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Today, I am sharing the contents of our annual Not-Back-to-School Basket.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved back to school shopping. There is just something about the smell of new notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, and brand-new Crayola crayons.

Some kids never grow up. I still get excited about back to school shopping… even though my children are no longer enrolled in school!

For the past three years, I have created a “Not-Back-to-School Basket” for my children. I fill it with a few supplies we use during the year, fresh Crayola goodies, and then something purely for fun. It is a way to celebrate the start of a new year; it gets the kids super-excited for the year and makes the summer-homeschool transition easier.

I love to give the kids the basket and watch their eyes light up with excitement!

What’s in Your Not-Back-to-School Basket?

*Disclosure: I received the Crayola products featured herein at no cost. I was not required to write a positive review and, as always, I only share products that I would use with my own family and that I believe others will enjoy. I have been one of Crayola’s biggest fans since before I could write my own name, folks!

What I put in our 2016-2017 Not-Back-to-School Basket:

Crayola Crayons

These are the classic Crayola Crayons that you enjoyed as a kid.

Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Crayons

Ultra-Clean crayons wash off of everything… included painted walls! They come in Color Max- Crayola’s brightest, truest colors yet.

Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Markers

These are the new and improved classic Crayola markers. They come in Color Max- Crayola’s brightest, truest colors yet…. and they wash off of everything!

Crayola Super Tips Washable Markers

Super Tips are a favorite over here. My kids love to zentangle with these fine-tipped markers.

Crayola Doodle Scents

I am over-the-moon excited to give these markers to my kiddos! These aren’t the scented markers of your childhood. They are fantastically wacky! This fun-filled pack includes scents such as barnyard, toasted marshmallow, pepperoni pizza, and buttered popcorn… and many others!

Crayola Twistables Colored Pencils

With Crayola Twistables, you’ll never have to worry about sharpening pencil tips or breakage. Just twist and keep on coloring!

Crayola Twistables Crayons

These crayons are easy for small fingers to maneuver… and you don’t need to fret about broken crayons!

Crayola Colored Pencils

My kids love to use colored pencils to sketch in their doodle diaries.

Crayola Model Magic

We love Model Magic! We enjoy it year-round, but especially during the holidays. My kids love to make gifts, ornaments, and other holiday decorations!

Mead Academie Sketch Books

It’s time to replace our Doodle Diaries and these sketchbooks were featured as an Amazon add-on deal recently. I am excited to try them out!

Mead Primary K-2 Composition Notebooks

These are the notebooks that I gush about all the time. The ones you see below are the fully-lined version. I also love the version with the top half of the page blank for artwork. We use these daily in our homeschool and go through multiple notebooks each year.

Quad Spiral Notebooks (graph paper)

Recently, I shared our plans for our 2016-17 homeschool year. I mentioned that I had devoured this book. It left me feeling so inspired about our math this year. We are going to incorporate lots of fun math play and I have plans for these graph paper notebooks!

I need to write a post on the positive impact extreme dot-to-dot books have had in our home. They have resulted in so much learning! And because I am committed to more math play this year, I wanted to include the following in our basket this year:

Dot to Dot Cute Cats

Brain Games: Extreme Dot-to-Dot

Brain Games Dot-to-Dot Famous People and Places

And, last but not least, I did something a little bit different this year…

Polaroid Instant Camera

Now, I typically include only small stuff in the Not-Back-to-School Basket, but this year I am adding on something a little special for the children to share. I have been eyeing this instant camera forever and I plan to have the kids use the camera in our homeschool. I have ideas for art projects, nature study, science experiments and more… all using this camera. Plus, I am going to save the photos for our year-end portfolio- it’s such a perfect way to document the year.