Favorite Back-to-School Stuff

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Kids starting school can be a scary. As a first-time kindergarten mom myself, I was thinking and planning about what all I might need to make sure Emma was prepared for the school year ahead.

Thankfully, I managed to curb my urge to over-prepare, so we ended up with exactly what we needed and nothing more. So I’m going to share with you what we’re loving now that our school year is underway!

1. I’m obsessed with this bento-style lunch box! It’s so cute, durable, and it comes with leak-proof thermos so you can send hot food to school and it’ll still be warm at lunch time! It’s a bit pricey, but worth every. single. penny!
2. These silicone cupcake liners are perfect for holding small amounts of snacks inside a bento box. Cute, reusable, and keeps Emma’s pickle away from her crackers. I use these all the time.
3. Sending juice boxes in your kid’s lunch is like a rite of passage. But the cost can add up. Plus the excess waste it causes and, in my opinion, they don’t hold much juice. So I grabbed a couple of these reusable Drink in a Box containers and have been filling them with juice and lemonade from home. We haven’t had any issues with leaks and they fit perfectly in Emma’s lunch box right next to her bento box.
4. I am the actual worst at remembering to give my girls their vitamins. So I ordered these tiny containers (Seriously – they’re tiny. Like the size of 4 quarters, stacked) and have been filling them with Emma’s gummy vitamins and adding them to her lunch box. They’re cute, easy to open, and are helping me make sure she gets the vitamins she needs.
5. We’ve had these Bumkin reusable snack bags forever! They were super handy to fill with snacks and toss in the diaper bag and now they’ve made their way into Emma’s backpack for snack time. They come in a ton of prints, have a zipper closure, and are easy to clean.
6. Tis the age of technology, so of course my kindergartner needed headphones for school. These are affordable, foldable, and have tons of great reviews.
7. Before I got the pricey bento box, I had ordered this less expensive one. I’m loving have 2 bento boxes, so I can be prepping one for the next day while washing the one that just came home. For this box, the tray comes out for easy washing and is easy to open and close. I’m pleased with it.
8. Emma loves carrots and ranch as a snack. So I ordered these little containers to hold her ranch. They’re the perfect size to hold sauces and dips and fit perfectly inside her bento boxes.
9. Labels! In kindergarten everything needs to be labeled! Water bottles, backpacks, lunchboxes, and more. So I grabbed a kindergarten starter pack from Name Bubbles and labeled all the things! They come on lots of sizes, are waterproof and washable, and are super durable. Plus, they’re cute!
10. These cute little food picks are just something I snagged so occasionally make Emma’s lunch a little more fun. Inexpensive and cute and make a silly surprise when they open their lunch boxes!
11. Every kid’s gotta have a water bottle! Especially here in the desert where it’s still over 100* every day. Both girls have had these Thermos brand water bottles for a while and we love them. They’re easy to open and drink from, easy to clean, and keep the water cold for way longer than a plastic water bottle. We use nothing else.
12. I needed a lunch bag that would fit a bento box and a drink and this one fit the bill. It also has an outside side pocket that fits a water bottle if you wanted to send one of those for lunch instead of a juice box. This box is sturdy, isn’t too big, but still holds everything I need it to. It’s great!
13. Kids are hard on things. So I snagged this headphone case to keep Emma’s headphones protected.

What are your favorite back-to-school items?

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