I’ve seen it all – the stuff that lasts, the stuff that doesn’t last through day one, the stuff I wish I’d known existed before I bought the other thing, the stuff I ended up buying anyway – even though I already bought the other thing.

Today’s #TackleTuesday is all about our Top Picks & Real World Back to School Shopping Advice

with reviews & a video!

Aside from my own personal school school supplies, I’ve had children and their stuff in my life for well over 30 years: I baby sat as teen all the way through college, my work study was at the campus child care, I went to school to be a teacher, I was a teacher, I ran a tutoring and educational training business for ten years, and I’ve had children of my own for 21+ years…so, I’ve a little bit of experience with this stuff…and I can tell you…there’s NOTHING more frustrating than buying the crap de la crap at a premium price when there’s nothing left at the store, only to have to replace it later. So, first, I’m going to give you a little advice on back to school shopping. Then, I’m going to give you some of my top picks on brands & items. I’ll even tell you which items you can skimp on. Some of them might surprise you. Not all brands are what they used to be…and, sometimes…it might depend on where you buy them. My favorites have changed over time, and they may change again. Please let me know, in the comments, if you have any go to faves that you return to year after year…or if there’s that one brand that you LOVE because you rarely have to replace it! WE LOVE LONG LASTING items!

BEFORE YOU SHOP:

You’ll of course want to review the list provided by the school or teacher. Fill this list as best you can. If you want to get extras for your child, that’s just fine! Just make sure they aren’t items that will be distracting in class. _{^{If there are items you can’t get, just let your child’s teacher know. They often have resources to get those lists filled and other parents will sometimes send in extras to help out other students. There’s no need to be ashamed or frustrated by this – whether it’s a stock issue, or a financial issue. We are all here to help each other out. Do the best you can with the resources you have available, and pay it forward when you can.}}

• Shop early, and shop smart.
  • Waiting for deals is great – if you have lots of time to store hop. They great thing is that we can now take advantage of curbside pick up – so that makes quick work of several stops. Some stores, though, will require to actually come inside to get the deals – they want to lure you IN the store. That’s the game. You must have laser focus to play it. I used to spend 3-4 weekends before school started hopping from store to store getting the best deal on pencils, folders, crayons, scissors, etc…at the time, that was a big help to my family. Presently, I can’t afford the energy it takes to do that.
  • You’ll want to get as much shopping 2-3 weeks before school starts as possible. If your state has tax free shopping days, you may be tempted to wait for those…but do the math…how long is your list? How much are you ACTUALLY saving? Unless you need several hundred dollars worth of supplies to purchase, probably not worth dealing with crowds, lines, and picked over options. We generally only take advantage of these tax free holidays for major tech purchases. Now, if your student has had a major growth spurt over the summer and needs a new wardrobe, it might be worth it to get some new clothes if you have a high sales tax rate in your state.
  • Take advantage of curbside pick up & online ordering. This year, I got all of my shopping done in 15 minutes using Target.com & Amazon.com. (We get our binders from Staples, but last year’s survived – so we didn’t have to buy those again). I was able to comparison shop, get what I couldn’t from one store from the other, and check out and be done. Picked up the Target today, Amazon will arrive on my Amazon delivery day with a week to spare before school starts. Now, I don’t even bother shopping for my high schooler until he meets his teacher – so we will see how that goes.
• Quality over quantity. Listen. I know you kid wants the fun stuff, and the cute pencils, and the characters, and the fluff, and sequins…typically, these things just do not hold up. It’s totally ok to give a little…but please ensure that they have some HIGH QUALITY pencils and supplies…like, you know…GREAT pencils as requested by the teacher, plus a fun pack of unicorn pencils. some cute cap erasers, plus some that actually work? See what I mean? Folders that will hold up for at least half the year? You teacher will thank you…and you’ll be glad you don’t have to replace everything 2 months into the year.
• If you see a deal on soft tissues or expo markers, buy them for teachers. They’ll love you. AND high quality, name brand paper towels. I prefer Bounty, Kleenex, and Expo. Send them throughout the year, rather than all at the beginning of the year. Anything you know they need – whether it comes from their classroom budget, or their own pocket, they’ll appreciate. A little gift card for coffee or dinner at their favorite restaurant or a bite of chocolate is a nice thought, too. These are not bribes. These are just letting them know you appreciate them.

Did you know you can Subscribe to Kleenex and have it sent to you teacher at school every month or two? You don’t even have to think about it! I recommend Kleenex Brand. The sore noses will thank you!

themessybunmafia.com

• Print off your list, make a game plan, and stick to it. The stores are busy, the school supply sections can get VERY overwhelming. An old school hardcopy list is SUPER helpful. Trust me. Having to find and unlock your phone can feel very complicated – especially if you made the TOTALLY unnecessary decision to bring you child with on that shopping trip! It’s also MUCH easier to STICK TO YOUR BUDGET if you leave the kid at home! Yes, it’s nice to teach your child about budgeting and necessary purchases and frivolous spending…but this can be a pretty stressful trip, so decide if you can handle that extra load today. My list of favorite brands and items is below if you get stuck!!

• Now, you’re all done…expect that one last minute thing…no matter how much planning you do…there will be something. Order those groceries for lunch and snack…and head to pool with kiddos those last couple of days before school. No one else will be there – they’ll all be back to school shopping.

PRO TIP:

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLES SHOPPING!

EITHER BRING THEM BACK SOMETHING SUPER AWSOME THEY’RE GOING TO LOVE FOR SCHOOL, OR JUST A LITTLE TREAT! IT’S SO MUCH EASIER TO WHIP THROUGH THE SUPPLY AISLE WITHOUT THEM!

THEY REALLY DON’T CARE AS MUCH AS WE THINK THEY DO!

IF YOU NEED THEIR HELP, SEND THEM PICS, OR GRAB SOME OPTIONS AND MAKE RETURNS LATER!

THEMESSYBUNMAFIA.COM

My Top Picks for Back to School Basics:

Under each item you’ll see a star rating! I’ve rating each item based on how much weight I give selecting that item for my child. More stars: I actually CARE and put a great deal of time and thought into it OR I KNOW what I like and will accept NO substitute. Fewer stars: I have preferences, but I’m not too picky. One Star: Whatever I find, I get.

Back Packs:

After replacing several pricey backbacks midway through the year, we finally landed on a great SwissGear back pack for my son a couple of years ago, and this one from HollyHome for my daughter last year. The HollyHome is by far our favorite – it’s padded, sturdy, and has ALL the features you want – laptop sleeve, storage pockets, zippers, reinforced seams and straps, spinning wheels, etc…Holly Home offers several backpacks in different colors and styles to suite your students needs and unique personality. We went with the 19″ deep purple to carry her at least through middle school, and hopefully through high school. She made it through fourth grade with no issue whatsoever.

Here’s the thing about backpacks: Some brands make different products for different stores. You might find a higher quality directly from the manufacturer (if you’re purchasing from Amazon, pay attention to who the seller is). Think Levi’s jeans. We all used to live in them…now we don’t…there’s a reason for that.

Lunchboxes:

Well, we quickly fell out of love with the lunchboxes available at local stores. Last year, we got a Hap Tim lunch box to go with our new Backpack. We really love it. It’s sturdy, easy to clean, and goes great with our backpack. Unfortunately, there aren’t many to choose from this year, but they do have the basic gray if you want the lower priced version. And, the blue and dark grey will be back soon.

We also like Thirty-One for quality insulated products – I especially love the snack containers. You can check those out here:

That’s about all I can recommend for lunch boxes, I’m afraid.

TELL ME!!!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH BOX?

LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!

Crayons, Markers and Colored Pencils:

Just, please, please. Stick with Crayola. There really is no other. Vibrant colors. They rarely break. They last and last. They just work. And a teacher fairy gets its wings every time you make a Crayola purchase. It’s true.

Pencils:

Ticonderoga. My favorite are the Black Warrior. And, no Plain Dixon pencils are NOT the same as Ticonderoga. 🙂 They are the best. PERIOD! You can them almost anywhere. We get ours at Staples, Target, Amazon, Etc…Wherever the best price of the week is.

Paper Products:

• Filler Notebook paper – insignificant – Mead Brand seems to be the sturdiest if you have a class with notes that you will use for the duration of a term or year. Otherwise, whatever is the best value will do.
• Spiral Notebooks – Same. Mead is your best value brand for sturdiness, otherwise the store brand or value brand is sufficient.
• Copy paper or printer paper for the school or classroom. For this, you really wanted to stick to name brands like HP, or at least office supply store brands (Staples, Office Max, etc). Stay away from Wal-Mart, Target, generics, etc. These can very inconsistent and cause very time consuming and expensive issues with printers and copiers.
• Art paper: I can’t really speak much about – I would say go up in quality based on the level of the course, or go with the recommendation of the teacher.
• Composition books: go cheap. Seriously. I’ve never seen these used for an entire term, much less an entire year. We like getting fun with cute covers for our daughter. My son prefers plain covers, with different colors so he can easily grab what he needs for each class.
• Journals. Journals are great. I’m a journal junkie, and so is my daughter. If you have a true writer in your family, and they really keep up with their stuff…my favorites are Moleskins. These are not really where you want to spend your money on school supplies, though – unless you have Lit major in college…then, have at it! Journals can easily be picked up at discount stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, etc for much better prices than you’ll find elsewhere.

Folders & Dividers:

Go to the bulk boxes and grab the plastic ones that follow the requests of the teachers. Get a few extra. The folders are usually less than $1.00. The plastic ones will last much longer than paper. You can usually get a pack of 5 dividers for around $5-8. You shouldn’t spend more than that. These don’t need to be fancy. Stick with a good brand. Some store brands are ok – but stay away from paper ones. You’ll just be replacing them or taping them back together all year.

Calculators:

Most teachers let the kids use their tablets or phones for calculators. In higher math classes, they will recommend a specific calculator, usually made by Texas Instruments. Go with that one. Most of these will come with a case. If not, get one! And ALWAYS label these with your child’s name and some sort of identifiable mark in case of theft – it happens…and some of these devices are quite expensive.

Binders:

I know. You’re sick of binders. We all hate them. I’ve tried them. All of them. The ONLY ones I’ve not had to replace at least once, if not twice, throughout the school year are Staples Better Binders. These babies are LEGIT! We’re actually carrying our 4th grade binders over to 5th grade, and we do change classes in 4th grade _{(though 4th grade, of course, was a little less move-a-roundy than normal because…well…2020)}. I’ve used them for all three children (2 boys and a girl). These are available on Amazon, but I prefer you go straight to the source and get them from Staples.com

Erasers:

I love those big pink erasers. And, if I actually physically go to the store, I’ll get them…if not, I’m getting the cheap store brand cap erasers that the teachers request. I know they need them. And I know why. I’ll keep an eye on my children’s pencils throughout the year. If they seem to be using lots of eraser, I’m make sure to grab those big pink erasers. If not, we carry on as planned with the big pack of cheapos.

Water Bottles:

I’m not sure I blogged about this last year or not – but I did talk about on TikTok – we like to vear a little off course on this one – because we can. I’ve found that the ‘water bottles’ designed for kids are not very sturdy, don’t generally actually keep things cold…and, well, we just do not love them all that much. So, we end up in the camping aisle looking for something better. Or, looking at more ‘grown up’ water bottles.

Your teacher is likely requesting something with a ‘pop top’ that can be completely closed and spillproof when it’s not being sipped from – in other words, not a screw top bottle. This doesn’t leave many options.

Last year, we purchased a Stanley Coffee mug and it’s PERFECT – Stanley made it through the summer, and will be joining us for another school year. We got the army green at a local store, but you can now get it in five different colors! I kind of want all of them! AND YES! I can totally vouch that it is LEGIT leakproof!

Some of our other favorite water bottle options include Bubba and Thermos brands. But, you really just kind of have to head out and manhandle some in the aisle – decide how many pieces and parts you want to take a part and put back together. We’ve a couple of the Bubba Kids Sport Bottle over the years, and it is much more mama friendly than others we’ve tried – it’s also trustworthy and leakproof.

Scissors:

I have a little bit of an opinion here – I’m a Fiskars gal, through and through – but that’s because I sew…and I come from a family of people who loved to sew…we love and trust the brand. Honestly though, go with age appropriate school scissors.

Glue:

Last, but not least…let’s update our hair wardrobes (yes, you know I had to.)

(we’re pretty serious about what we put in our hair around here)

I do hope hope you found this list and my twelve or twenty cents helpful! Please let me know what your favorite (or least favorite!) back to school items are in the comments! We love all the help we can get with back to school shopping! Have fun with it! This should NOT be stressful! Life is tough enough! Make it fun!