DIY Dollar Store Homework Caddy

Check out this easy DIY dollar store homework caddy that I put together before school started. I can restock throughout the year with fresh supplies as needed, and homework time is little less of a struggle when we don’t have to search for sharpened pencils and glue sticks!

Update: This post originally published in 2019. I can honestly tell you, now several years later, this caddy is still one of my all-time best back to school creations… EVER. Each year in August, I restock our caddy with a fresh round of supplies. I do 1-2 mid-school-year restocks as well, depending on which supplies need replacing. This caddy lives in our kitchen or sometimes in our mudroom which is right next to the kitchen. It is used every single day by my elementary schooler and sporadically by the middle schooler (most of her work is done online).

Do yourself a big favor and set this up in late summer. No more searching for supplies after school!

DIY Dollar Store Homework Caddy

Every year as the new school year approaches, I find myself pinning all sorts of lovely back to school ideas. Of course, the reality is that I tend to pin way more ideas than I actually put into play. Now that Lily is somehow more than halfway through her elementary school years, homework is a reality. Each year she gets a little more work piled on to her homework plate and every other night we’re rounding up school supplies that always seem scattered about the house. We have already done our back to school supply shopping and while we were at the dollar store, I rounded up a few simple supplies to create a portable homework station that she can use to complete her assignments.

What to Include in Your Homework Caddy

Dollar Store Supplies: Plastic Caddy, Cups for supplies (I used 3 metal cups and 1 plastic flip-top container), school supplies if you don’t already have them (see below for what supplies I included)

School Supplies: 

I stuck to the elementary school list of popular homework supplies including:

• pencils
• erasers
• crayons
• markers
• scissors
• glue sticks and liquid glue

Not on the school list, but also included:

• paper clips (for those inevitable school forms and such that need to be signed and returned)
• a ruler (which came in handy for both math homework and for work that needed straight lines (ie spelling, handwriting practice, etc))
• pencil sharpener

You can organize your supplies however you’d like.

Over the years the caddy has changed and evolved. When we were stuck at home doing distance learning, the caddy sat on the kids’ desk area. We weren’t using lots of glue at the time, so we swapped out the glue for dry erase markers and erasers. The dry erase boards got a lot of use during Zoom sessions.

Just for Homework!

I usually store this homework caddy on the windowsill in our mudroom and it is hands-off for any activity that isn’t homework. No arts and craft hour, no rainy day coloring… HOMEWORK ONLY. (Because the thought of not having to turn the house upside down for a sharpened pencil at homework time makes me positively giddy.)

We have plenty of supplies floating around the house for the kids to use for random crafts, and I love having  dedicated supply for homework and school projects.

What will you include in YOUR homework station? Do your kids do their homework in the same spot every day or do they work in different locations in your home?

PIN THIS DIY Dollar Store Homework Caddy TO PINTEREST!

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