Make A School Supply Box: For Home And Teachers, Too!

Yesterday afternoon, The Peanut and I took her supply list for the Third Grade (!!!!!) out and about for some school supply shopping.

This year, for some reason, the school supply seasonal sales have begun really early -- perhaps because they start back to school earlier this year, or perhaps because retailers are all trying to get a jump on each other in sales.  Whatever the reason, there were some serious bargains and we took advantage of them by stocking up our home school supplies bin.

What is that, you might ask?

We have a large, green plastic bin with a lid that I keep stocked with wide-ruled notebook paper, boxes of crayons and colored pencils, colored markers -- both wide and thin -- No. 2 pencils, little hand-held pencil sharpeners, school scissors, glue sticks, erasers, purse-sized packs of kleenex for the backpack, and pretty much anything else that seems like it might be useful during the school year.  I started doing this when The Peanut began kindergarten, mostly because she kept losing her crayons or pencils (either on her own or because she loaned them out and they never made their way back to her, I have no idea).  Having a steady supply to replenish her little desk whenever she would come home and say "I need more ______," without having to make a special trip to the store was heaven.

It truly has been a sanity saver, and is also super useful for homework and various projects, because we already have a good supply of things here at the house for immediate starting.

The bonus for stocking this up when "back to school" sales are plentiful?  You have a ready supply at a quarter of the price if you play the store sales correctly.

For example, we have multiple packs of wide-ruled notebook paper that I've gotten for anywhere from 25 cents a pack up to 75 cents a pack -- when the going rate for regular price is $1.50 or more.  I got 40 boxes of 24-packs of crayons yesterday for 25 cents each, way less than I would have paid for them at the regular price.  And the list goes on.

Why buy so many crayons?

Each year we also stock a box of room supplies for The Peanut's teacher and give it to her at the beginning of the year, so she has extras like scissors, crayons, pencils, Clorox wipes, kleenex, construction paper, copy paper, you name it...in case one of the kids needs a loaner for the day.  Just call it our little thank you to a teacher for doing such a tough job all year long.

Conversation Heart Cakes

I've been helping with Doll Club at The Peanut's school this year, and having a lot of fun hanging out with the girls and making fun crafts and food for the monthly meeting.

Today, we are making a friendship pin with a heart and some pink and red beads on it as our craft.  And I'm making something fun as one of the snacks.

I actually got the idea from the "Eat Me" cakes I made for The Peanut's Alice in Wonderland birthday party last year.

It occurred to me that making the little heart-shaped cakes that I bought from Little Debbie look like those candy conversation hearts would be really cute, using frosting tubes to write things like "Luv U" and "Cute" and such.

Happily, they are making the little pink heart-shaped cakes again this year.  Yay!

Halloween School Party Games

For this school year, I've been asked to help plan the holiday parties for my daughter's class.  Being a homeroom mom is a hoot -- mostly because the kiddos are so adorable and watching them interact and play together is too fun. 

Plus, while my child still wants to be seen with her parents?  I'm going to soak that in for all it is worth. 

Early on, a friend warned me that the teenage years will hit all too fast, and that I'd better store up some cheery little memories before the hormone soup clock strikes 13.  I've taken that advice to heart as much as I could, and have enjoyed all of our little fun times together as The Peanut has grown steadily upward.  I think I may secretly harbor the hope that we'll be one of the lucky few families with a teenager that still enjoys hanging out with her parents...a girl can dream, right?

In any case, I've spent some time this week coming up with game ideas for the Halloween party based on party games I remember playing in the past, ones that friends or family have suggested, and things I've found around the internet. 

But, honestly?  The game ideas that actually sound fun are a little scanty out there for Halloween.  

So I've compiled a few of the ones that sounded best to me to share with everyone else who may be having that same scramble to find school party ideas in the hopes that other folks might find them helpful, too.