Simply Shoeboxes: Step 3: Bagging Hygiene Supplies ~ Organizing a Spur of the Moment OCC Packing Party

Packing hygiene supplies for an Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party.

Hygiene items ready to be packed in zipper bags.

Each box we personally pack for Operation Christmas Child includes many hygiene items. We wanted to include as many as our given budget could afford in our supplies for the packing party. We always bag our soap in sandwich zipper bags to contain the fragrance...even tho we use Ivory which is mild.

To make it easier on the kids packing the boxes we went ahead and used quart sized bags and included all the hygiene items with the soap. This will also ensure
that each box will get each item. I know my family, if we get to the end of the packing and there is a toothbrush left over we will be inclined to open each of the 100 boxes and find the one lacking. NOTE: I would not pack wash cloths and soap in the same bag now, due to reports of mold problems some have had from moisture coming out of the bars of soap and being trapped in the washcloth.

Shoe Box Packing Tip: Buy Ivory soap--it FLOATS!! If a child is bathing in a river, pond or lake this can be very important. Editing to add: my daughter suggested that if they are in a river with a current the soap may float down the river and they would loose it.

2 - 4 year old Hygiene Items

soap
washcloth
~~toothpaste~~
toothbrush
comb

5 - 9 and 10 - 14 year old Hygiene Items

soap
washcloth
~~toothpaste~~
toothbrush
comb
nail files (girls--we had these on hand)
nail clips (most boys--didn't have quite enough on hand to go around)

Notice we crossed toothpaste off our original list. The paste we found affordable expired too soon and the dentist we asked never came thru with toothpaste. So we decided to leave it out. If we get a late donation of it we will add it. UPDATE: As of 2017 toothpaste is no longer allowed.

The price of the items included:

Soap - 10 for $3.75 at Dollar General less $5 off $30 coupon = final price of 31 cents each.
Washcloth - 18 for $4 at Dollar General less $5 off $30 coupon = final price of 18 1/2 cents each
Toothbrushes - 4/$1 older kids and 3/$1 little kids
Combs - 12/$1
Nail items - free collected from CVS deals over the past few years (want to learn how to get free stuff at CVS? Check out my daughter's blog Simply CVS)