My intention is to keep this a living page, or one that I’ll be regularly updating with even newer tools and supplies we’ll have found useful. In the beginning, it’ll focus on what we’ve liked the most with our oldest, who’s a boy.

Our boy enjoys spending time outside doing all kinds of things, but he also likes doing didactic activities inside, so this list addresses both outdoorsy and indoors pastimes.

Play is the work of a child. -Maria Montessori

(I’ve divided these must-haves into different sections. Simply click/tap the + to expand each one.)

A mud kitchen: You can either DIY it or spend around $100 for a pre-made one. Don’t overspend on yours as it’s meant to be moved around and get wet and dirty.

Small kitchen tools for the mud kitchen: Ikea, The Dollar Tree (when they cost $1.25!), and Walmart are where you’ll find these the most.

All-plastic, battery-free vehicles: American Plastic Toys and Green Toys make some great ones, but any that lack noises and lights will do. You can slowly add to the collection and even get them from garage sales and thrift stores.

Wheelbarrows and wagons: In our home, the wheelbarrows stay outside and the wagon only goes outdoors to the library to pick up/drop off books.

Digging stuff, incl. long and short (toy or gardening) shovels, buckets (toy and/or construction), and sand castle molds: Buy these individually or as part of a set. Costco and Sam’s Club carry some fantastic, super well-equipped sets every Spring/Summer, with some versions including plastic wagons.

Spray bottles: A hose (with limited running water) opens up a whole world of imagination, but if you don’t have one, a container and/or a spray bottle will also go very far!

Plastic laundry basket or hamper: These are for storing all those toys. You want them ample in size and holey so that the water and dirt can just fall off and not accumulate at the bottom.

Stomp rockets: These are a blast, but make sure you get “refills” because your kids won’t be able to get enough of making these fly super high all over the place. They’re great for indoors and outdoors as well.

Foam airplanes: These are very fun too, and once you get the hang of it, can be made to fly relatively long distances.

Bubble wand set(s): Kids love bubbles and bubble wand sets come with all sorts of things to make some fun shapes. The Dollar Tree has $1.25 bubble guns and mini fans that create SO.MANY bubbles at once.

GEAR

  • Hats: Get some with SPF, and preferably with a piece of fabric that covers the neck.
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunblock
  • Hiking backback: Get a smaller one that can fit the essentials without turning them into a pack mule.
  • Binoculars: For more to explore!

Bigger items

  • Laminator: Don’t believe those who say you won’t need one. YOU WILL. You can make your very own flash cards, make your memory statements more durable, the works. Keep in mind you don‘t have to splurge on one; you can find good ones in the $20 range.
  • Paper cutter: You can start small. In fact, many good, affordable laminators include both a corner cutter and a small, simple paper cutter that doesn’t require its own room. However, if after years of using it, you find that a guillotine-style cutter would be speedier, then you can upgrade then. No need to go big when you’re just starting out.

Smaller items

  • Single hole punch
  • Triple hole punch
  • Binders with “a view”
  • Binder dividers
  • Sheet protectors
  • Blank notebooks

Miscellaneous

  • Canva Pro subscription: Your Home School Legal Defense Fund membership comes with an ID card that you can use to gain all kinds of educator benefits and discounts, including a free Canva Pro Education subscription. This has been a Godsend for the projects (such as Routine Charts, for instance) I’ve wanted or needed to do for our home and homeschool.
  • Dye-free snacks (IF your kids snack): Our kids don’t eat snacks or candy, and they’re not sensitive to dyes, so these dye-free candies aren’t life-or-death MUST-haves in our home, but we nevertheless prefer them over their sugar-filled, overly processed, and dye-full alternatives.
  • Crayons: Skip the skinny ones at Ikea for younger children (because choking hazards from the tips that can be easily broken off) and go for the fatter ones by Crayola.
  • Markers: Same as above ^ (Crayons).
  • Gel crayons: These are among our favorites to use; the colors are so vivid and you get more crayon by just twisting the bottom. Genius!
  • Tempura paint sticks: Read above ^ (Gel crayons). Bonus points for this being paint that’s SO easy to manage! Keep in mind you may have to pre-treat clothing touched by these paint sticks before you wash it.
  • Coloring pencils: If you can find fatter onces for younger kids, that’d be better.
  • Glue sticks
  • Paint brushes
  • Watercolors, watercolor palette, AND watercolor pads.
  • Composition notebooks and sketch pads: These are great for use after Nature Walks (to draw what was seen) or throughout the day so your little artiste some approved
  • Stickers!! All the stickers. Use them as rewards, for decoration, you name it. Kids love stickers!
  • A sticker “menu”: Think of it as a board for your stickers where you can display a few instead of dozens. This makes it easier for kiddos to choose their sticker.
  • “Cleaning” caddy: This makes it easy to transport more frequently used art supplies, such as coloring pencils, markers, and crayons. Depending on its size, you may also use one as a Morning Basket, or to move books and cards to and from.
  • Storage organizer box: This container is awesome for putting away and transporting those art supplies that either aren’t used as much or that your kiddo has “graduated” to after having to share from the common caddy.

Menu covers: These are indispensable for your Morning Time routine if you prefer to present worksheets that can be reused rather than having to continually reprint them.

Interactive calendar: These help young children (especially those who are curious about and show interest in the days of the week and what you’ll all do that day or tomorrow, etc.) learn and identify today’s date, what day it is, the month, the year, and sometimes even the season, the temperature, and the weather outside. They come in many different formats, fabric, wooden, cardstock, or magnetic. Bonus points for those that are in Spanish!

Stickers and temporary tattoos: Stickers are fantastic motivators and so are temporary tattoos. If you don’t want to constantly reapply tattoos because their predecessors faded again, designate a day of the week as “Tattoo Day” (you can even use the interactive calendar ^ from above) and set the rule that tattoos won’t get re-applied on other days. Ifthey fade, they’ll have to wait til Tattoo Day.

A chart(s) and schedule(s): Our Bedtime Routine chart worked wonders for our oldest in no time, so if you or your child needs

Wall clock: These are great for the kids learning to tell time and for the adults (especially those who like to keep their screens/devices in a separate room) who prefer knowing when an upcoming “anchor” event (such as a meal or quiet [reading] time) starts.

Visual timer: These help one see how much time is left (be it in the kitchen, for an assignment, or for the aforementioned quiet [reading] time) both numerically and graphically. The beeps help tell the kids “IT’S TIME!” without you having to repeat yourself a bunch of times, and as they grow older, they learn to see the passage of time via the colored chunk that gets smaller.

If your children love spending time outside but don’t mind doing the occasional worksheet (like during term breaks), then consider getting these workbooks. If (s)he isn’t yet doing work “at grade level” yet, don’t sweat it; it’s not only OK but more than encouraged to give your child frequent Wins so (s)he feels more prepared to go on to the next level.

In other words, if a particular book seems too advanced, grab the one below it and watch your child enjoy “homeschool!”

Neat workbooks:

  • Scholastic Success with Toddler/Pre-K/Kindergarten/1st Grade/etc. Workbooks

… COMING SOON …