I always love to teach Sebastian and Madeline new things. It’s one of my greatest joys as a mom, to work with them and help them figure things out. Because when they do it’s such a great feeling for both of us. 

While Madeline is still a bit young, we are currently working on clapping, blowing kisses and walking. Sebastian is really loving workbooks. A while back he was very into sticker books .. I believe we had about 15 of them by the time this interest ran its course. One of the sticker books also had activities in it … circle the biggest car, draw a line connecting the matching cows, etc. I had him try it out and he LOVED it so I picked up a few workbooks for him to try out. 

Side note .. he is two and a half so we only do these workbooks when HE wants to. I never make him or push him to do them .. he has the rest of his life to “do work”

I found some great books and learning materials at some in unexpected places so I thought I’d share if anyone else was in the market. 

Costco:

We’ve been members of Costco for about two years now and not a trip goes by that we don’t walk out with more than we intended. It’s worse than target. But the deals are SO good and the stuff is SO nice. 

Especially their book section, they have baby books, learning to read books, book sets (great gifts), character books and some fun stuff I haven’t seen elsewhere. 

Ollies

I’m not sure if Ollies Bargain Outlet is something country wide. We JUST got one here in Sarasota. It’s your basic bargain outlet bin type store (with some decent deals) but their book section is top notch! 

So many great kids books for all ages and at a great price. Most are only $2.99. 

Side Note: if you are invited to a baby shower that asks for a book in place of a card and you have an Oillies .. go there! Books are cheaper than cards 

They have a ton of great workbooks too for all ages. This is also where I got a lot of Sebastian’s sticker books. 

Dollar Tree 

The dollar store has really been improving a lot of their merchandise and I’ve seen some pretty good stuff in their “teacher” section. 

If you’re a teacher I’m sure you already use the dollar store for a lot of great items in the classroom. That’s the section I like to find some fun stuff for the kids 

Puzzles, Stickers, Flash Cards, Crafts / Activities, etc.

If you have some unexpected places you’ve found great kids learning tools, please let me know in comments or via email! I’d love to hear and add to this list.

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