DETAILS: BENTO LUNCH BOX (SIMILAR HERE) | SHARK BOOK | WHITE LONG SLEEVE TEE | GREY JOGGERS (UNDER $15! COMES IN A TWO BACK WITH NAVY)

Today is Beckam’s first full day of school! Mara and Wes started last week and B had orientation, but today is his first real day of kindergarten. I know it’s going to be such an adjustment not having him home with me 😩, but the baby will be here before too long so it’ll only be a month or so of not knowing what to do with so many extra hours during the day haha. With 3 kiddos, I felt super unorganized last year so I am trying to have more in order this year and wanted to share a few back to school hacks to simplify back-to-school season.

 

ORGANIZED LUNCH/SNACK CONTAINERS:

I found the cutest lunch organizers and bento boxes (love this one!) at Walmart that make it so easy to throw together a quick lunch (or cute snacks, especially if they go straight to after school activities, etc.)! Also love this color coded set either for certain days of the week or each kid can choose certain colors and use those. They make it so much easier to prep lunches and also to stay organized during the week. I also saw this thing on Pinterest where you prep a bunch of sandwich bags of fruit, cheese, veggies, etc, so they are already ready in your fridge and you can just grab and go.

HAVING A DESIGNATED PLACE FOR BACKPACKS: 

Nothing throws off a school morning quite like someone losing their backpack. One of our kids especially always can’t find their shoes and back pack lol. So that was a huge thing when we built our house is having a set space (lockers) so they don’t get lost. Even if you don’t have lockers set aside a specific spot for backpacks somewhere so they get in the habit of putting their backpack there every day after school. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it’s a good place to start!

BTS PIECES TO MIX & MATCH

When I go back-to-school shopping for the kids, I always stock up on basics – those versatile pieces that you can mix and match easily. Walmart has tons of great staples (most of them available in multiple colors and two-packs to make it even easier!) and all of them are at great price points (a lot under $10!). Love this sherpa pullover (under $15 and comes in 4 colors) and this two pack for $5 is perfect to stock up on tees and more color options in these three packs. I got a bunch of these long sleeve tees in white, black, and maroon since they end up under $5 each.

KID-FRIENDLY SMART WATCH

We are kind of in between this stage right now – Mara and Wes share a phone and now that Beckam is in school I am debating getting a smart watch. I love the idea of a really simple smart watch for kids. This one has an ‘In Case of Emergency’ app where you can enter your child’s medical information like blood type and allergies as well as emergency contact info. It has the ability to connect to bluetooth to be able to make/take calls as well.

PLAN AHEAD

Have the kids pick out their clothes the night before. That includes pulling out anything they might need for after school activities or sports. I can’t count how many times I ask the kids if they had everything they needed for the day, only to find out too late that they forgot to pull out their dance clothes or cleats, etc. Having everything out the night before makes it easy to remember the next morning, now matter how rushed you are.

This is just a start, but I’d love to get any other hacks you’ve discovered or other ideas – just share below in comments so we can all follow along! Below are some other products I’ve found at Walmart to simplify back-to-school season, from products categorized by grade, to fast shipping, and more:

 

 

And in case you missed it, you can find my post on must-have back-to-school supplies here.

XX, Christine

*In collaboration with Walmart.