‘C’ is for Crayola, cargo, cool for school

This year’s school supplies earn a C: Not C for average — C for cool. Here’s what’s hot when shopping for school supplies. Are you seeing the same trends at your school?

Colorful: Nobody knows color like Crayola, which is celebrating 100 years of crayon-making this year. Besides an anniversary box of 100 crayons, the company this year is debuting erasable crayons. The crayons have an eraser on the end, so you can clean up any mistakes.

For cool colors, shades of blue are everywhere. Stores are stocked with blue backpacks, lunch bags, folders and even calculators.

Convenient: The newest backpacks have handy pouches for CD players, calculators and all your gear. Messenger bags, which have been popular with older children, are now coming out for students of all ages. There also are plenty of bags with wheels to help carry heavy loads of homework. Even lunch bags have become backpacks, making them more convenient to carry.

Another convenient trend is more mechanical pencils. Lots of students like these for schoolwork because it’s easy to click out more lead when you need it. This year, there are more choices in mechanical pencils than ever. A top pick is the Bic BicMatic Fun mechanical pencils. They come in wild colors that even make writing fun.

There also are more ways to study basic subjects like spelling and math. Jump Start has some clever new ways to jump-start your studying, including the new Spelling Bee from the Study Helpers series. First- through fifth-graders can type in weekly spelling lists and then play arcade-style games with the words.

Camouflage: The military-style jungle pattern is hot — find it on assignment books, planners, backpacks and even tennis shoes.

Cargo: Cargo pants are akin to the new jeans — still stylish, casual and easy to wear with everything. If last year’s pair still fit, bring back this favorite fashion staple.