Must-Have Homeschool Supplies

I love this hole puncher. I have had it about three years and it still cuts cleanly. It cuts through both paper and laminated sheets of paper perfectly. This hole puncher also has a little lock on it so you can store it closed, which is ideal if you live in a tiny house and storage space is at a premium. 

This laminator is a workhorse! I have laminated hundreds of things and it is still going strong 3.5 years later. Here are some things that I love about it.

1. It doesn't take very long to warm up. It only takes a couple of minutes. 
2. You can use any brand of laminator pouches with it, so you can always buy the ones that are on sale. 
3. It doesn't get overly hot, so you can use it on your wood table and it won't damage the wood. 
4. It cools down very quickly.
5. It has a hot and a cold setting.
6. You don't have to put the laminating sheets into a cardboard folder before putting it in the laminator. You can just put the laminating sheet right in the laminator.

This label maker is very easy to use. I like to use this for labeling each kid's workbooks and curriculum, especially if they have the same or similar ones so there is no fighting about whose it is. 

I use this almost every day. You can use it for homeschool lessons or to jot down ideas. I always have my grocery list on mine, among other things.

This is on my dream list. Right now our house is so small that we literally don't have any room for these, but when we add on in the next couple of years I am getting one for each kid! You can put each child's assignments in the order that you want them to go in. This is great for homeschooling multiple kids because some kids can be doing independent work while one person is getting help. 

I'll be honest...I don't use this in all the ways that I thought I would, but I really like using it to display the daily homeschool schedule. It's also great because if I know our week is going to be a bit different for some reason, I can easily switch things around and it is a great visual reminder that helps me stay on track. I also like using it for a daily chore chart for the kids. 

You will definitely want to get this in bulk. Kids love to have free reign to create, and it is great to have a large stack for them to choose from. 

If you have younger kids who love to do art, having a bulk set of cheaper watercolor paper is a great way to encourage their creativity. Also, pretty much any art curriculum will require watercolor paper so you will be all set. I couldn't find the brand I bought this year, but I did buy a bulk pack like this. 

My kids LOVE this set. They love having so many colors to choose from. The colors are very vibrant, and the paints last a long time and don't break. When the paints get muddied you can just let them dry, and then take a wet wipe and wipe off the tops. Good as new!

My kids love having different shapes and sizes to paint with. It gives them more control over their art and they get a much better result than those super cheap brushes that come in those $0.99 watercolor packs. 

This pencil sharpener is awesome! My three year old put a pencil in eraser first. It jammed it and I had to use tweezers to get the chunks out, but it was like new after that and  I haven't had any problems with it. It is easy to empty and I like that you can see when it is getting full. 

I really like this stapler. It has survived my kids using it many times, and it is strong enough to staple things to walls. Like the time my kids decided to have an art show and staple every picture they have ever made to every inch of wall space in their room. 300 staples later they changed their minds and tore it all down. Durable for sure!

Liquid glue is something you will use all the time. I like this kind because it is clear, but white works just as well. 

Having the purple color that fades makes it easier for kids to know when they need to apply more glue before they glue their paper down. This leads to less frustration because their paper actually sticks the first time. 

I love the Crayola line of erasable supplies. These colored pencils have been such a life saver in our homeschool. If one of my kids is having a bad day and they don't want to do their work, I can usually get them to pick their favorite color to do their assignment in. All of a sudden it is fun and they are really excited to do it. 

These are my favorite markers of all time. They really are ultra-clean on any kind of surface, including clothes, walls, and carpets. They don't come off skin quite as easily (ask me how I know).

I don't even let crayons come into my house that aren't ultra washable. These have been a lifesaver. They wipe off really well with wet wipes. I also like that this package has a crayon sharpener. 

Crayola comes to the rescue again with washable sidewalk chalk. I personally can't stand touching chalk (which is one of the reasons we don't have a chalk board) but my kids LOVE having a huge pack of chalk with different colors. I just keep it on our covered porch and they use it all the time while they are playing. They often draw things we are learning about in school, so it is a win-win in my book!

This is the first year I have tried these but I really like them. I like that there are so many colors and that they are two colors to each marker. My kids really like using them on their stuff too. My 3 year old wouldn't try practicing her letters until I got these and now she will practice them a couple of times a week. These are magnetic and the magnets are strong enough that they don't randomly fall off the white board. They also erase really well. 

We really like these because they are lined on one side and blank on the other. We use these to practice letters, or math problems, or drawing different things. It is not magnetic.

I know, this seems like a weird thing to include in a homeschool supply list, but you will be amazed at the amount of science experiments that require a balloon. When your kids find random experiments they want to try, balloons are something you can't substitute out.  They are also great for rewards.

My kids use these all the time to build different structures and designs. 

I have had this glue gun for years. It is inexpensive and works well. My 7 year old uses it to glue the wooden craft sticks. 

You definitely don't need packing tape unless you like to have a maker space environment. My kids love to cut boxes apart and tape them together to create different things, so we usually buy this 30 rolls at a time.

Scotch tape is not only a good office supply to have around, but it is great for kids to have access to when they want to make their own projects.

Scissors are always something that tends to go missing in our homeschool. I like to buy them in this 12 pack so we always have lots of extras around the house. 

This is one of my addictions. I use sticky notes all the time. Like multiple times a day. They are so great for just jotting down a note or two.