellow and green box of 10 Crayola red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, gray, and black markers on the left. The front of the box says "ULTRA CLEAN WASHABLE MARKERS" in center-aligned white bubble text outlined in dark blue. At the bottom of the box "10" is in center-aligned white bubble text in a dark blue circle. On the right, there is a clear plastic bag of 10 red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, dark blue, purple, pink, brown, and black markers. The packs of markers are laying on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: 4 Crayola boxes of 24 crayons per box laying horizontally on a dark brown table. There is also a big rectangular sky blue box of oil pastel crayons laying in front of the other boxes of crayons on the table.]
[Image Description: There are 2 rectangular yellow and green boxes of colored pencils laying on a dark brown table. The box on the left has 12 colored pencils inside of it and says "MADE WITH REFORESTED WOOD" in center-aligned white text overlapping a picture of a green tree with a green trunk inside of a small light blue circle outlined in white. This circle is overlapping the left side of a picture of a red ribbon that says "Preferred by Teachers!" in right-aligned white text. "COLORED PENCILS" is in center-aligned white bubble text outlined in dark purple. At the bottom of the box, "12" is in white bubble text in a dark purple circle. "Nontoxic" is in decreased center-aligned black text below the dark purple circle. The box on the right has 24 colored pencils inside of it and says "MADE WITH REFORESTED WOOD" in center-aligned white text overlapping a picture of a green tree with a green trunk inside of a small light blue circle outlined in white. This circle is overlapping the left side of a picture of a red ribbon that says "Preferred by Teachers!" in right-aligned white text. "COLORED PENCILS" is in center-aligned white bubble text outlined in dark purple. At the bottom of the box, "24" is in white bubble text in a dark purple circle. "Nontoxic" is in decreased center-aligned black text below the dark purple circle.]
[Image Description: Clear plastic rectangular paint palette with 3 horizontal rows of 8 ovals of different color paints with a skinny red paint brush laying in a slot at the bottom of the palette. In the first row, the paints are beige, purple, aqua, light green, light yellow, light orange, light cherry red, and light sea green (left to right). In the second row, the paints are white, black, sky blue, dark sea green, yellow green, orange, scarlet red, and dark purple (left to right). In the third row, the paints are black, red, bright orange, yellow, dark green, bright blue, dark blue, and brown (left to right).]
[Image Description: A bright blue short sleeved button-down smock with one medium-sized pockets on both sides at the bottom.]
[Image Description: A box of 24 Crayola colored pencils, a box of 12 Crayola colored pencils, a box of 10 Crayola markers, and a box of 24 Crayola crayons laying on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: White rectangular lined papers with 35 light blue lines. There are 3 spaced out holes punched into the left side of the papers. A red margin on the right side of the holes and a faded red margin on the right side of the top paper is pictured.]
[Image Description: 10 pens laying in a horizontal row with their points on the left on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Left to right: A black and light gray electronic pencil sharpener with a black cord wrapped around it, small red pencil sharpener with one pencil shaving inside of it, and a tiny purple pencil sharpener. There is also a small Staples label that says "STAPLES" in center-aligned gray text in a black rectangle outlined in gray and all of the pencil sharpeners are sitting on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Left to right: A red Sharpie, orange Sharpie, 2 light green Sharpies, dark green Sharpie, aqua Sharpie, 2 sky blue Sharpies, dark blue Sharpie, light purple Sharpie, pink Sharpie, violet Sharpie, and black Sharpie laying vertically with their cups facing upwards on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Skinny bright orange Sharpie, skinny bright yellow Sharpie, thick bright yellow Sharpie, and skinny sky blue Sharpie laying horizontally with their caps facing to the right on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: 12 pairs of colorful scissors laying in a closed rectangular black case with a clear cover with a red border laying on a dark brown carpet. Some of the points of the scissors are pointing downwards and some of the points of the scissors are pointing upwards. There is also a blue pair of scissors with its points pointing upward laying on the outside of the left side of the case and a yellow pair of scissors laying on the outside of the right side of the case.]
[Image Description: A light green stapler (left) and an opened small rectangular white box of silver staples sitting on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: A clear push pin with its silver point pointing to upwards to the right with a dark green push pin with its silver pointing upwards to the right and a dark blue push pin with its silver point pointing downwards to the left. The green and blue push pins are center-aligned below the clear push pin and all of the push pins are laying on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: A small white bottle of white out with a white cylinder-shaped cap screwed on the top of it standing on a dark brown table. On the front of the bottle there is a yellow, white, and green label that says "Wite Out" in right-aligned white text outlined in black. Above that, "BiC" is in bolded italicized black text in a yellow rectangle outlined in black and white with round corners. At the bottom of the label of the bottle, "Extra Coverage Correction Fluid" is in right-aligned dark green text outlined in white.]
[Image Description: Lime green, sky blue, and violet expo markers laying horizontally on a dark brown table. The caps of the markers match their colors and are pointing to the left.]
[Image Description: 2 tape dispensers standing on a dark brown table. The tape dispenser on the left is clear with clear tape and the tape dispenser on the right is red with clear tape.]
[Image Description: A pile of several apricot craft sticks laying vertically on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Left to right: A big spool of red yarn, big spool of dark green yarn, small spool of purple yarn, small spool of sky blue yarn, a small clear plastic bag of small spools of shiny red, white, light pink, bright blue, and yellow ribbon, and a clear plastic pack of small spools of red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, sky blue, medium blue, dark blue, purple, brown, white, and black embroidery string laying on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Left to right: clear Ziplock bag with an aqua seel filled with several red and green pony beads, a medium sized pearler beads elephant, small light pink pearler beads E, medium sized red, hot pink, clear, and light purple pearler beads heart, red and clear pearler beads Target symbol, and red pearler beads dog laying on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: A rectangular black box of small square-shaped light blue sticky notes (top left) and small square shaped light green sticky notes (top right) on a white table. There are 8 small different colored sticky notes in front of the sticky notes. From left to right the colors of the sticky tabs are bright pink, bright blue, light pink, yellow, lighter pink, bright orange, light yellow, and light green.]
[Image Description: A wide square shaped binder with a clear cover with white papers inside of it pictured at the bottom edge of the binder.]
[Image Description: One big black rubber band, one small apricot rubber band, and 2 small tan rubber bands laying vertically on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: An up close picture of a black flash drive plugged into the right side of a computer. Part of the silver metal keyboard and its black keys are pictured and the bottom right corner of the blacked out screen is pictured. The computer is standing on a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: A gray TI-84 Plus Silver Edition Texas Instruments calculator laying on a dark brown table. The calculator keys are white, light gray and dark gray along with one light blue key and one light green key. The text on the calculator keys are black and white.]
[Image Description: A rectangular yellow, black, and red cardboard pack of several small cylinder-shaped Kodak brand Triple AAA red, yellow, and black batteries with silver metals ends on both of their sides laying vertically stacked with a plastic clear cover on them. There is a cardboard pack of 3 thick Eveready Gold Double AA red, gold, white, and black batteries with a clear cover on them.]
[Image Description: There are 3 rectangle 3-hole punched folders laying on a dark brown table. From left to right, the folders are purple with sparkles, orange, and dark blue.]
[Image Description: An apricot file folder laying on an opened white drawer.]
[Image Description: Red orange, yellow, green, dark blue, and purple growing heart crafts stapled onto an orange bulletin board background with a "Art" in center-aligned paper cut-out black letters stapled above them.]
[Image Description: There is a diamond shaped yellow sign with a black and yellow border that says "RESILIENT CONFIDENT POSITIVE" in enlarged center-aligned black text with a small hole center-aligned in the top left side of it. There is another red and white sign that says "NO" in center-aligned bolded white text in a red space and in the white space below "NO," there is "BULLYING ANY TIME" in center-aligned red text with a thick red arrow pointing to left and right below it and "FRIEND ZONE" in center-aligned red text below the arrow.]
[Image Description: A teacher planner book laying on a white blanket. The cover of the book has "Teacher's Planner" in center-aligned cursive white text in the middle of it and orange, green, aqua, light blue, and pink flowers spread out across it. The rest of the background of the book cover is dark blue.]
[Image Description: A bright blue rectangular bin with 2 toilet paper rolls taped on 2 sides and one toilet paper roll taped on 2 sides. The toilet paper rolls are orange, yellow, green, dark blue, purple, and pink with yellow tape attached to them. The bin is filled with several red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, light blue, dakr blue, light purple, and light pink paper scraps. On the right side of the bright blue pin, there is a smaller clear plastic pin filled with several paper scraps of the same colors.]
[Image Description: The inside of a yellow and green bug/insect catcher with white netting on the left and right sides with a brown lipped snail inside of it. The snail has a dark brown body and antennaes and light brown shell. The cage is also filled with several brown leaves, a small clear bottle cap filled with clear water, and a white spoon.]
[Image Description: 4 medium sized clear hand sanitizer bottles filled with hand sanitizer and standing on a flowered table cloth on a white surface. The first hand sanitizer bottle on the left is filled with tan hand sanitizer, has a cream and tan label that says "VANILLA COCONUT" in center-aligned black text on the cream part of the label "ANTI-BACTERIAL HAND GEL" in center-aligned white text on the tan part of the label, and has a closed clear cylinder-shaped cap. The second hand sanitizer bottle is filled with clear hand sanitizer, has a dark blue label with blurred center-aligned white text on it, and a closed cylinder-shaped white cap. The third hand sanitizer bottle is filled with clear hand sanitizer, has a white label with a white Bucks County Community College logo that says "BUCKS" in center-aligned dark blue text with a dark blue line above it and dark blue building below it, and a closed cylinder-shaped clear cap. The fourth hand sanitizer bottle is filled with clear hand sanitizer, has a white label with "epic" in left-aligned dark blue text with a blurred dark blue and red label on the left side of it, blurred dark red and dark blue text below it, and blurred center-aligned black text at the bottom of the label.]
[Image Description: A plastic white and violet 3 drawer mini organizer sitting on a white surface. The drawers are violet and see-through with small white handles.]
[Image Description: A beige straw basket filled with several colorful stress balls, 4 colorful pop-its, and a light pink pull straw fidget.]
[Image Description: A white and rose gold Armitron watch that says "1:57" in black digital text with "03" seconds in left-aligned black digital text below it. The watch is on a right wrist.]
[Image Description: 2 mugs of several colorful scrunchies, a closed red water bottle and closed sky blue water bottle filled with scrunchies, a card with small black hair ties attached to it, and another card with a red flowered hair tie with 7 small silver rhinestones attached to them and black straps, a yellow flowered hair tie with 7 small silver rhinestones attached to them and black straps, and a light blue flowered hair tie with 7 small silver rhinestones attached to them and black straps. All of these things are laying on a flowered table cloth on a white bureau.]
[Image Description: Several holiday headbands, hats, and other festive accessories stuffed into a hat box. There are also 2 LGBTQ+ pins pictured in the top left corner of the interior of the hat box and the interior of the hat box is red with white polka dots.]
Of course markers are very useful for art projects. Typically, all toddler, preschool, and school age students love to color with markers and they promote development of their fine motor skills. They are even developmentally-appropriate for young toddlers! My former young toddler class loved coloring with markers. They are even useful to teachers when prepping lesson activities. When I would let my former young toddler students choose the color of their handprint or footprint that they were making depending on the craft, I would sometimes label their name in the same color as their handprint or footprint with markers. Washable, nontoxic markers can be found at almost literally any store, especially Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, and even grocery stores and Amazon.
3. Crayons🖍️
Crayons are another top lesson activity tool for all toddler, preschool, and school-age students! While I said that markers are great for young toddlers too, crayons tend to be easier than markers for young children to use in an even better way. They are less messy, just as fun to color with, and another tool that promotes the development of young children's fine motor skills. As lesson activities, many teachers will let their students free draw with crayons and color with them. Crayola appears to be the top favorite brand of crayons that I am pretty sure that literally most teachers use. Crayons are another art material that can be found at literally any store, especially Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, and Amazon.
Pastel crayons are also another favorite type of crayons that art teachers love!
4. Colored pencils
Colored pencils are a great tool for all teachers to use and even their preschool and school age students for when it comes to coloring. Colored pencils are another tool that promote the development of young children's fine motor skills. When I was an infant teacher and toddler teacher, I would also use colored pencils to draw and color certain things for lesson activities that we would do. I would also use them to draw and color my students' cubby name cards depending on what they were of.
Colored pencils are another art material that can be found at literally any store, especially Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, and even grocery stores and Amazon.
Remember that coloring is also great for mental health because of how stress relieving it is!
5. All colors of paint and paint brushes🎨🖌️
Some people think that I am crazy for what I am about to say, but paint is actually my favorite lesson activity tool for when teaching arts and crafts in Early Childhood Education classrooms. While crayons and markers are very hands-on and fun too, paint is my favorite because it is the most hands-on and when you think about it, it promotes multiple developmental skills. Besides Art Education, using paint promotes the development of fine motor skills, sensory skills (for when fingerpainting and making handprints and footprints), gross motor skills for when making footprints, and even problem-solving skills because it is technically STEAM (Science, Technology, Education, Art, Mathematics). Once you start using paint more and more in your lesson activities, you will realize that you can do more with it than you thought. Washable, nontoxic paints can be found at almost literally any store, especially Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, and Amazon.
6. Smocks
Any oversized old short-sleeved t-shirts, long-sleeved t-shirts, and even dress shirts can be used as smocks. Smocks are especially useful for young toddlers to fourth graders and students of all ages enrolled in Ceramics classes who may get paint on their outfits easily. When I was a toddler teacher at Children of America (COA) Southampton, all of the teachers working for the entire company chain were required to wear button-down blue smocks with two pockets in them provided by the company. I found using this smock extremely beneficial when painting with my toddler students and cleaning them after messy meals. After I left my toddler teacher job position, I kept the smock in case I would need it again as a teacher and wore it every day in a Ceramics general education class that I had to take towards my Bachelor's Degree last school year since clay can get messy!
7. Hanging drying rack
[Image Description: A poster clipped onto and hanging from a silver drying rack. The poster says "Color Mixing" written center-aligned in violet marker at the top with a big green circle, big orange circle, and big dark purple circle painted in the middle. Below the big green painted circle, there is a small blue circle drawn in blue marker with a small black plus sign written on the right side of it followed by a small yellow circle drawn in marker next to it with a small black equals sign written on the right side of it followed by a small green circle drawn in marker. Below the big orange painted circle, there is a small red circle drawn in marker with a small black plus sign written on the right side of it followed by a small yellow circle drawn in marker next to it with a small black equals sign written on the right side of it followed by a small orange circle drawn in marker. Below the dark purple painted circle, there is a small blue circle drawn in marker with a small black plus sign written on the right side of it followed by a small red circle drawn in marker next to it with a small black equals sign written on the right side of it followed by a small purple circle drawn in marker.]
When the traumatic car accident that occurred at our home location COA Southampton, my co-teacher, students, and I had to relocate to another COA location while our center was being repaired. The classroom that we were in had a hanging drying rack. We fell in love with this material right away and knew that we needed to order it on the supply list as soon as possible when we returned to our center location. Before discovering hanging drying racks, we usually put our students' crafts in the closet or cabinets and/or on the counter to dry. Once we got a hanging drying rack, it was extremely helpful with storage space and time management.
This hanging drying rack can be found on Amazon.
8. Anything Crayola from crayons to markers to colored pencils to clay, etc.
9. Poster paper and rolls of paper
[Image Description: A light blue door background with 9 paper pig collage and 9 paper pancake collage crafts taped on it. The middle left side of the door mural has "PIGGIN OUT ON PANCAKES" in left-aligned dark blue paper cut-out letters taped onto it. On the right side of the paper cut-out letters, there is a rectangular window on the door. The pig collages are surrounding the letters and window with the pancake collages at the top bottom of the door mural. Part of the door's purple color is also pictured.]
When teachers made door murals as part of the curriculum at one of the childcare centers that I taught at, we used the rolls of paper to decorate the door. Teachers would measure the paper to be the same size as the door, paint it a certain color, tape it onto the door after it was dry, and then, decorate it with child-made artwork. Rolls of paper can also be handy when making posters with your class. There were big sheets of paper in the supply closet at one of the centers that I taught at and I would always use them when we made handprint and footprint crafts. Then, when the paint was dry, I would just draw the rest of the pieces onto my infant students' crafts and let my toddler students glue on the rest of the paper cut-out pieces to the figure. This is because process art is typically a developmentally-appropriate art lesson activity for young toddlers and up.
10. Tons of colorful construction paper
Construction paper will literally become your main best friend in the ECE field and I mean it LOL I use it for probably almost every craft lesson activity and I used it to make many toddler and preschool friendly games for lesson activities.
11. Glue
[Image Description: Left to right: A white squirtable Elmer's glue stick with an orange cap, a Extra Strength Elmer's glue stick with an orange cap, and 2 small Disappearing Purple Elmer's glue sticks with orange caps standing on a dark brown table.]
I have tons of both Disappearing Purple Elmer's glue sticks and squirtable Elmer's glue sticks in my classroom just in case we run out of one kind. I highly recommend having both the Disappearing Purple Elmer's glue sticks and squirtable Elmer's glue sticks since some teachers and children have preferences of which kind of glue to use. When using the Disappearing Purple Elmer's glue sticks, users can just take the caps off and rub the sticks right on the paper. When using the squirtable Elmer's glue sticks, users can either squirt the glue or paint the glue to spread it out. I prefer to use the squirtable kind and paint it because it is easier and quicker, but to each their own.
Tacky glue is really strong glue that is especially useful when making sensory bottles to prevent the sensory fillers from spilling out. This is also helpful to use to secure the lids of sensory bottles when young children are using them, especially infants and toddlers, who tend to put small inedible items in their mouths, which are choking hazards. Just avoid letting young children use tacky glue when making crafts since tacky glue is not nontoxic. Same with hot glue guns. While hot glue guns are another tool that I highly recommend for gluing, they can be very dangerous since they are hot and can accidentally result in burns if dropped by accident and not used correctly. So, avoid letting students use hot glue guns until they are in about sixth grader or older. All Elmer's glue is nontoxic and washable though. You can still use hot glue guns in classrooms below this grade level though as long as you glue the hot glue for your students and store the hot glue gun and glue sticks out of reach when not in use. Washable, nontoxic glues can be found at almost literally any convenience store, especially Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, even grocery stores and Amazon.
12. Playdough or clay
[Image Description: Red clay, orange clay, yellow clay, green clay, and dark blue clay laying on a clear plastic Ziplock bag laying on a dark brown table.]
Great sensory friendly sensory/fine motor play activity for young children of all ages and abilities! Play dough is also nontoxic and can be found at Target, Michael's, Dollar Tree, Five Below, and Amazon.
Related Links:
13. Stamps and cookie cutters
Stamps and cookie cutters are fun art materials to use for crafts, especially with young toddlers. In addition, cookie cutters can not only be used for playdough; they can also be used for paint crafts and to trace things when prepping lesson activities.
14. Tracers
Tracers are great to use when you need to make certain shapes without mistakes. My former co-teacher and I in my former toddler classroom even made some of our own that we kept to have on hand to trace in the future. We had paper cut-out circles, squares, diamonds, triangles, rectangles, ovals, and even hearts, and stars. We also had a stash of tracers of letters of the alphabet and I made some number tracers later in my career. If the childcare center or school that you teach does not have any tracers, you can either order them on Amazon or even print and cut-out the figures out of blank coloring pages with just a simple Google Images search.
15. Lined papers
Lined paper can be great for students to write on when taking quick notes or writing classwork, homework assignments, or to show their written work when solving math problems.
16. Pens, pens, pens🖊️
You will need lots and lots and LOTS AND LOTS of pens as a teacher because you will be writing many things in this job and I mean it when I say that you will be doing it A LOT LOL😂 I go through pens very quickly because of all of the things that I have to write on paper each day as a teacher. Teachers have to fill out paperwork every day, write the names on the crafts of the students who can't write their names yet, and use them to draw stuff to cut out when prepping certain lessons, especially crafts. So, it is important for teachers to make sure to have plenty of spare pens. When pens are being given out at events that I go to, I always make sure to not only grab any of them for myself, but also for my classroom. I go to a fundraiser every year and when I visit all of the expo tables at this event, I take two of each pens from all of the tables and put one of each in my writing supplies bin/pencil holder when I return to work on that upcoming Monday. I can order more on the monthly supply list too when needed as well.
Related Links:
17. Regular pencils✏️
[Image Description: There are 6 pencils laying in a horizontal row on a dark brown table. The points of the first two pencils at the top of the row are pointing to the right and are manilla colored Number 2 pencils with beige wood, and gray points. The first pencil has a dark blue eraser cap and the second pencil just has a pink eraser and silver metal part showing. The third pencil is yellow, has a black eraser and black metal part showing, and is unsharpened. The fourth pencil is purple, shiny, has a pink eraser and silver metal part, and is unsharpened. The fifth pencil is pink, has a black eraser and black metal part, and is unsharpened. The sixth pencil is gold, shiny, has an orange eraser and silver metal part, and is unsharpened.]
For you to write with and in case your students are missing pencils to write with.
18. Eraser caps
[Image Description: Several orange, yellow, green, blue, dark purple, and one pink eraser in a clear plastic container.]
For when the bottoms of the erasers of regular pencils run out because it will always happen eventually.
19. Pencil case, pencil box, or pencil holder
[Image Description: A clear pencil case with a light pink (top) and light orange (bottom) border. There is also a skinny black border surrounding the clear parts of the pencil case and the pencil case is filled with a box of 10 Crayola markers, a bag of markers, a box of colored pencils, Sharpies, pens, a pencil sharpener, crayons, a glue stick, and other materials.]
To store all of your extra pencils, pens, crayons, markers, colored pencils, Sharpies, scissors, etc. Keep in mind that an easy DIY pencil holder is also a cup👍🏻
20. Electronic and mini pencil sharpeners
When I was a toddler teacher, I was against having an electronic pencil sharpener in my classroom for safety purposes (Young toddlers who are so young and innocent will put any objects in their mouths no matter how dangerous they are because they do not know any better. Young toddlers are also climbers. Exposing this age group to the possibility of climbing the counter, pulling the electronic pencil sharpener off of the counter, and putting lead in their mouths is too dangerous of a risk to take). So I used a mini pencil sharpener to sharpen our colored pencils with during nap time since their noise is so low. Just make sure to store mini pencil sharpeners out of children's reach when they are not being used. Mini pencil sharpeners are also great for students to use when the electronic pencil sharpener is overheated, broken, being used by someone else, or when they need to sharpen their pencils and cannot disturb their peers while they are trying to concentrate as they complete tests, quizzes, and classwork.
21. Sharpies
I recommend getting both black and colored Sharpies. Sharpies can be bought at Target, Michael's, Staples, Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, and literally any crafts stores. Sharpies are also great for teachers to use for lesson activities as long as they NEVER let young children use them since they are permanent markers. When I was an infant teacher and toddler teacher, I often used Sharpies to write the names of the babies on their crafts when the pens in my classroom were out of ink and to label their cubby and take home vine name cards.
22. Highlighters
To highlight important statements on forms, assignments, notes, etc.
23. Multiple pairs of scissors✂️
Scissors are obviously used to cut things out for lesson activities. I mostly use them when prepping craft and game lesson activities. When I was a toddler teacher, I also used them to cut out letters of the alphabet for mural titles and labels for cubby name cards and take home vine name cards. It is beneficial to have multiple pairs of scissors in case you, your co-teachers, paraprofessionals, and students who are missing their own scissors need to use scissors all at the same time. Make sure to have lefty scissors (pictured below) for people with left hand preferences! And yes, believe it or not, there are custom made scissors for lefties! I am left handed and pictured below are my lefty scissors that an occupational therapist gave me in my childhood! They are so old😂
[Image Description: Red scissors with silver metal points laying on a dark brown table.]
24. Stapler
Staplers are definitely another top must-have for all teachers for many reasons. You can use them to staple papers together to make handouts with important information for the students and their families. You will also need to use them to make bulletin boards, hang your students' artwork, and even decorate the classroom.
25. Stapler remover
Staplers are the best handy way to take down stapled classroom decorations and your students' artwork to prevent accidentally cutting yourself. To use it, literally just slide the metal part under the staple, and then, wa-la! The staple is out!
26. Push pins📍
Use push pins when you are out of staples to refill your stapler with and/or your stapler and/or stapler remover have been misplaced. I honestly prefer push pins than staples since push pins tend to have a stronger hold.
27. Clothespins and hemp
[Image Description: 5 autism awareness infinity symbol puzzle piece crafts hanging from apricot clothespins on beige hemp attached to a white ceiling. The infinity symbols are made out of white paper into a figure 8 symbol and they have several small paper cut-out red, yellow, green, and light blue puzzle pieces glued onto them.]
Clothespins tend to be a safer option than staples that can fall off of bulletin boards and onto the floor resulting in them potentially pricking the fingers of innocent young children. When I was a toddler teacher, the childcare center that I taught at required all teachers to hang all artwork from clothespins attached to bulletin boards and hemp hanging from the ceiling instead of stapling artwork for this matter.
28. Command strips
[Image Description: An up close picture of a white command strip stuck onto a white door with black papers hooked onto it.]
Command strips are a very helpful DIY tool for creating hooks on cubbies and other things.
29. Ruler📏📐
[Image Description: A beige wooden ruler with 4 spread out in it laying on a dark brown table. At the top edges of the ruler, there are several small and medium sized black lines with the numbers "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12" spread out in black text for inches. At the bottom edges of the ruler, there are several small and medium sized black lines with the numbers "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30" in upside down black text for millimeters. "mm" is in upside down black text on the left side of "1."]
Rulers are great to have when making straight lines, letters of the alphabet when prepping lesson activities, classroom decor, and teaching math and science lessons that involve measurement.
30. Hole punchers
[Image Description: A hot pink and silver metal 3-hole puncher and silver metal single-hole puncher laying on a dark brown table.]
Make sure to have both single and three-hole punchers!
31. Notebooks
[Image Description: Left to right: A rectangular 3-hole punched pink notebook with a silver metal spiraled spine attached to its left side with a green and white composition notebook with a black spine overlapping the right side of the pink notebook laying on a dark brown table. There is a silver Staples labeled on the right side of the top hole on the cover of the pink notebook and it is pictured as "STAPLES" in silver text in a small silver rectangle. The green and white composition book has a center-aligned white rectangle with "wide ruled" in center-aligned enlarged bolded black text. Below that rectangle, there is an enlarged white rectangle with "composition" in center-aligned decreased black text at the top of it. There are also 3 skinny straight black lines below "composition" with "Emily Hoff" written left-aligned in black pen on the first line.]
Notebooks can be helpful to use as agenda books to write lists of homework assignments with their due dates and important reminders in, for notetaking, and journaling assignments.
32. Clipboards
[Image Description: A brown clipboard with a silver metal clip center-aligned at the top of it laying on a dark brown table. The clip has a center-aligned silver Staples label engraved on the front of it that is pictured as "STAPLES" in a rectangle.]
Clipboards can be a great hard surface for students and teachers to lean on when books, folders, desks, or tables are not available to put paper on when writing.
33. Label stickers and index cards
[Image Description: A pack of 3 sets of rectangular white label stickers with blue borders, red borders, and green borders laying on a dark brown table.]
By a Keystone STARS center law, all childcare centers (at least in the state of Pennsylvania) have to label their shelves and toy bins with the names of the toys that belong in them and all of the chairs with the children's names on them. So, it is common for infant, toddler, preschool, and Kindergarten teachers to use label stickers, index cards, or sentence strips to label them. Label stickers are also great to use to label items that cannot just be written on, especially if they are students' essential belongings, such as sippy cups and water bottles.
In addition, many toddler teachers make flashcards out of index cards to review toddler friendly things at circle time to build young toddlers' language development.
[Image Description: A stack of rectangular yellow index cards with 10 dark blue lines and a faded margin at the top over lapping some sky blue index cards and a stack of white index cards with a dark blue rubber band wrapped around them laying on a dark brown table.]
34. White out
To use when you make mistakes just like erasers are for except for when you used a pen or marker without an eraser or erasers are not available.
35. Expo markers, white boards, and white board paddles for each student
Expo markers are great to use for white boards and make sure to have extras on hand for when they run out of ink eventually. Put a white board on your classroom door to write reminders for students who can typically read at their age and their families. Childcare center teachers can also use white boards to write their primary caregiver lists and infant students' next times for diapers, meals, bottles, naps, and their departure times since all infants have different schedules. Toddlers, preschoolers, and school age students may also enjoy using expo markers to draw on white boards during supervised free time activities.
36. Tape
Contact tape is one of the best supplies for when hanging stuff in your classroom. When I was a toddler teacher, I had to make cubby name cards for my students each month. So, I used contact tape to tape each child's name card on their cubby. Contact tape is also handy for when repairing things to put them back together again, such as ripped books, crafts, or even when bookshelves have small breaks in them. In addition, when I was an infant teacher, sometimes I ran out of sentence strips, index cards, and label stickers to label the cabinets. So, I wrote the labels on manilla scotch tape, stuck them on the cabinets and bins, and put contact tape over each label to make the labels stay on.
37. Craft sticks
Great for crafts!
38. Colorful embroidery string, yarn, and ribbons
Great for crafts especially bracelet making!
39. Beads
Great for bracelet making, pearler bead art, and fine motor play activities!
40. Sticky notes and tabs
When I was a toddler teacher, my co-teacher and I used sticky notes to mark pages in the curriculum binder. I also used them when I needed to write important notes for myself, co-teachers, and the families of my students to put on their cubbies.
41. Binders
Great organization tool for both teachers and students!
42. Paper clips📎
[Image Description: Several paper clips and two small binder clips spread out on a dark brown table. There is one small red paper clip, 12 small yellow paper clips, one small sky blue paper clip, 6 small light purple paper clips, one small white paper clip, and one big silver paper clip. One of the binder clips is red with a silver metal bender and the other binder clip is black with a silver metal bender.]
I use them to clip my copies of paper cut-out pieces for my craft lesson activities, especially when I have several different ones.
43. Rubber bands
44. Laminator
Laminating things is a very handy teacher hack to prevent special things in your classroom from ripping. My toddler students and I once made a child-made alphabet book using all of their handprints and to prevent the pages from ripping, I laminated them. There are so many other things that teachers can laminate for their classroom.
45. Computer, printer, and copier machine with printer paper💻🖱️🖨️
You will need to print many things as a teacher and once again, I mean it when I say MANY THINGS! 😂 I usually make the cubby name cards by hand; however, if I find something really cute on Google Images or Pinterest or want to color or cut out coloring pages for them that I find, I will print and use them. I print my lesson plan scripts and even pictures of the samples if I do not have time to make my own sample in the interest of time.
Your students - depending on how old they are - may benefit from using computers as a universally designed for learning (UDL) assistive technology (AT), especially if they have disabilities that affect their fine motor skills, slow processing speed, working memory (WM), and time management skills. Having laptops with touch mouses is okay as long as you make sure to have computers with traditional computer mouses available. These can accommodate students who may struggle with fine motor skills as part of disabilities or have a learning preference.
In addition, printer paper is not only useful in order to make the printer and copier machine work to print things; when you are out of white construction paper or lined paper and need to use white paper, why not use some printer paper?
46. Flash drive
Flash drives are my best friend and I highly recommend making them as your best friend too whether you are a student, teacher, parent/guardian, and/or one of each who needs to save important information from a computer! I saved all of my typed homework assignments and essays in high school on my computer AND flash drive and continue to do so in college. Flash drives are helpful to use in case of power outages or your computer is having technical difficulties, your computer charger dies and you are waiting to get a new one, or when your computer dies for good. When this happens, you can go to your local or school library and finish typing and print whatever it is that you need to print there. I am not sure about every Staples location, but I know that at least one of the Staples locations near me has a computers station where customers can pay to borrow the computers on site, which is pretty cool!
47. Calculators
Calculators can be a great tool for students and teachers to use to check math work. Calculators also tend to be a beneficial assistive technology (AT) for students with math learning disabilities (LD) and the exception to use this AT tends to be part of their Individualized Education Plans (IEP).
48. Batteries
49. Pocket folders
To keep important assignments, handouts, and other important papers in for all students, teachers, administrators, and even families.
50. File folders
File folders are great to use for storing students' assessment portfolios, IEPs, lesson prep, sub plans, and past lesson plans that could be used again in the future.
51. Envelopes
[Image Description: There is a stack of big rectangular white envelopes with a triangular opened seel of the top envelope pictured and another stack of small white envelopes with a straight opened seel of the top envelope pictured. The stacks of envelopes are laying on a dark brown table.]
Since teachers of infants to three year olds in childcare centers at least in Pennsylvania cannot use plastic bags in their classrooms by law for health and safety purposes, I stored all of my toddler craft lesson pieces in envelopes. When I had several pieces, I labeled each envelope according to what they were filled with to stay organized. Brown paper bags are another great alternative.
Envelopes can also be used to put important forms in to give to families and sometimes students, especially if confidential.
52. Bulletin board borders and roll of background paper
53. Chalk board with chalk
Great art, fine motor, and sensory activity for young toddlers, preschoolers, Kindergarteners, and school-age children to use for free drawing! Children of these ages may also enjoy being encouraged to independently wipe the chalk off of the chalk board when they are finished drawing. My toddler students loved that. Sidewalk chalk can also be used when the weather is really nice outside!
54. First and last day of school signs
[Image Description: An aqua rectangular sign that says "FIRST DAY" in curved center-aligned white text overlapping a melon, pink, yellow, purple, and aqua rainbow. "OF" is overlapping the bottom aqua part of the rainbow in center-aligned white text. There is a rectangular white blank space with an orange curvy border and 4 small light blue squiggly lines in its top right corner. There is a purple crescent moon with a face on it facing to the right on the left side of the top of the rainbow, a smiling yellow sun with its eyes closed on the right side of the top of the rainbow, and several small white and medium yellow stars spread out across the sign. Below the previously described sign, there is a sky blue sign that says "LAST DAY OF" in center-aligned dark blue text on a picture of an enlarged yellow ribbon. Below that, there is a center-aligned light pink square with "grade" in center-aligned cursive red text overlapping its bottom edge. There is a white arrow pointing the left side of the ribbon to the left side of "grade" and a squiggly white arrow pointing to the right side of the ribbon to the right side of "grade." Both signs are laying on a dark brown table.]
Many young children tend to love posing with first day of school and last day of school signs during the beginning and end of school years! It can be fun for many passionate super teachers who are kids at heart (like myself LOL😂) to pose with these signs as well.
55. Affirmation signs
To uplift, inspire, and be influential towards students of all ages!
56. Calendar
[Image Description: An April calendar page with a picture of a baby wearing a spaghetti-strapped melon colored one-piece bathing suit with a melon colored swim cap on its head and swimming underwater. The calendar page is white and black with black and white text and the numbers in white boxes outlined in black.]
To mark and keep track of important dates and deadlines!
Child friendly calendars can also be found on Amazon and Lakeshore Learning's websites to teach children how to read calendars as math lessons!
57. Teacher planner book
Great tool for lesson planning! I bought this teacher planner book at Barnes and Noble when I was a toddler teacher.
58. Recycled toilet paper rolls and water bottles
Toilet paper rolls can be used to make crafts and games.
Recycled water bottles can be used to make sensory bottles and fine motor play activities.
[Image Description: 4 clear plastic water bottles made into sensory bottles filled with several small colorful beads with their clear bottle caps taped closed with clear tape. The bottles are also standing on a light brown table with a plastic rectangular clear box (left) and plastic white bag (right) behind them.]
59. Bug/insect catchers
When I was a toddler teacher, there was a woodsy area behind the center that I taught at. So, my students, co-teacher, and I constantly saw a variety of wildlife through the window and on our playground from deer to foxes to groundhogs to turtles to snakes to snails to caterpillars to butterflies to worms. During my last summer of teaching at this center, my mom donated two bug/insect catchers to my classroom so that my students and I could catch anything that we could find as a science lesson. Even though they were not bugs or insects, my toddler students and I caught 4 BROWN-LIPPED SNAILS that summer! My co-teacher, our students, and I decided to keep the little critters as class pets. We took care of them in our classroom for the rest of my time there by collecting plenty of leaves to give them food, refilled bottle caps with water several times, and I would take the snails home with me every night and clean the cages.
Using bug/insect catchers is a great way for students of all abilities and ages from toddlers and up to learn about science and even mindfulness. Taking care of their findings is also a great way for students to build their responsibility and independence skills.
60. Extra fragrance-free wipes and diapers/pull-ups in infant/toddler classrooms and Special Education/inclusive education classrooms with students with toileting needs
When I was a toddler teacher and preschool teacher (Some of my 3 year old students were late bloomers when learning potty training), the families were required to bring their own wipes and diapers for their children. Same with diaper cream when needed. When I was an infant teacher, the families were required to bring their own diapers for their babies and the center provided wipes and extra diapers. At the center where parents were required to provide their own wipes and diapers for their children, I always ordered an extra pack of wipes on our monthly supply list to use to wipe off the toddlers' hands, fingers, and feet when making handprints, fingerprint, and footprint crafts. I also used some of them when I needed extra wipes for toddlers who were out of them when changing their diapers.
61. Pads and tampons
[Image Description: An aqua colored Always brand bag of pads sitting on a white table. There are 3 green and white pads overlapping each other laying in front of the bag on the white table.]
For female students ages 8+ in case they do not have any pads of their own in their school bags for some reason such as getting their first periods in the middle of the school day, forgetting to replenish their menstrual cycle kit in their school bag, and/or running out of pads in their menstrual cycle kits
62. Extra changes of clothes
It is very important for young children of all ages to have because accidents happen, especially when teaching infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and even Kindergarteners. In addition, I highly recommend that female students of all ages and abilities pack extra changes of clothes in case they have accidental leaks when they have their periods because it will happen and it is normal.
63. Gloves
To change diapers, to clean wounds to prevent catching bloodborne illnesses, and for certain science experiments
64. Eating utensils
Paper, plastic, and reusable papers, bowls, spoons, forks, knives, and cups and napkins
65. Cleaning supplies
Cleanliness is a key need in all classrooms. In all of the childcare centers that I used to teach at, we had sanitization center policies and even childcare laws for sanitization at least in our state. All of the childcare centers that I taught at were Keystone STARS certified centers and by law, teachers in these credentialed centers have to sanitize the tables, highchairs, counters, sinks, diaper changing tables and mats, shelves, and toys every day to reduce the spread of germs and they even have to do it in a certain way for other health and safety purposes.
By law, first, childcare center teachers have to wipe down these surfaces with a wet paper towel, and then, spray mixed soap and water and wipe that down followed by spraying bleach and wiping that down. This step-by-step procedure must occur after each change because of the feces, residue, and exposure that gets left there each time.
Childcare center teachers also have to sweep the floor with a broom after all meals and sanitize the table after each usage including messy lesson activities. In addition, by center policy during my time of working at COA, all teachers were required to mop the floors every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Sanitization is extremely important in all classrooms, especially in childcare centers, to reduce the spread of all germs, infections, and illnesses. This should never be ignored and keeps all of the children healthy and safe.
66. Tissues
For wiping and blowing noses of course LOL
67. Hand sanitizer
To reduce the spread of germs
68. Trash bags
69. Ziplock bags
70. Mini storage drawers
Mini storage drawers are another great writing utensils holder! Pages of stickers and sticky notes pads can also be kept in here.
71. Fidgets
Fidgets are a common self-regulation tool used by students with disabilities that affect their social-emotional skills!
72. Stickers
[Image Description: 2 stacks of white pages of stickers laying on top of an opened white drawer. The top page of the stack of stickers on the left has 4 separate vertical rows of bright blue, yellow, bright pink, and bright green smiley face stickers with black mouthed, eyes, and raised eyebrows. The top page of the stack of stickers on the right has 4 separate vertical rows of 6 square shaped math themed stickers. The first row of stickers are black with a small light orange square root symbol, yellow equals sign, red multiplication "X" symbol, blue plus sign, 2 purple minus signs, green percentage symbol, and red Pi symbol with an "I" in white text followed by a red heart followed by "MATH" in white text. The second row of stickers are purple with yellow rectangular shaped rulers with "RIGHT ON!" in center-aligned black text overlapping each of them. The third row of stickers are bright blue with "MATH" in center-aligned shadowed yellow sticker with "WHIZ" in center-aligned shadowed orange text under it. The fourth row of stickers are bright red with light blue and green calculators with a rectangular black screen with "COUNT" in left-aligned white text overlapping the top of them and "ON YOU" in right-aligned white text overlapping the bottom of them.]
Great for genuine positive reinforcement and a fun way to indicate when young students get answers correct on homework, classwork, and tests. My third graders loved stickers!
73. Books
For your students and you to make knowledge and enhance reading skills!
74. Digital watch
Watches are great for all teachers to have to keep track of time since time management is very important in the teaching world! As students get older (typically in middle school or high school), they may want to keep track of time during the school day for certain important things. I highly recommend digital watches for students with math learning disabilities because this assistive technology (AT) is so visual.
75. Hair ties and scrunchies
To keep your hair out of the way and reduce the chances of catching lice
76. Festive wearable accessories and classroom decor for all holidays
When celebrating holidays in your school, it can be fun to wear festive accessories! I have a ton of them that I keep altogether in one big hat box that I bought at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts Store a few years ago. I have reindeer antlers, a headband with boingy hearts on it, festive beaded hearts necklaces, festive jewelry, and the list could go on and on...
If you have any other classroom supplies suggestions that I did not include, comment them down below! I hope that this helps! 🥰🍎
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