Back-to-School Essentials: Spruce up the Norm

Editor's note: This article is part of a series about must-have items and must-know tips for helping your children transition from summer fun to the new school year. The resumes classes Sept. 6. Click here to read more back-to-school stories.

You could get the standard back-to-school supplies for your kids, but wouldn’t adding some silly stuff raise the excitement level in your student’s attitude?

A whole section of Catching Fireflies, for example, has been devoted to back-to-school treasures for whimsical munchkins needing some excitement.

Young ones will love the DynoBytes crust cutters to add an adventure in their lunch box. Or, high schoolers can sweeten up their study skills by using the cupcake mini-sticky notes.

Catching Fireflies also is participating in Operation Kid Equip, a program that aims to provide free school supplies, books, hygiene and food items for local children in need. If you bring in five or more school supplies, you will receive a set of scented erasers.

Michaels arts-and-crafts stores have an abundance of personalized iron-on decals and fabric pens to turn any common school supply item into a work of art.

As an added bonus, Michaels just introduced interactive ads so customers no longer need to cut out coupons. Instead, sales clerks can scan the coupon from your smartphone.

Happy shopping!