How to Organise your Kids' Lunch Boxes and Other School Supplies

There is always so much to purchase, prepare and organise when your kids head off to school. Whether it be on their first day or the last time you need to do it for them, we think you as parents could use a helping hand. So, we have put together several hints, tips, and advice below to refer back to whenever you please. Take this article as a guide for properly preparing your kids for the school year ahead. Lunch boxes, school stationery, sports gear and school uniforms, you name it. Look over our list and get your kids organised and school-ready for when it is most needed.

Be lunch box ready

Ah, the trusty old school lunch box. It’s the saviour of the school day for your kids who have spent so long in the classroom or outdoors playing in the yard, that they cannot do without it. So, to ensure you don’t forget the most important item in your child’s school bag, it’s a good idea to keep things organised at home.

A great plan of action is to set up a ‘lunch station’ in your home, preferably in the kitchen where the lunches will be prepared. Mum’s and Dad’s, find a shelf where you can let your kids’ lunch boxes and snack containers live. That way, when the kids come home instead of just dumping their bags at the front door and forgetting about their school belongings, they have a designated spot to put their lunch packs and bags. If the kids also want to add other stuff in their lunch packs’, they also know exactly where to go. If you have more than one child going to school, it’s even worth using kids name labels or kids school labels to distinguish whose lunch shelf belongs to whom.

Design your kids’ stationery

A stationery list is usually supplied by most schools for every student going into their next grade. This will help to determine how you can organise your kids’ school stationery supplies at home and in the classroom. Once you know what is required for your child this year, you can start putting their rooms in order for study and homework time. Try using some old shoe boxes to store note pads, spare paper and other bulkier items such as calculators. As for pens, pencils and textas, tear off the labels of some used glass jars then label them with some kids name labels according to whom they belong to.

For expensive stationery items such as rulers, calculators, pencil cases, and the like, a good idea is to attach some personalised labels to them. This will ensure that your child’s items don’t get mixed up with other classmates at school and also aren’t claimed by the wrong hands. Applying personalised name labels on your kids’ stationery supplies also helps to distinguish whose is whose at home if you have multiple children going to school. Arguments saved!

Categorise your school supplies 

 Another fantastic idea to readily organise your kids for the new school year is to compartmentalize and categorise all their school gear throughout the home. This may seem like a big job at first, but once it’s done, it’s done! Everything from lunch boxes (above) to stationery storage can be labelled and have a specific home to live in. Just grab some Australian name labels at online name label retailers of which there are plenty if you simply search the web. Having everything in its place will save any headaches the next morning trying to get everyone (including yourself) out on time. If everything has a home and things are in their place, there is less chance of time-wasting the next day.

Other items that need to be put in their place to prevent searching for them at the last minute could be:

• Sports gear
• School clothes (sports clothes included!)
• School shoes
• School hats
• Socks and underwear
• Medications

Create a school back-pack rack

Avoid that smelly banana at the bottom of the school bag. Don’t let your kids just leave their backpacks at the front door when they return home from school. Create a bag rack at the front door and stick labels to it so you can establish some sort of organisation. The kids will love to choose their favourite kids school labels online as there are many to choose from to boys and girls likings. However, rather than the kids being taught to just leave their bags on the rack once home, teach them to unpack their bags first and then once everything is sorted and put away, then they can hang up their bags on the rack.

If you think having school bags at the front door cramps the style of your house, just simply have additional racks in each of the kids’ bedrooms. When you are ready to move the school bags back to the front door rack in time for school simply do so.

Plan clothes for the school week

Another headache solved (as well as morning delays), is to have your kids’ clothes set out and prearranged before they go to bed. This will save possible arguments in the morning about what they want to wear for school and any other accessories they might want to bring.

You can also go one step further and prepare your kids school outfits for the entire week. This will allow a stress-free first week back to school or just help you as a parent to have that extra peace of mind for the week ahead.

A good idea is to use some personalised name labels and affix them inside your kids’ drawers. It will help you not to ruin the look of the furniture you have bought for the kids’ rooms. By preparing in this way, you and the kids will also be better organised for the AM rush and will be on time for school and work.