Classroom Wishlist Ideas by Grade Level

Pre-K and Kindergarten

• Enormous quantities of glue sticks, crayons, and washable markers.
• Play dough, sensory bin fillers, and simple building materials.
• Board books and picture books for a classroom library that gets handled hard.
• Extra clothes in common sizes for accidents, and baby wipes.
• Laminating pouches and chart paper for centers you rebuild constantly.

Grades 1–2

• Leveled readers and early chapter books.
• Dry erase boards, sleeves, and low-odor markers for guided practice.
• Counting manipulatives, ten frames, and number lines.
• Pencils — always pencils — plus sharpeners that survive a school year.
• Sticker charts and small prize-box items for classroom routines.

Grades 3–5

• Chapter book series that students want to finish, in multiples.
• Headphones for testing and independent digital work.
• Multiplication and fraction manipulatives, protractors, rulers.
• Composition notebooks and folders for organized subject binders.
• Materials for one hands-on unit: a science kit, biography posters, a state project.

Middle school

• Consumables that students no longer arrive with: pens, highlighters, graph paper.
• Chargers and charging cables for one-to-one device programs.
• High-interest paperbacks with contemporary themes.
• Snacks and water for after-school tutoring or activity days.
• Timers, whiteboards, and materials for group problem solving.

High school

• Subject-specific supplies: lab consumables, art materials, calculators, sheet protectors.
• Test prep books and college application resources.
• Career and technical materials for the specific pathway you teach.
• Coffee, snacks, and supplies for club meetings or competition teams.
• Basic needs supplies for a discreet student resource shelf.

Across every grade

Tissues, hand sanitizer, and paper towels are the least glamorous and most reliably needed items in any building. They are also the easiest first gift for a supporter who wants to help but does not know how.