Essential Guide to School Supplies for Students

This school year might look a little bit different for your child. Maybe instead of going back to the classroom, they’re sitting at the dining room table and talking to their teacher and classmates over video conferencing or they might be stocking up on hand sanitizer and masks to prepare for in-person schooling. Whatever school looks like in your neck of the woods, one thing is certain: things are not normal and this can be a source of anxiety for many children.

No matter what school looks like for your child, they’ll need supplies and at GEDDES, we carry school supplies that get kids excited about starting school—something even more important for this upcoming year.

School Supply Kits for Easy Shopping

As a parent, you have a lot on your plate right now—especially if you’re juggling your own job and having your child at home while they attend school online. Do you also have time to run around to several different office and big box stores to find the school supplies your child needs? Do you even have the time to find the supplies they need online?

Probably not!

At GEDDES, we’ve made the process of purchasing school supplies less of a hassle by introducing school supply kits. Each kit has everything your child will need for the upcoming school year. Choose from our primary school kit, elementary school kit, or junior high school kit. We also offer a basic essentials school supply kit and, if you’re a teacher or administrator, a custom kit that can be tailored to your school’s needs and offered for sale to your students, raising funds for your school in the process.

No matter which school supply kit you purchase, you can feel confident that it will cover all of the bases when it comes to your child’s school supply list. How do we know this? Well, we’ve carefully curated each box based on school supply lists from across the country and input from educators. GEDDES school supply kits include:

• Pencils

• Pens

• Notebooks

• Rulers

• Crayons

• Markers

• Glue

• Scissors

• Colored Pencils

• Highlighters

• Calculators

• Graph Paper

• Pencil Sharpeners

• Folders

• ...and much more!

Essential School Supplies Guide

Here are some of the essentials all students need, along with a GEDDES upgrade for each to make things a bit more fun.

Pencils

All kids start out using pencils in school, but why stick with the same old yellow number twos when there are so many other options available? Pete the Cat Pencils are popular with the kindergarten crowd, while older students who are already texting aficionados will love a set of emoji pencils.

Erasers

Those little erasers on the ends of pencils clearly weren’t designed with young writers (or perfectionists) in mind. When all that erasing leaves your child with an empty eraser holder at the end of their pencil, it’s time to stock up on some eraser toppers to pop onto them. For some handheld eraser options, we’re partial to our scented swirl pop erasers, which look almost good enough to eat (but don’t try to eat them!).

Pencil Sharpeners

As long as we’re talking about pencil accessories, we can’t forget about pencil sharpeners either. If your child is in the classroom this year, they might not be able to get up to use the communal classroom sharpener; if they’re at home, you might not have a pencil sharpener on hand for them. Time to invest in a nose sharpener for a gross-out gag that’s sure to make your kiddo smile or go the more traditional route with a simple office pencil sharpener for the whole family to use.

Pens

It’s always a milestone for kids when they can transition from pencils to pens, but let’s be real—it’s hard to get too excited about plain white pens with black or blue caps on them. Writing is much more fun when you’re using a multicolored unicorn pen or a pen topped with a squishy animal friend. Brighten up schoolwork with gummy bear smooth gel pens or let younger students easily fix their mistakes with erasable gel pens.

Highlighters

Highlighters are a multipurpose tool that’s especially useful for middle school and high school students. All year long, they’ll be highlighting their textbooks, the notes they’ve taken, their planners—with all that highlighting, it’s a good idea to stock up now so you have a stash on hand and ready to go! It’s impossible to resist a scented highlighter, but for fidgety students it might be even more impossible to resist this highlighter spinner combo.

Markers

Oh, sure, we have the standard jumbo markers called for in just about every school supply list in the nation, but you know us—we like to add a little more pizzazz to our supplies, which is why we’ve also got Dr. Seuss fine tip markers for your little Thing One or Thing Two. Many students who are doing remote learning are using dry erase boards to share their work over video, in which case we also have Dr. Seuss dry erase markers.

Pencil Pouches

Whether your student is in the classroom or at home, they’ll need something to store all of their supplies in. Forego the plain plastic school box this year and let your child express their unique personality by picking their own pencil pouch. Our neon mermaid scales pouch is one of our best sellers, with good reason—sequins are totally on-trend right now and mermaids are timeless.

Folders

Another school supply list staple is a rainbow of two-pocket folders. Having a different primary color for each school subject helps keep young students organized and allows them to quickly identify the folder they need for a subject even if they can’t quite read the name of it yet. Once kids can purchase their choice of folders for school, they’ll love our retro-inspired Miles O Smiles folders.

Notebooks

Our three-subject spiral notebooks give older students ample room for taking notes in the classroom, but if you have an aspiring writer on your hands, you might want to also supply them with a fun, glittery journal and encourage them to fill it up with their stories and poems.

School Supplies for the New Normal

At the start of this post, we mentioned how different this school year will be for students. With this in mind, we’ve added some items to our inventory to address the new normal we’re experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classroom Essentials for COVID-19

Make sure your child is prepared for going back to the classroom with these must-have items:

Hand Sanitizer – Using soap and water to wash hands is the best option to keep viruses and bacteria at bay, but the next best thing is an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Alcohol kills both viruses (like coronavirus, the flu, and the common cold) as well as bacteria, offering double the protection from germs. This bottle is easy to tuck into a backpack pocket or stash in a desk.

Children’s Face Masks – It can be difficult to find a face mask for kids that’s both affordable and fun, but these fit the bill. Even better, they’re breathable and comfortable so kids won’t complain about having to wear them all day long.

Adult Face Masks – For older children, teens, parents, and teachers, we also offer basic black face masks. Like our children’s masks, these face masks are breathable and comfortable for wearing all day and because they’re affordable, you can stock up on a week’s worth of masks and wash them on the weekends so you never have to wear the same one twice.

Online Schooling Essentials

If your child is doing their schooling online this year, we recommend:

Earbuds – Mom and dad are at home trying their best to work, while the kids all have video meetings at the same time. The cacophony of noise can make it hard for anyone to concentrate, which is why earbuds are a must for everyone in the house.

Earbud Pouches – An earbud pouch keeps wires from getting tangled and earbuds from getting lost in the couch cushions or under the bed.

Fidget Toys – Is a toy really an essential for online schooling? When it’s a fidget toy, it is! Many students, whether they’re in elementary school or high school, have trouble focusing when their learning suddenly shifts from in-person to online. Fidget toys can keep hands busy so minds can focus on listening to teachers and classmates.

Learn More About Back to School Essentials from GEDDES

GEDDES has everything you need to make back to school a success, no matter if your child is attending school online this year or in-person. Whether you choose to purchase one of our school supply kits for primary, elementary, or junior high school or your child wants to choose their own supplies with their favorite characters and fun designs, we’ll make the school supply shopping process a breeze. Contact us today if you have any questions about our offerings, learn more about Raymond Geddes on our website, or request a school supply catalog to see our full lineup of products.