Go Science! with Discount School Supply

How much fun is exploring nature? With bug catchers? With binoculars? With a magnifying glass?

Exploring nature is fun for any age, but for my kids it’s an absolute blast! I’m Brooke Higgins, Brand Marketing Manager for Discount School Supply. I have two children: ages 3 and 5. Over the past few months I have purchased several items from our science
section in the Curriculum Supplements to use with my kids.

I started with some Bug Observation Boxes (8WWOBSET)and some Small Gotcha Nets (8WWNETS). We took them out to the forest near our home and starting hunting for critters. By just turning over one log we were able to observe tons of little crawlers. We caught a couple salamanders and beetles and placed them in our boxes with some sticks, leaves and other items from the natural habitat. My kids decided on some names for our new friends and we spent some time watching them do their thing. After a short time we returned the critters back to their original homes.

Later, I picked up some Mini Binoculars (8WWBINOC) so I could take my kids bird watching and star gazing. What fun! I took my own binoculars along for the hike but I found the Mini Binoculars clearer and easier to manage. Perhaps I need to pick up a set for myself!

Our latest adventure was with the Wonder Eye Jumbo Magnifiers – Set of 3 (8WWBIGEYE). After a recent rainfall here on the Monterey Peninsula, we headed out to Point Lobos State Reserve for a short hike magnifiers in hand, we inspected nature extremely close up. Due to the recent rains, there was a tremendous abundance of mushrooms. We were careful not to get too close to the poisonous mushrooms—really only poisonous if you ingest them—but we still examined them with our magnifying glasses. Up close, you get a special appreciation for something as seemingly dull as fungus.

In all, it has been great fun exploring nature with some simple and very affordable items from Discount School Supply. Up next, we may have to bring nature indoors with a Root-Vue Farm®! (8WWROOT)

Christmas 2011 with Discount School Supply

Hi, my name is Leigh and I am a Web Marketing Product Coordinator for Discount School Supply. It is my job to maintain, update and showcase the assortment of products seen on discountschoolsupply.com. I may be a little late in writing about this really exciting activity, but I wanted to share it with all of you, so that it can be in your minds for Christmas 2011!
It was with childlike enthusiasm that I got the idea in my head that last year Christmas (2010) I would erect and decorate my first Christmas tree as an adult. I made it my mission to visit several lots to pick out the most magnificent Douglas Fir that my home could handle.

I decided to make all my own ornaments by hand. I invited my closest friends over to help with my ornament crafting. While my tree stood naked in my living room and classic Christmas songs played in the background, we set about making ornaments.

Discount School Supply catalog. I was thrilled when I found Colored Stretch Beading Cord(8WWFCLR). The cord was the perfect thread for Gold Jingle Bells (8WWBELLS). This was my spin on the traditional tinsel garlands! The rest of the tree was decorated with Wooden Photo Frame Ornaments (8WWPHOTO). I couldn’t have found a more perfect accessory to showcase some of the more memorable photos of special times and people throughout the year! Since the frames are wood –we used Glitter Glue Pens (8WWGGPEN) to decorate each frame uniquely.
Colorations Clear Ornaments(8WWORNSET) were the piece de resistance. Everyone was blown away by this simple but beautiful art project. All you have to do is brush the inside of these ornaments (which come in two pieces) with your favorite paint! I wanted red, sparkly ornaments. I decided to use BioColor® red paint(8WWBIORE). You squeeze a drop of red paint in one piece of the ornament. To create the sparkle effect use BioColor® Shimmer Powder . Just a few shakes will do. Snap your ornament shut and then shake!

Christmas songs like "Hark the Herald Angels", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Jingle Bells" suddenly took on a whole new meaning as I adorned my tree with my very own ornaments. This simple tree was now festooned with ornaments that my friends and I had made. More importantly, these are ornaments I will treasure for years to come. I hope you’ll consider planning waaaaaaaay ahead for your holiday in 2011 and try some of these wonderful ideas to decorate your home!

This may sound like a daunting task, but I picked out some very fun, festive and easy ideas from the