My Best Finds at This Year’s Book Sales {Part One}

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This annual used curriculum sale was geared toward homeschooling families in that all the vendors are home schoolers looking to sell their gently used curriculum, books and materials.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised at the variety of materials available as well as the reasonable prices offered by most of the vendors.

I’m so thankful she alerted me to this sale {thanks, Emiley!}, as I found quite a few wonderful resources at excellent prices…

Favorite Finds for Little Brother

Over the past six months or so, I’ve gradually been accumulating activities to keep Little Brother busy during Older Brother’s lessons.

I’ve learned a lot–and have some tips, suggestions and resources to share.  One day in the near future, I plan to do a whole series on pre-K activities.  

For now, I’m pleased to show off the following activities we were able to add to our growing stash of quality pre-K activities, and at such great prices:

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1.  Lauri Rubber Puzzles–$2 each

I purchased five of these colorful, durable puzzles–and almost wish I’d bought more.  We have a fish, butterflies, a train, a parrot and a Nativity puzzle that I’m stashing away until December arrives.  Little Brother has absolutely loved these puzzles.  Older Brother even enjoys them, too!  Brand new, these puzzles cost about $10 each.

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2.  Bug Game – Insects and other Backyard Creatures

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I’m a sucker for quality nature-themed books and activities!  We’re big nature enthusiasts here at the Yankee Homestead, and I knew the boys would love these realistic drawings of all kinds of bugs.  The game includes twenty two 2-card puzzles.  Twenty two puzzles might be a bit overwhelming for Little Brother, so I split them into groups of about four or five puzzles each–placing each group in a small plastic bag.  Little Brother loves to match the puzzles and name the bugs.

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3.  Tag Along Bears–$.50  (Similar to these: Lauri Toys Primer Pack

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The bear lacing card (like the yellow cat above) in our Tag Along Bear set has been a big hit with Little Brother.  We have other lacing cards that he enjoys, but this one seemed easier for him to accomplish on his own.  Our set also included a foam bear puzzle–similar to the ABC puzzle above, but with bears.  And it came with a set of small foam bears with a hole in the center–like the shapes on the red string, above–that he can string onto shoelaces, or fit into another, separate rubber puzzle, or place on color pattern cards (blue, red, yellow, blue, red, yellow; etc.)  I was thrilled to score several useful activities for a total of $.50!

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4.  Lakeshore Make a Word Picture Puzzles–$5

$5 is more than I would normally spend on a used activity for Little Brother, but this set of puzzles was in like-new condition, contained 16 puzzles and has its own wooden storage box!  Again, Older Brother has enjoyed these puzzles almost as much as Little Brother.  And again, I separated the puzzles into small bags, so as not to overwhelm Little Brother.  (And to stretch out the usefulness of this set, of course.)

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5.  Spicebox Early Learning Jigsaw Puzzles–$3

These are absolutely perfect for Little Brother!  We’ve got several sets of puzzle cards–like those in the Bug Game, above–and he always enjoys matching the cards.  What I love about this set is the sturdiness of the cards (stiff and thick, like a real puzzle) and the jigsaw aspect–the cards lock together, which is more satisfying to Little Brother.  I was thrilled to score 78 puzzles for $3!  Once again, I split up the puzzles into smaller sets.  Perfect!

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6.  Tallest Tree Stacking Blocks

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This awesome set of stacking blocks by Golden Gate National Parks is a great fit for our nature-loving household as well.  10 sturdy blocks show a Redwood tree, forest friends, a nature poem and more.  I haven’t pulled out this activity yet for Little Brother, but I’m confident it will be a big hit–he’s loved every set of stacking blocks he’s ever met.

Hooray for used book sales!

I found quite a few other useful activities for Little Brother, but these six were my favorites.  In the time span of just a few weeks, we’ve already gotten quite a bit of use out of these activities.  And because I found so many, it’s allowed me to keep some back–stretching out the new activities keeps Little Brother engaged.

Stay tuned in the days ahead as I share a few more favorite finds from this sale, as well as our huge local used book sale–there’s quite a story attached to that one. 🙂

Have you scored any great secondhand games or activities?

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