When I was little, my mom always took me to a store called Creative Kidstuff. I tried looking them up online, when I found out the brick-and-mortar stores don’t exist anymore!

My childhood memories include bold paint colors, interactive toys meant to be played with (even on the sales floor), and a spinning wire shelf with dozens of intriguing mini-books, or Dover books!

This spinning rack featured coloring, sticker or activity books in a range of topics: paper dolls, dinosaurs, backyard bugs, steam engines, and more. I remember staring at the drawings with intrigue and wishing I could buy all of them!

This gorgeous Victorian House Coloring book was a recent purchase of mine, for an upcoming product I’m creating! It will be my first Homeschool Unit Study, which will be released this summer. Check out my TPT Storefront for freebies & other resources!

Using Dover Books As Supplements

Dover Books are totally intriguing to me, and are a relic of the past. If you look at their website, they offer all sorts of interesting, unique activity books, including:

• Mazes & Dot-To-Dots: perfect for road trips, or to keep little hands busy if you’re schooling the older kids!
• Sticker Paper Dolls: everything from King Tut, to Betsy the Colonial Girl, to a Native American Princess! These would be an interesting & fun supplement for your history curriculum!
• Stencils: does this not bring you back?! I loved using stencils as a kid. Even though they help you create the perfect shapes, they still require some good hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills!
• Mini “Learning About” Book Series featuring topics like Nocturnal Animals, Rocks, Birds of Prey, The Solar System, Insects, and more!

Alright, so this is my unsponsored plug for little Dover books! I often think about things I grew up with, and see if I can implement them into my own homeschooling. I know it’s 2026, and things have changed. But, even though I will train my children for our current age, technology and all, I still feel nostalgic for the things of our past: Little Dover Books included.

What’s your favorite vintage hack? How do you bring your childhood experience into your own homeschool? I’d love to hear!

Cait