When most of your money goes towards your own living expenses, how do you buy things for your daycare? I go to yard sales and since they've just started, that will be a great help. But things like art supplies can get expensive, especially when the older crew will be coming soon.
So any suggestions would be great! Thanks!!

Reply

After many years of buying craft stuff, I have found that discountschoolsupply.com has the absolute best prices on materials like constructible paper, paints, scissors, even furniture and rugs, etc. It's still not super cheap, but way more manageable.

Also, the month just before school starts back for the year, all of the school supplies like crayons/markers/pencils, etc, are deeply discounted at Walmart, target, staples. Like,.25 cents for a box of 24 Crayola crayons.

I have my annual supplies fee due in June each year so that I can hit those back to school sales in July and REALLY make the money stretch!

Reply

I posted a note on our little town's "buy, Sell, Trade page" on FB. Something like: As your children come home from school with their left-over art supplies, don't throw them away. If you won't use them, please consider donating them to your favorite daycare provider!

I just got a big bag full of glue, glue sticks, crayons, markers...

Reply

This is a tough one. I've been really lucky to find everything on clearance. And IKEA. If you have one near you, definitely go.

Reply

This is an awesome idea!

Reply

Good ideas!

Also, consider "recycled art". Ask for old greeting cards, egg cartons, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, wrapping paper or ribbon scraps, left over yarn, milk caps, popsicle sticks,etc.

Our kindergarten teacher used to say "you send us your garbage, we duct tape it together and send it home" She was kidding, though. The kids loved "inventing" things and doing open-ended art.

Reply

Absolutely! We recycle everything-and huge stock up at back to school sales! I also find cool stuff after each holiday, ie: after Valentines Day I got a ton of red, pink or white poms and pipe cleaners for 25 cents a package. Red is great because you can use it for Vday, Christmas and the 4th of July!

Garage sales-look for crafty things that can be reused-cheap costume jewelry-take the beads off the string so the kids can restring or glue on stuff

Old magazines-they can cut out and make a collage.

Reply

Raise rates and set it aside for materials, equipment, etc. Depending on the number of kids in care, something like $5/kid would give you a nice boost for that stuff.

Or charge a once-a-year "supply fee--to help defray the cost of replacing consumable materials" Maybe $30-$40/family?

You can also do a lot of DIY stuff--watercolors, chalk, fingerpaints, etc.

Reply

make friends with your schools secretary/custodian. lots of times kids dont come to school the last days and leave all their stuff behind. if its still there on the end of the secretary's last work day (usually a week after the last day of school) it all goes in the trash so you can ask them maybe they will save it for you.

Reply

Keep watching craigslist 'free'.
I get free items a lot, like cardboard, tubes, art and crafts supplies, etc...
Once I hit paydirt and got 8 boxes full of crafts left over from summer camp.

Also put up a sign or post in your newsletter that you are accepting donations for art supplies. Take any and everything then 'pinterest' it to see what ideas you get with what to do with it.

Contact local printers for scrap paper.
I have a DCD that works at a shop that prints paper floor mats for cars and brings roll ends. They are about 18" wide and bigger in diameter than a roll of butcher paper.

Church bulletin posting. Watch out though you might get more than you bargained for!

Nature hunt and let them fill up bags of "craft" items.

There are multitudes of recipes for homemade glues, paints, play dough, etc...just google or search pinterest.

Contact your local fabric and craft stores. I put up a poster in a local JoAnn's break room and got more fabric and yarn than I know what to do with. Some craft supplies also. The people that work there are very generous with there leftovers.

Reply

For craft stuff I second back to school sales. I spent maybe $20 last year and got tons of crayons, markers, colored pencils and paper, plus some pencil boxes and other random things. I am now getting to the bottom of what I have and had to buy a few more things but still have lots of crayons

Oh and a tip for the crayons, when you get enough that are broken melt the like colors down in a muffin tin. Chunky crayons for little hands! My kids love those

I also use craigslist and facebook a lot for toys. I don't get to enough garage sales to find anything worth while.

Reply

I make a lot of our paints and watercolors from recipes on pinterest.

Reply

Oh wow, you people really come through!! Thanks for all the great ideas

Reply

We have a local for sale page I watch for good deals on. I've found almost all of my play equipment on there for cheap! I also drive around and look at garage sales on the weekend to see if there's anything I can use, I found a Cozy Coupe for $1, another one for free and a friend gave me one which has since broken so I'm down to 2. And our R&R does a mass email when providers have closing sales. Between that stuff and clearance at Target I have been able to get lots of stuff. I was able to get smocks for 25 cents a piece. Dh scored 2 easels for free from a job... the paints and such I leave up and don't allow kids to just do whatever, usually just for holidays or special craft days since mine are all little. I watch for sales on sidewalk chalk. When there's something big I need I just bite the bullet and get it right away when I get paid.

Reply

Many items can be found in your house. Don't throw things away - it's amazing what kids will make out of basically, trash! Give them scraps of stuff, and they'll make art out of it!! Also, ask parents to bring stuff in, whether it's their household scraps, or whether they choose to purchase something to donate to you.

Here's what's in my "art" area:

Items from Oriental Trading Co. such as pom-poms, pipe cleaners, 1"X1" tissue paper squares of various colors, die-cut shapes (on thick white paper), sheets of thin foam, cut out foam shapes, googlie eyes... etc. I ordered a bunch of stuff YEARS ago, and still have very much of it left. You get TONS of most of the items!

Cardboard rolls from toilet paper and paper towel

Various rotating items such as plastic lids from gallon jugs of milk, twist ties, the little plastic "clips" on loaves of bread, straws, and other househole items

Crayons

Colored pencils

Markers (must have permission to use - I put paper down so they don't get it on my table!)

Stickers - get the big books of like 1000 stickers for a cheap price (I even keep the free address labels they send you in the mail, and just cut off my address part, leaving whatever graphic there was!)

Donated paper that moms have given me over the years (one brought a box of that kind with the tear-off edges with holes in them that go on a certain type of printer that nobody uses anymore)

Leftover computer stationery from my Christmas letters

Fronts of greeting cards

A few magazines that I keep replenishing as they use them

Safety scissors

Erasers

Small pencil sharpener

Small stapler

Hole punchers in a few shapes, as well as a regular round one

Several misc templates - mostly from my long-gone scrapbooking days

Scalloped edge scissors (also donated from my scrapbooking materials)

Cheap scotch tape

Cheap glue sticks

Thin foam sheets

Small and large scraps of wrapping paper

Yarn

Ribbon

Fabric scraps


Basically, I just put anything and everything in the drawers. The cheaper the better. FREE whenever I can!!

Some large cities have a "Scraps" recycle center where companies donate certain unused items. Here's a link to my local one, and a link to other cities that have them:

http://scrappdx.org/

http://scrappdx.org/about/scrap-usa/

Reply