We’re still about 4 weeks out from our first day of school but I know that many kids across the US have started, or are starting, soon. And now that I’m a “seasoned” parent to a school-aged kid (ha!), I thought I would share some of the things I learned during Ivy’s kindergarten year. So without further adieu, here’s my 5 back to school tips for incoming kindergarten parents.
Back to School Tip #1: Buy the Bigger Backpack
When I was searching around for the backpack to get Ivy for her first year, I primarily looked into the recommended size that aligned with her height (while allowing an inch or two for her to grow). With that said, I ended up purchasing a Pottery Barn Kids backpack in the their size “small”. However, a couple of weeks into school, she came home letting me know that her teacher had told her she was going to need to a bigger backpack. While chatting with her teacher, I found out she was recommending a bigger bag because Ivy’s take-home projects, lunch box AND winter gear weren’t all going to fit in the small size we bought her. So off I went, ordering the same backpack just in the “large” size. And spoiler alert: her teacher was 100% right – all of her stuff would have never fit come winter time.
Also, unrelated – I’ve read in a lot of places that it’s suggested to never put your child’s name on the outside of their backpack. I know a lot of company’s are offering this now so I wanted to share that helpful tip. The reason being that it allows strangers to identify them by their first name, which can confuse younger children into trusting that person knows them or their parents.
Tip #2: Buy the Bigger Lunch Bag
In addition to buying too small of a backpack, I also purchased the smaller lunch bag, which was another mistake on my part.
I bought the coordinating lunch bag from Pottery Barn Kids in the “classic” size when I bought Ivy’s small backpack. And while it worked, I found that a lot of the lunch containers I had purchased didn’t fit well. Or, if they fit, there wasn’t much room left for other stand-alone items (like her drinks, packaged snacks, etc). I ended up upgrading to the “cold pack” size, which provided some much-needed extra space.
Tip #3: Get Personalized, Waterproof, Name Labels
When you realize how many items you will need to label with your child’s name on it, you’ll be so happy that you purchased personalized name labels. This set from Mabel’s Labels is the perfect place to start since it offers a variety of sizes for various uses (and bonus: they’re waterproof)! I still have plenty of labels left, which is great because I find myself needing to add her name to new things as we buy them.
A few suggestions for label use: water bottles, backpack, school supplies, lunch bag, lunch containers, winter gear (boots, hats, gloves/mittens, snow pants).
Tip #4: Skip the Paper / Cardboard 2-Pocket Folders
If pocket folders are on your child’s school supply list, grab ones that are plastic or poly vs. the paper / cardboard ones.
Ivy only needed two folders for her Kindergarten year, one of which had to be a plain color. The second folder was going to be used as a take-home folder that she used every day. For that one, she picked out a super cute mermaid-themed pink folder that was cardboard/paper material. Know that happened? That cute folder made it about a month before the started ripping in half and falling apart. Luckily we had purchased 2 so we could switch it over. But again, about a month into using it, it, too, started falling apart.
I switched my approach after that and found some cute poly/plastic ones at my local Dollar Tree. We purchased a couple different designs but she only ended up needing to use one for the remainder of the year. Thankfully it looks like many stores are offering a larger selection of the poly and plastic options so they were easy to come by when we shopped this year.
Back to School Tip #5: Start Your Supply Shopping Early
Okay, maybe this is just the planner in me, but I definitely recommend starting your supply shopping early. Hopefully you have a school district that provides your lists early, like our does. School supplies, especially the more budget-friendly options, are often the first to sell out. And if you have a limited number of stores in your area selling supplies, the likelihood of items selling out quickly are even higher.
“Seasoned” school-aged parents, do you have any tips to add? Leave them in the comments below!
Want more back to school content? Check out last year’s post on what I grabbed when shopping for Ivy’s Kindegartent year. I’ll also be following up with more back to school content in the coming weeks to be sure to stop back for more inspiration!
