School Stuff You Should Buy Before the New School Year Begins

Classroom supplies like textbooks and pencil cases to be bought and school uniforms to be picked up from the school shop. This is not to mention additional purchases such as allergy labels or even iron-on clothing labels which would be necessary to buy for your child if they have allergies.

There is so much school stuff that needs to be considered before your child begins school every year. So, here is a collection of 8 of the most important items to remember when planning for school purchases this year. The focus is on kids ages 4 – 12.

School Backpack

This really is a no-brainer amongst all of the stuff the kids will need before school starts. We all know backpacks are essential items to keep all of your child’s school items in one place.

But then think. What will you, as the parent, be packing a day in day out before the kids leave home for school? If it’s lunch boxes and snack boxes, you will want to have a thermal padded backpack, or at least compartment inside the backpack. This is so their lunches and snacks are kept cool and fresh for the day.

Try and also buy a backpack that contains separate compartments. You should try and separate homework, paper, and stationery away from food and drink the kids will consume during the day.

Lunch Box

Yet another essential item you will want to purchase on that back-to-school shopping trip is a lunch box. This again is a no-brainer for your kids hitting school for the first time. However, if the kids are going back to school for another year, it’s worth pulling out their old lunch box to see if it’s still in good condition or needs replacing.

A popular choice for lunch boxes nowadays is the bento-style lunch box. This is a pre-compartmentalised lunch box which can be used to easily divide the kids’ lunches, snacks, or after school snacks.

Snack Box

Whilst bento lunch boxes are a great way of compartmentalising lunch for the kids, you can also purchase snack boxes. Snack boxes are a great way of signalling to your kids what is for lunch and what is for recess.

Well worth the purchase, there are a variety of different snack boxes to buy such as snack tubes (for yoghurts and dips) or clear snack tubs that are all air-tight and leak proof. Snack boxes are a great way to teach your kids about meal time and the importance of portioning for lunch, recess and after school.

Pencil Case and Stationery

What good is going to work without the tools of the trade? Same goes for school and stationery. There are so many options to choose from when buying stationery and pencil cases or containers.

Choosing the right school stuff here will really depend on your child’s favourite colour, design or even children’s characters. Just make sure that at a young age you don’t buy too many art supplies such as scissors, glue or staplers. Despite being a danger to young kids, these should all be supplied by the school and hidden under lock and key by art teachers.

Not on every parent’s back-to-school shopping list (that really should be) are allergy labels and iron on clothing labels. These are a must if you have a child with allergies. The last thing you want is for your kids to share food or drink that may end up harming them. Allergy labels are a sure-fire way to prevent this from happening.

Iron on clothing labels can also be bought at many different online retailers and are a great way to ‘boomerang’ the kids’ clothes and school stuff back to where it belongs.

Sun-Smart Gear

Slip, slop, slap - it’s as simple as that! Especially on the first day of school, usually being summer, ensure you provide your kids with sun-smart gear.

A hat (wide-brim works best), water bottle (preferably in a thermal cooler) and a collared shirt (usually part of the school uniform) are all necessary items to put into your kids’ backpacks.

Sunscreen is usually provided by the school, however, pack this too as you can never be too safe out in the heat.

Notebooks and Exercise Books

These are items that schools usually don’t provide students with. So make sure you don’t forget to pack some lined paper or (even better) exercise books when preparing them for the school year ahead. These are cheap to buy and will save your kids from asking their friends for another spare piece of paper.

Sturdy Folders for Homework and Artwork

After all their hard work and valuable time spent writing, drawing, painting and designing, make sure the kids have a safe place to store their work. Cheap plastic (but sturdy) folders can be purchased from variety and discount stores. Great for protecting the little one’s prized artwork or overdue homework.

Teachers will love this level of organisation too! They can also double as a storage place to keep any ready-to-use allergy labels or iron on clothing labels at home.