Supplies for Interactive Notebooks: Kinderactive Series Part 2

This is a title graphic for a blog post that says, "Supplies for Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten."

I hope you enjoyed reading Part 1 to this series, How to use Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten.

Today, we’re going to discuss all things supplies when it comes to what I like to call Kinderactive notebooks. I call them Kinderactive notebooks because your kindergarten babies can do this. It will be a tad bit difficult in the beginning, but interactive notebooks in kindergarten will be successful! The right amount of practice and encouragement will have them independently working in their notebooks in no time!

This post is going to be a pretty easy one, but I just want you to think things out before you choose, or don’t choose, something. If you’re anything like me, then you like to know all of your options before you make decisions. So, keep reading to learn more about my suggested supplies for interactive notebooks.

What do I need to get started with interactive notebooks?

This is a graphic that says, "Supplies for Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten: The Notebook."

The very first thing that is the most important decision in your venture into the world of interactive notebooking is the type of notebook.

This is a photograph of a spiral notebook.

The spiral can be a great choice because of price. You can usually find them during the summer for only a few cents. A class set would be less than three or four dollars depending on how many kids you have and the price of the notebooks. I like the spiral because it allow the opportunity to fold back pages and children are forced to use only one page.

Spiral Notebook Pros: cheap, lightweight

Spiral Notebook Cons: pages tear out easily, wire will come out/can poke a child

This is a screenshot of a composition notebook.

The composition notebook is another choice. It is a bit thicker and more durable. These can usually be found for $0.50 during the summer. Years ago, I found them for $0.25, but I haven’t found them at that price recently. I haven’t had one rip, and I’ve had some kids be really rough with them.

Composition Notebook Pros: sturdy, easy for kinders to handle

Composition Notebook Cons: quite expensive if you have a lot of kids or multiple classes

There are so many choices. However, in kindergarten, I think it is extremely important to get a notebook that can withstand a kindergartner. My notebook of choice is the composition because it’s the easiest for kindergarten to handle.

This isn’t a notebook, but is something that some of you may want as a portion of your notebook. Yarn or ribbon can be used as a page holder. Either tape or glue a piece of ribbon inside the front or back cover. Then, move the yarn or ribbon over to each page each day. I don’t use a page holder, but this is a great idea for anyone that would like to use it.

I just teach my kids how to turn to the next blank page, and that works very well for me.

This is a graphic that says, "Supplies for Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten: The Attachers."

The “attachers” is what I came up with for all the ways to put your notebook pieces into the notebooks, so they are another important set of supplies for interactive notebooks. There are many obvious ways, but I have a few different ones that I’ve used.

This is a picture of a white glue bottle.

White glue is an easy choice when using interactive notebooks. These bottles are fairly inexpensive. You can add them to student supply lists. Every child can have their own bottle of glue. What I don’t like is that they become runny, and a child can easily put way too much glue no matter how many times you sing the dot song.

Tape is another choice when you need to add something to your interactive notebook. If gluing is not an easy option, tape will always hold one piece of paper to another. If you’ve ever run out of glue before and have plenty of tape, this is a fun alternative. Your kids will love that they got to tape something inside their notebooks.

This is a photograph of staples and a stapler in the background.

Stapling pieces together either before you’ve put them in the notebook or using this as the method to attach it into a notebook is another option. We used staplers last year when we sorted living vs. nonliving things.

This is a graphic showing a page of an interactive notebook with the words, "Interactive Notebooks" along the top of the graphic.

My students colored and then cut each of the pictures. After, they sorted each picture into the correct box. I taught them how to get a partner and have their partner hold their papers in place, and then they got to staple. Then, they switched. It was super easy to teach my 5- and 6-year-olds how to staple. Granted, I had the best class I’ve ever had in the history of my teaching, but it was extremely easy and manageable. Finally, we glued the entire piece in our notebooks.

This is a photograph of two glue sticks.

Glue sticks are quite possibly one of the most used methods in schools when you need to attach something to another piece. Personally, I do not like the way that glue stick tops’ have legs. They run away from the bottom way too much, and Ms. Brown is searching for them. I’m not a fan of glue sticks.

Glue sponges are all the rage right now. I use glue sponges in my classroom. Last year, I had a total of five. Each table had one, and there was an extra if I needed it. This year, I don’t have assigned tables. I made a few more glue sponges during the summer for a workshop. I have a total of about 14 this year. I recommend buying the Sterilite containers. I bought some from Dollar Tree and don’t really like how “cheap” they feel. The Sterilite containers are very sturdy. The top actually has to pop down, and this is how my kids know it’s closed.

This is a photograph of containers holding glue sponges.

I used these baskets a few years ago for my student book bins. They come two per pack from Walmart. It holds about four or five deep on each side. I have two baskets of these. My kids just grab one and go. They know to share with a friend next to them or with the friends at the table that they go to.

This is a graphic that says, "Supplies for Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten: The Writing Utensils."

This is a photograph of different colored markers.

Writing utensil supplies for interactive notebooks are all your choosing. I don’t allow my students to use markers in their notebooks. However, I may one day get to a point where I’m okay with them using markers.

This is a screenshot of a box of crayons.

Crayons are my absolute favorite art supply to use. This is the main way that we decorate our interactive notebook pages.

This is a photograph of colored pencils.

Colored pencils are a wonderful way to use more time when coloring. If you teach your kids to cover all of the white spots, this will be more time consuming. I love colored pencils, except for sharpening them.

That sums up my most important suggestions for supplies for interactive notebooks! Let me know what other supplies you use in the comments.