Top Tips for Back To School Prep: The Ultimate Guide

Back To School Prep

We are half way into the summer already and my kids are excited about starting a new school year soon. I’m starting early to make sure that not only are the kids prepared but that I’m prepared as well! And luckily by starting a little early, I have time to get everything organized and ready for a smooth transition from summer to school.

Top Tips for Back To School Prep

  • Before the school year starts, prepare your bins, canisters, folders and more with these tips for back to school organization with sight words.
  • Meet the teacher before the school year starts, if possible. Since my daugther is going to a new preschool, we have a meeting scheduled to meet her new teacher before school begins.
  • First day of school pictures can be fun, but you may be putting your child’s safety at risk. Read about the back-to-school picture no-nos before snapping those pictures.
  • Preschoolers with first day jitters will love reading these encouraging books about the first day of preschool.
  • Check out these 10 Tips for Starting Kindergarten if your little one is making the transition from short preschool days to the longer days for kindergarteners.
  • Does your child require vaccinations before starting school? Help them cope with these five tips.
  • Make a back to school bucket list to remind you to review important things with your child, such as a safety plan, how to make friends, and refreshers on concepts learned in the previous year.
  • Do you normally have trouble getting into a good routine? You’re not alone! Here are 10 tried and true back to school routine tips.
  • Bedtime routines can be particularly difficult for children who are attending school for the first time this year.
  • It’s easy to get out of practice with reading and writing, but these free resources can get your child back into the swing of things before school starts.
  • If your children will be walking to or from school, now’s the time to nail down the safest, quickest route.
  • Start some fun back to school traditions this year. Start thinking about which ones you’ll implement now.
  • Your children will have less time for chores now, but that doesn’t mean they should forgo them altogether. Here are some before and after school chore charts to help your kids nail down a good routine.
  • Prepare a homework station with pencils, paper, crayons, highlighters and anything else your child needs to focus on homework.
  • Start a cute back to school countdown to get your kids excited about the upcoming school year.

Finally, don’t forget to label all the things! Whether your kid is going into preschool (like my youngest) or heading off to college, it’s always helpful to have a pack of personalized labels on hand. Right now Oliver’s Labels is excited to introduce their new Shopkins™ line of labels now available in their Special Edition design category.

The official launch of this new line is on Tuesday, August 22nd as part of their annual Back-to-School 15% off sitewide sale (excluding gift cards), however, this week only our readers get to enjoy an exclusive offer just for you! 

Use promo code ACraftySpoonful before checkout to SAVE 20% on Shopkins™ design themes! Offer valid Aug. 15th – 22nd.

You’ll love the bright and fun labels available! There are so many great features and options such as:

  1. Don’t lose another jacket to the lost and found bin! Fun new designs encourage your kids to label all of their items so they don’t lose anything when it’s taken out of the home. Have a Shopkins™ fan at home? Let Cheeky Chocolate, Kooky Cookie, D’lish Donut, Strawberry Kiss, and Apple Blossom help keep your child’s belongings out of the lost-and-found bin.
  2. Found-It Lost & Found Code: Found-it™ is Oliver’s Labels FREE online lost and found system. When you choose to add Found-it™ to your labels, we print them with your very own unique I.D. If your item is reported found, we send you a notification email right away. Oliver’s Labels acts as an intermediary between you and the person who has found your item.
  3. They have a school packageEverything you need for back to school all in one place! The School Package features: 20 x Original Labels, 30 x Mini Labels, 6 x Shoe Labels, 1 x Large Bag Tag, 3 x Mini Bag Tags, and 35 x Stick-eez™ Clothing Labels.

How do you prepare your kids for heading back to school?

If your child is starting Preschool or Kindergarten, check out these great ways to prep before you begin! 

(just click on the photo)

5 Back to School Tips for Preschool Parents

Preparing for Kindergarten with Preschoolers

5 Back to School Tips for Kindergarten

 

Kids Cleaning Tips: How to Get Kids to Clean Their Own Rooms

This shop featuring Kids Cleaning Tips has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #EurekaPower

Kids Cleaning Tips How to Get Kids to Clean Their Own Rooms

Getting my kids to clean anything, let alone their rooms, used to be a struggle. But then I started thinking smarter and have finally found a solution that works for us!

By making cleaning part of our daily routine and making it fun I’ve been in to tap into my kids inner creativity and let them take the lead when it comes to cleaning their rooms.

It also helps that I make them in charge of where things go as well as what things they’re allowed to keep in their room – within certain limits. By limiting they types of toys and “stuff” they can keep in their rooms we’ve eliminated the clutter we used to find in their rooms.  [Read more…]

5 Reasons to Drink Water For Kids

This article is sponsored by Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water

Growing up I always heard that if I drink enough water my skin would stay clear. So I drank water like crazy. Vanity will get you everywhere when you’re talking to a teenager, right?

As the mom of two young kids I’m constantly worrying if my children drinking enough water. From their constant requests for juice or milk to the fact that everywhere we go they have the option to choose sugary drinks over water I just hope that I’m doing the best I can when I push water first. Keeping kids hydrated is important.

My daughter is awesome at choosing water. She has no problem taking her bottle of water with her everywhere and drinking it when thirsty throughout the day. However my son prefers milk and always chooses it over water. So I’ve begun researching the importance of hydration.

What I’ve found has reaffirmed my belief that water should be their first choice in drink. And I really hope that as they grow up they’ll realize just how great water really is. And not just because it leaves you with fabulous skin.

5 Reasons to Drink Water For Kids

[Read more…]

Water Safety Tips For Kids

This post on water safety tips for kids is sponsored by Gymboree.

Water Safety Tips for Kids

With summer in full force and more warm weather ahead of us the one thing on my mind has been water safety for my kids. My children have started to show a love of the water and after getting their snazzy swim suits at Gymboree they wanted to jump in and explore.

But I needed a little time to be prepared for our water adventures and set some ground rules from the get go. By learning a few water safety tips for kids I’ve felt a lot easier about being around the water this summer including when my fabulous friend Carrie of The Fearless Mama invited us over for a playdate that included an underwater camera photo shoot of my kids in their cute outfits.

[Read more…]

Tips for Keeping Kids Entertained at a Restaurant

This post contains affiliate links. 

Ever have that moment when you wonder why in the heck you thought it was a good idea to take the kids out for dinner? Get to the point where napkins are on the floor, the salt is spilled everywhere, and sugar packets are strewn across the table? Yeah… me too.

So we started to come up with a great ways for keeping kids entertained at a restaurant. While some might sound simple enough, they truly are great at distracting our kids long enough to bridge the gap between ordering our food and being served.

Keeping Kids Entertained at a Restaurant stacking creamers

[Read more…]



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