Back to School Sales - Make the Most of Them

At our house we love back to school sales. It's the time where we get to feel like we are getting a great deal. The wonderful think about these sales, is not only will I fill the coffers for my own children's school year, but many times these supplies make great gifts for young children too. Here are my top ten items to stock up on.

1. Crayons, all sorts. Brand does not matter, anything $.25 cents and under is a major stock up price
2. Markers and Pencils. $.50 cents and under and we run to stock up.
3. Scissors, if your house is like mine, it likes to eat scissors and at .25 cents a pop it is worth getting 10
4. Spiral notebooks, any other time of year and they are well over $1.00 each. At $.15 a pop get 20
5. Construction paper - I don't think I even need to explain why this is a good buy.
6. Glue - Oh how much glue a preschooler can use. Add in any crafty prone children and it's a great buy.
7. Rulers - Cheap to purchase they make great straight lines when drawing.
8. Tape - So many uses, and children love to use tape on everything
9. Staplers, Removers and Hole punches, Oh my! It never hurts to have a few and some backups
10. Notebooks, if you don't buy a couple now, you will wish you did two months in when theirs is already destroyed.

Now how do these make great gifts? I love to buy the pencil boxes when they are under $.25 and fill them with markers, pencils, glue, tape and scissors. Attach to a big bag of construction paper and you have a simple and enjoyable gift for almost any young child. If your really awesome, you will stick in a bag of M&M's and some fancy little stickers. Your gift will be the hit of the party.