5 Days of Frugal Stocking Stuffer Ideas: Day 4 = Educational

This has been a fun week so far!! I have been loving sharing all of these stocking stuffer ideas with you. In case you haven’t been here, so far we’ve looked at stocking stuffers for girls, boys, and teens. Today’s list is for kids of all ages — but these items are educational in nature. (I am a homeschool
blogger, after all! :-) ) Tomorrow will also be for kids of all ages, but it will just be a free-for-all of stuff with not much learning value — just FUN value, lol! And ALL of them are around $5 (or less!), so we can stop worrying about breaking the budget just trying to fill the stockings!

So let’s get right to these educational stocking stuffer ideas:

1) Flashcards — yes, there are the typical math facts kind, but there are flashcards for all sorts of things now. What about the presidents? Or sight words? Or vocabulary for college entrance exams? U.S. states and capitals? Music notes and symbols?

2) Fun pencils and pens — I usually get a cheap bag of 20 mechanical pencils and give each kid several of the same color. Or you can get just one or two that have silly patterns on them. Or for pens, you can get colored ink.

3) Shaped erasers — These also often come in packages with several that you can distribute among your kids. Or just buy the pink ones. In my house, erasers are a very personal item — no one wants theirs to be used by anyone else!

4) Sticky notes of different shapes and sizes — Who says sticky notes have to be square? But kids even love the square ones, if they come in bright colors. There is something so satisfying about sticking them all over creation…

5) Mini Calculator — You can find these for a buck just about everywhere. Every kid gets a different color! And until they reach about eighth or ninth grade, they won’t need any more complicated operations than what you’ll find on one of these.

6) Books, books, books! — You know I am all about reading! Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million both have editions of the classics for around $5. They also have other bargain books; you can’t go wrong with giving your kid a doorway to another world!

7) History of the World Mad Libs — (Or whatever other variety you want!) OK, maybe this is stretching the “educational” category just a bit; but hey, you have to know the parts of speech to fill these out, right?

8) Puzzle books — These come in all shapes, sizes, age ranges, and price points. There are maze books and word searches and crossword puzzles and logic problems…

9) Journal or diary — You can get these lined or unlined (for illustrating your thoughts). You can provide writing prompts or let your child determine their own topics.

10) Educational Apps — Such as Duolingo or Quizlet. So many apps are free, such as these two; but even when you have to pay for an app, it’s usually not very much. Of course it’s kinda hard to put an app in a stocking — but you could make a card that tells about it, or find an object that represents it. Here is a list of good math apps: 25 Best Math Apps for All Ages; and here is one for spelling: The Best Spelling Apps for Kids.

Only one more day left!! Day Five is for EVERYONE! After that we will have no excuse not to fill our kids’ stockings with a bunch o’ stuff!!

If today is your first time here, you need to know that there are several other bloggers doing 5-day Christmas posts this week, over at the iHomeschool Network Christmas Hopscotch! Click on the image at left to go check it out!