School Supplies List For Kids 1950s Vs Now

It’s no secret that as times change, we use different materials to teach and learn. As we have become more reliant on technology you might expect that school supply lists would get shorter. But, the opposite seems to be true! In the old days the things you needed for school wasn’t a whole lot. Much of what you used would have been supplied by the school like paper, workbooks, and pencil sharpeners. Of course this varied by location and school system, but the overall outlay was pretty minimal. So let’s compare this to what parents today are asked to bring to school the first week. Both lists are reflective of the school supply lists for first graders.

In the 1950s you needed:

• 1 satchel
• 1 small box of pencils (maybe 8 or 10)
• 1 pencil box or bag
• 1 small box of crayons
• 1 pair of small scissors
• 1 bottle of glue
• 1 eraser
• 1 notebook
• 1 ruler
• 1 folder

Today’s school supply list:

• 1 backpack
• 3 boxes of crayons (24 count)
• 2 erasers
• 1 3-ring binder
• 1 folder
• 1 box washable markers
• 1 box thin markers
• 24 pencils
• 3 dry erase markers
• 1 box tissues
• 1 pencil/art box
• 1 pair scissors
• 4 jumbo glue sticks
• 1 box ziplock bags
• 1 pair headphones

The list for today’s kids also stipulates that children should bring their own water bottle as well have a pair of non-marking sneakers for PE.

Some school supply lists have even more things to buy for kids.

In some areas today school supply lists may also include:

• 1 notebook
• 1 pack manilla paper
• 1 pack construction paper
• 1 bottle hand sanitizer
• masks
• 1 box bandaids
• 1 pack index cards

The headphones are a necessity thanks to online learning, but it’s interesting that kids need more things to write and draw with today than they did back before computers were in classrooms. The overall cost of the supplies has gone up not only because there are more items on the list these days, but because many of the items are more expensive than the basic supplies parents sent their kids to school with in the 1950s. Not only that, some of the lists today require multiples of these items be bought to make sure there’s enough for the entire school year!