Totally in love with Lakeshore Learning

[CariOfOz]

*no I don't work for them *

Omg I had to share.. I've seen you mamas post on here about the awesome things they have and have looked at their site a few times. But a few weeks ago they had a nice sale on so that, combined with an awesome exchange rate (and the discovery that their distributor here in Australia breaks up some of the items into much smaller sets to resell.. example instead of 266 fraction circle pieces for about 24 bucks, you get 1 'whole' of eat set.. so 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 etc up to 10.. for 18bucks aus!) I decided to try them out. The shipping was pricey, but even so I could not have gotten the same materials from inside Australia for the same price! We now have geoboards, fraction circles, sandpaper sight words, and little personal whiteboards and a cool magnetic learning clock on the fridge

And aside from me thinking it all rocks, the boys are in there eagerly testing it all out

[annettemarie]

They are six shades of awesome, aren't they? Two summers ago I got to go to a Lakeshore Learning store-- I was in heaven!

[Momma Aimee]

they are under the tree and in the stocking this year.

a number of the cool things DS uses with his ST are from there -- so i got a couple for his stocking

[CariOfOz]

Annettemarie, I would be in soooo much trouble if there was an actual brick & mortar store here I have a wish list a mile long

[DaughterOfKali]

I've been to a brick & mortar store a few times but thought most of the things were overpriced. That was a couple years ago. I wonder if they dropped their prices.

[CariOfOz]

Probably not Liz, but sadly I've discovered that sometimes you get what you pay for. I've bought a few cheaper things locally that just weren't great Plus I get the bonus of having 3 kids to prorate the price out over LOL.

[Bird Girl]

Not that I want to brag or anything, but I live close to their outlet...

The quality of Lakeshore stuff is very high, so the prices are not unreasonable. Their art supplies and art kits are absolutely great activities for birthday parties, by the way, and you will definitely get enough stuff for every kid to make one of whatever. I've been eying a darling project that helps young children make their own books, with foam covers and sewn pages.

[DaughterOfKali]

I found a lot of what they sell through the Oriental Trading Co
Seriously.

[dotnetdiva]

I live an hour away from Lakeshore Learning, and have gone there quite a few times. Love that place!

I have to be careful of what I buy, some of the learning things my daughter learns too fast so they are a waste of money. So now I tend to focus on their arts/crafts, science/math, toys sections.

I was just on the Oriental Trading Co site looking for stuff for Christmas crafts and it in NO WAY reminded me of Lakeshore Learning, lol! I ended up not getting anything.

[DaughterOfKali]

Originally Posted by dotnetdiva

I was just on the Oriental Trading Co site looking for stuff for Christmas crafts and it in NO WAY reminded me of Lakeshore Learning, lol! I ended up not getting anything.

It's there. They have an educational area at Oriental Trading and a LOT of the stuff is the same.

Once the holidays are over, I may trek over to Lakeshore and see what's new. I'll have to see about getting a card for homeschooling.

[dotnetdiva]

Ah, I see their Teaching section now! They do have more stuff than I expected.

Looking at OT's science section, it is almost all under $20 though, only 3 items above $20. Lots of trinket type stuff they'd I'd expect from Oriental Trading. Whereas the Lakeshore Learning site has most items priced at $20 and above. Maybe they are a bit overpriced, but I think overall they carry more high quality items.

[AngelBee]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

They are six shades of awesome, aren't they? Two summers ago I got to go to a Lakeshore Learning store-- I was in heaven!

I am going over Christmas break!

[luv-my-boys]

I love Lakeshore learning and was able to go to one of their outlets when on vacation. OMGosh! I loved it, remember to sign up for their teacher card because they will email you lots of coupons and discounts plus let you know about in store events. They are little more priced but I have to say that they do have quality items. So for us (homeschooling a lot) it makes sense to pay a dollar more here and there and know it will make it thru the boys. Plus they (at least at mine) are very helpful. I literally had the store all to ourselves (time of day I went) it was awesome and the staff was very helpful.