Every summer, my children and I go on the great treasure hunt ─ also known as school supply shopping! And each time it seems that one or two things on our list prove difficult to locate. But now that I’ve been at it a few years, I’ve learned that unearthing the hard-to-find items means knowing where to look.

Artist Supply Store

Occasionally our school supply list features a very specific item that none of the regular stores seems to carry. Comparing notes with other moms can be helpful, but if it can only be found online and you don’t have time to wait for the item to be shipped, check your local artist supply store. Among the paintbrushes and modeling clay you’ll find a treasure trove of school supplies. Generally these will be high quality so expect to pay more; but if you’re just picking up that one elusive item, it won’t drain your wallet.

Potential Finds: variety of adhesives (glue sticks, glue pens, school glue, and rubber cement), project display boards, pencils (particularly specialized pencils for beginning or challenged writers), scissors (including left-handed scissors), markers, and paints.

Hardware Big-Box Store

Arrive late to the school-supply-shopping scene (What? You were actually away on vacation this summer!?) and you may find even the most benign supplies are sold out from your go-to superstore. Head where many moms don’t think to shop: the hardware store. Places like Home Depot often carry basic school supplies like filler paper and notebooks; and prices can be competitive too. You won’t have to worm through the crowds of parents and kids to find what you want. Plus, you can pick up a spare light bulb while you’re there.

Potential Finds: basics such as pencils, pens, notebooks, folders, highlighters, markers, scissors, glue sticks, rulers, backpacks, and calculators.

Teacher Stores

Educators shop there, so why not students too? Like artist supply shops, teacher stores carry pricier goods. Part of shopping here is the fun of seeing what kinds of things teachers get to choose from and, most often, the quality of goods can make up for the cost. Keep your eyes open for tools to use at home to support your child’s education, such as flash cards. Be prepared to buy like the teachers do (in bulk).

Potential Finds: pencil cases, pencils and grips, pens, markers, crayons, posterboard, binders, protractors, rulers, compasses, composition books, and notebooks.

Museum Shop

One place that we often forget as a resource is museum shops, particularly those inside children’s museums. Many children’s museum stores feature educational toys and science kits. Need a pair of goggles for your budding scientist student? You might find a pair to fit here!

Potential Finds: gluten and latex-free modeling dough, watercolor paints, pencils, and science goggles. Also a great spot to pick up educational and fun birthday gifts for the many parties that will come up during the school year.

According to the National Retail Federation, back-to-school shopping is the second biggest sales season, next to the winter holidays, with parents of kids K-12 estimated to spend a total of $30 billion. It’s hard to tell at first glance which items on your child’s list will be tricky to locate. But don’t stress out…you’re already ahead of the back to school preparations because you now know where to track down these hard-to-find items!

Test Your School Supply Savvy

Can you identify which of the items on this sample supply list might be hard to find?

• 12 pencils (#2, pre-sharpened)
• 4 spiral notebooks (70 ct., wide-ruled)
• Nylon zippered pencil case with grommets (purple)
• 6 two-pocket folders (3 red, 2 blue, 1 green)
• 150-ct. lined filler paper, wide-ruled
• 2 Itoya O’Glue sticks
• 1 large pink Pearl eraser
• 7″ scissors
• Yellow plastic 2-pocket folder
• 18-ct. crayons
• Transparent plastic ruler (standard & metric measurements)
• Green felt tip pen
• 1 pair safety goggles
• Box of tissues

Answers: nylon pencil case with grommets (purple), Itoya O’Glue, yellow plastic 2-pocket folder, green felt tip pen, and children’s safety goggles. Good luck!

Lara Krupicka is a freelance writer who usually spends part of August hunting down odd school supplies for her three daughters.