MUST HAVE Classroom Supplies

Over the years, I’ve found 5 MUST HAVE classroom supplies that every preschool or kindergarten teacher needs to invest in.  Best of all?  These supplies are inexpensive and don’t take up much room.  But they are truly game changers in the classroom.  Keep reading for my recommendations.

1. Ticonderoga Golf Pencils

Occupational therapists will tell you that young children need tiny pencils instead of those jumbo pencils we usually stock our classrooms with.  I wasn’t convinced until I tried golf pencils in my own Pre-K classroom.  I was amazed!  Suddenly, the children knew how to grasp the pencil with a proper tripod grasp.  They no longer fisted the pencils and scribbled with them.  I’ve never gone back to jumbo pencils again!

This principle works for crayons or markers as well.  You can even break crayons into smaller pieces for children to color with.  And markers are now available in short, stubby varieties.

One box of the golf pencils usually lasts me the entire year in Pre-K since we don’t generally do many worksheets.  Give them a try, and let me know if you notice the benefits, too!

2. Colorful Masking Tape

Masking tape is an old staple in most classrooms, but you’ll never use the manilla colored tape again once you get your hands on this colorful masking tape!  I use this for *everything!* I hang up anchor charts with it, let students tape up their artwork, and use it to label my furniture in the summer before my room is cleaned.  Seriously–the uses for this tape are endless.

Tape is also a fabulous fine motor tool for little ones.  Peeling, sticking, and unpeeling tape is great for building hand strength.  Add a roll or two of this tape to your writing center, and children can use it to tape up notes or tape envelopes shut.  Trust me–grab some colorful masking tape!

3. Colorful Post It Notes

Post It Notes are another must have classroom supply for preschool and kindergarten teachers.  These sticky notes are not just perfect for writing memos to yourself.  You can also use them in your lesson plan book to change up small groups….or use them to take anecdotal notes during groups.

Use them for graphing activities.  Each choice on the graph is represented by a different color so the graph is clear and easy to read.  Children can write their name on their paper to show their choice.  You could also use them for color sorting activities.

4. Magnetic Hooks

Do you have a magnetic white board or  filing cabinet in your classroom?  If so, then #4 is for you!  These heavy duty magnetic hooks are so strong and versatile you’ll wonder how you ever made it without this classroom supply!

I like to hang my chart tablet up using these.  They’re strong enough that the tablet doesn’t slide down the board.  I also use them to hang flash cards that are clipped together with a ring clip.  Or hang up a ring of parent contact information on the side of your filing cabinet.  There are so many brilliant uses for these hooks!

5. Large Ring Clips

Closing out the list of MUST HAVE classroom supplies for preschool or kindergarten teachers are these ring clips! These are over 1″ and can be used in so many wonderful ways!  Punch a hole in the corner of flash cards and clip them together with a clip. (Then hang them on one of your handy magnetic hooks mentioned above!)

I also like to use these to put our class-made books together.  I simply laminate the covers, add the students’ writing in the middle and clip them all together using ring clips in place of staples.  Another way I make use of these is to clip students’ bus tags to their backpacks with them.  Then I can easily open them and swap out tags if I have a child who rides numerous buses throughout the week.

I promise you won’t regret investing in this group of inexpensive classroom supplies, because you’ll use them all constantly.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you would add to the list!

Looking for more Back to School ideas? Check out these posts:

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