After a long summer of lazy days, fun camps, and late summer nights, back to school season marks a return to routine and busy schedules.
The chaotic mornings and after-school activities can take some getting used to for everyone in the family.
To help you during the transition, we’ve compiled ten back-to-school hacks to save you time during this challenging season.
No creativity or fancy tools required.
1. Make sandwiches in bulk ahead of time.
To save yourself time during the busy weekday mornings, make your child’s sandwiches ahead of time.
Place them in foil, plastic wrap, or reusable beeswax wrap, and then place in a freezer safe container.
You can do this for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and meat and cheese sandwiches.
For nut butter sandwiches, spread nut butter on each slice, and put the jelly in between so it doesn’t make the bread soggy.
For meat and cheese sandwiches, put any cheese and condiments in between the meat so it doesn’t make the bread soggy.
Don’t add produce to sandwiches you’re going to freeze. You can pack those separately if you want.
In the morning, just throw in one of the sandwiches into their lunchbox, and it will be ready on in time for lunch!
2. Use shoe labels to help little kids.
If you find yourself helping your child get their shoes on the right feet in the morning, consider shoe labels that will help them do it themselves.
You can use their name broken up into two parts, or stickers with a cute object like a rainbow divided into two.
Your kids will be able to visually see which shoe goes on which foot, saving you time and energy in the morning.
3. Buy a name stamper.
Speaking of labels, now’s the time to invest in a labeler and/or name stamp for your kids. We recommend these name stampers from Label Land.
No more time spent labeling and permanently staining your clothes with a Sharpie. This labeler will personalize all of your clothing items with a quick press. It’s good for 1,000 imprints and will stay on your clothes throughout 40 wash cycles.
You can use this to label extra clothing, art smocks, back packs, etc.
4. Plan weekly outfits with a labeled hanger.
One of the most cumbersome chores for some kids is choosing their outfit for school each day.
Instead of making the choice each weekday morning, do it ahead of time.
On Sunday night, look up the weather for the week and plan your kids outfits at one time.
Use one of these nifty hangers to store the outfits so your child can easily access them.
5. Measure their feet at home, any time.
Kids feet grow so quickly, it’s really hard to keep up with their latest shoe size.
The foot measurer is super affordable on Amazon. You’ll never be left wondering if you’re ordering the right size for your child.
6. Designate a drop box / cubby for every kid.
Tip top organization is probably not going to happen in the hustle and bustle of real life, but if you designate a large container and/or hanger for your child, then all they have to do is drop their stuff inside.
It’s ideal if it is large enough to fit their backpack, extra-curricular equipment, and maybe even their shoes.
These Elfa bins works well and are affordable.
7. Pack an after school ‘Go Bag’.
There was a time when you may have packed a “go bag” for when you went into labor and needed to head to the hospital.
Now, you might want to consider packing an after-school Go Bag for your child that serves as a home for their extra-curricular activity equipment like baseball gloves, dance leotards, swimsuits, etc.
These canvas bag from Lands End are roomy, durable, and can be personalized by name. (Thanks for the recommendation, Every Day Best Buy!)
8. Preserve your apple slices with the Rubber Band Trick.
Many a parent has avoided slicing apples in their child’s lunch because they get brown by lunchtime.
But if you use a rubber band to hold the slices together, and they’ll stay crisp and fresh for your child.
Just slice the apple with an apple slicer or knife, not quite all the way down. Then fold the pieces back together, and secure it with a rubber band.
9. Freeze juice boxes to double as an ice pack.
No more warm juice at lunchtime!
Throw your juice boxes in the freezer, grab one in the morning, and place it in your child’s lunch box. It will double as an ice pack, AND their juice will still be nice and cold at lunchtime.
You can also do this with plastic water bottles.
10. Try the Green Light App
We’ve tried so many chore systems, and this is our latest attempt at something that sticks.
Green Light is “the money app for families”. It’s an app that connects to all of your phones, and to your bank.
You can easily pull money from your bank account to pay your kids, set up auto-pay for allowance (connected to chores they’ve completed), and your child gets a debit card they can use in stores for things they want.
There are easy ways for them to save money, invest money, and more.
I’ll keep you posted on how this goes!
If you’re looking for something more basic, check out these 15 Best Printable Chore Charts For Kids.
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