It’s about that time of year when we are starting to think about the kids going back to school. I know it’s hard to imagine right now when we are enjoying these warm summer days filled with swimming and eating popsicles, but school will be starting before we know it.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.
Whether you are a last minute shopper or like to get it done early, I have a list of supplies that I think are essential to make sure that your child’s school days are easier, healthier and more organized. These are things I found to be helpful when my kids started school and will be helpful starting this school season.
I have updated my list with a few more items that might be helpful with kids attending school in person or doing virtual learning at home. There are items for students of all ages, both elementary and those going into middle and high school.
Fairy Tales Conditioning Spray
To me this is a must have to prevent getting head lice. I’ve never had head lice, or dealt with it and I don’t want to start now. My daughter has long, thick hair and I knew if there was an outbreak in her classroom, her chances of getting lice were higher. Fairy Tales is easy to quickly spray on your child’s head before you head out the door in the morning.
Lunch Box Container
A handy little container to pack all the food in your child’s lunch box is essential. This container is reusable so you won’t be wasting a lot of plastic baggies. I like how there are different size dividers in this container so I had many options on what to pack in my daughter’s lunch. There’s a spot for a sandwich or other type of protein. I also was able to pack grapes and carrots and ranch dressing. All in one container! It’s also dishwasher safe so cleaning it is really easy. I thought it was very reasonably priced and definitely worth it when you think about how much you will be saving on plastic bags in the long run.
Water Bottle
Another essential item to send your child to school with is a good water bottle. Whether they are running around at recess, exercising in PE, or working hard at their desk, they are going to get thirsty throughout the day. Having their own water bottle will help make sure they are well hydrated and it’s more sanitary than drinking from a drinking fountain. This insulated water bottle helps keep water cold all day long and stands up well to accidentally dropping it many times. It comes in lots of cute patterns and colors and is just the right size to fit in the side pocket of a backpack. And right now it’s 30% off! Click on link for details.
Smart Reusable Notebook
If you have a middle or high school student, they will probably be taking a lot of notes in class. This reusable notebook is pretty awesome. No more wasting paper or losing your notes! Once they’ve written their notes they can download them to a cloud service like Google Docs, Dropbox, iCloud and more. Then just wipe the pages clean and start again. This looks super cool and for a limited time you can get it for almost 50% off!
24 Pocket Project Organizer
Have your kids keep their school projects organized with this pocket organizer. 24 pockets will keep everything in one place. This would be great for school reports or any writing project.
Headphones
Whether your kids are attending school in the classroom or learning at home, headphones are a must. A lot of teachers recommend that your child brings his or her own headphones to school for when they do some of their work on tablets or Chromebooks. My kids have this style and they are super comfortable.
Dry Erase Wall Calendar
Nothing gets crazier than the after school schedule. If your kids participate in sports or any other after school activities, you will want to have a spot where you can keep everything written down and organized. A wall calendar helps because then everyone can see the schedule at a glance.
Elderberry Gummies
Once school is back in session and the cold weather hits, that’s also the start of cold season. Nothing spreads faster than colds in a classroom and everyone will want to be extra diligent about protecting their health this year . I like to help boost my kids’ immune system, so every night before bed I give them an elderberry gummy. Elderberry helps to prevent sickness and even if you do happen to catch a cold, elderberry helps shorten the duration and lessen the severity of it. Also, if there is a stomach flu bug going around, taking elderberry will help prevent you from getting it. These elderberry gummies are great for kids and they make ones for adults too.
Binder for organizing papers
I don’t know about you, but I feel like kids come home with hundreds of papers and projects and artwork each year. I don’t want to throw everything out, but I also don’t want to keep every single piece of paper no matter how cute it is. Every few months I will go through my daughter’s pile of school papers and pick out our favorite ones. It is neat to see the progress she’s made over the school year and look back on the fun projects she did. I store all of the papers in a 3 ring binder. Everything we want to keep has to fit in the binder. White binders are also on some classroom supply lists.
Plastic document boxes
If binders aren’t your thing, you might consider plastic document boxes for storing all those papers. No matter which method of schooling you are doing, there are always tons of school papers to deal with. These boxes are awesome because they are color coded. This can help with sorting by subject or you can have a different colored box for each child.
Lap desk
If you are doing remote learning or you have teenagers that are going to be writing a lot of reports, you will want to make their workspace as comfortable as possible. Instead of sitting at the kitchen table all the time, they might want to switch it up and do their school work on the couch every once in awhile. This lap desk will help your kids be much more comfortable and maybe even help inspire them to log in and get that schoolwork done.
ABC Mouse Program
If you have young children who are really excited about learning, or if they are struggling with a certain subject – ABC Mouse is an excellent online learning program. It is designed for kids ages 2 -8. My kids all started using the program when they were around 3 and they love it! It covers a range of subjects and it really makes learning fun. My son who just turned 5 can already read a few words and knows how to solve some math problems. If you click on the link below, you can try ABC Mouse FREE for 30 days!
ABC Mouse also has a new program for older kids called Adventure Academy. They are offering a great deal right now where you can get the program for 60% off.
Are you ready to start your back to school shopping? I hope this list gives you a head start and helps you feel a little more prepared as we enter this next school season.
