Are you getting ready to send a brand-new Kindergartener to school for the first time? Here are all your Kindergarten back to school essentials!
It’s almost time for back to school! How did we get here already? This doubt about the date on the calendar and the impending back to school tradition is especially severe for those of us who are doing this for the first time this year. Incoming Kindergartener moms are not OK!
The transition from preschool or daycare or staying at home with mom to Kindergarten is just plain hard. It’s hard emotionally, but it’s also logistically hard. There are so many things we need to do before we put our little ducklings on the bus for the first time, but it’s hard to know exactly what those things are.
Because I’m walking through the transition to Kindergarten for the first time this year and figuring it all out myself, I want to share what I’m learning. My goal is to have a place for all of the other Kindergarten moms to have a list of Kindergarten back to school essentials in one place. That way we can focus on making sure we (moms and kids) are emotionally prepared for Kindergarten without the logistics bogging us down.
Kindergarten Back to School Essentials
Forms
You can’t send your kid off to school until the school has all the necessary forms completed, so the forms need to be your first priority on the list of Kindergarten back to school essentials.
In my school district, we need to complete and return several medical forms. There is a medical fitness form, a dental form, and we need to provide an immunization record. These forms are in addition to the information that was required at registration, which included basic demographic information and proof of age and residence.
If you aren’t sure what forms you need to submit before your child starts Kindergarten, head over to your school district’s website. They want you to have all of your ducks in a row before the first day of school, so they’ll have all of the forms readily available.
Supplies
School supplies are probably the first thing you think of when you think about Kindergarten back to school essentials. And they should be high on your list! Your child is probably pretty nervous about starting big-kid school, so you want to make sure he is fully prepared with all of the supplies he needs so he doesn’t have to worry about that aspect of starting school anyway.
Luckily for most of us, the schools are really great about getting the supply lists out to the parents well in advance.
Ad hoc
Of course you can go out and shop the back to school deals for all of your Kindergarten back to school essential supplies to get the best deal.
Target app
You can also consult the Target App. My mother-in-law discovered that you can look up your kid’s school and grade and just add to cart. This was the route my sister-in-law took and it all arrived on her doorstep a few days later.
PTA order
Finally, if your school PTA offers a school supply order, this is the easiest way to make sure your kid has exactly the supplies he needs without needing to transport them on the bus. Sure, this is probably less cost-effective than either of the other two options, but the convenience can’t be beat. And you’re supporting your PTA. This was the choice that I made. I’ll report back after the first day of school to let you know if I’ll do it again next year.
In addition to the list of school supplies provided by your child’s teacher, I also recommend that you purchase a simple folder to keep in your child’s backpack. This might be wishful thinking on my part, but I’m hoping this avoids the crumpled up papers at the bottom of the bag that could include important papers in amongst the doodles on scrap paper. Again, I’ll report back as to whether my plan actually works.
Clothes
Your kid needs to be clothed when he starts Kindergarten, so obviously clothes should be on your list of Kindergarten back to school essentials. What clothes your kid will need will depend highly on the dress code at your school. If your school requires uniforms, back to school shopping will look very different than if your school has a more relaxed dress code.
Regardless of your school’s dress code, I have a few tops to share with you.
Shoes
First, don’t forget to ensure that your kid has school shoes that fit and are comfortable. Take your kid to the store and have him try on several different pairs to make sure you land on a pair that he can get on and off independently and don’t hurt his feet. My son has always had great luck with the Skechers Kids brand. He picked out a pair with a bright yellow sole this year and he’s in love.
All-weather
Second, plan ahead for the weather transition. Your kid will likely start school in shorts and t-shirts, but the time for pants and jackets is likely right around the corner. Take an inventory now of what your kid will need when the weather cools so you can take advantage of the Labor Day sales and save yourself a coin or two. Personally, I know that I need to buy a whole slew of long pants for my incoming Kindergartener. He would still fit in his pants from earlier this year, but they all have holes in the knees – yes, even the reinforced knee pants. If you have a 5-year-old boy, you get it.
Gear
Admittedly, the Kindergarten back to school essentials that I’ve discussed up to this point are relatively obvious. Here is where this list turns. Of course you know that your kid needs gear for school, but there isn’t a school list of things you can check off. I like a list, so this is a bit frustrating for me. To ease my frustration, I made my own list. I hope it’s comprehensive!
Backpack
Backpacks aren’t super necessary when your kid is in preschool. Sure, they come in handy sometimes, but you’re dropping them off and picking them up everyday at preschool so you can always haul anything to and from school that your kid will need. When the school bus enters the picture, a backpack becomes 100% necessary.
If you’re looking to purchase a backpack for your Kindergartener, you should keep a few things in mind.
Size
A full-size backpack isn’t going to be manageable for a 5- or 6-year-old. Your child will need a backpack that’s big enough to hold the essentials but isn’t going to overwhelm him.
Appearance
Picking out a backpack to take to Kindergarten can really get your child excited for this transition. The alternative is scared out of his mind, so I like to make the most of the exciting parts about back to school. Because picking out a backpack is such a great opportunity, I urge you to include your child in selecting the right backpack for him. They make kid’s backpacks in all kinds of colors and patterns, so your kid is sure to find one that lights him up.
Examples
My son has decided that he wants to continue to use the backpack he has been using in preschool when he starts Kindergarten. He loves it and he’s comfortable with it, so I’m happy to oblige. He has the medium sized Dreamer backpack from Crate & Kids. His pattern is no longer available, but they have so many cute ones to choose from!
I’ve also been very happy with my daughter’s preschool backpack, so I wanted to recommend it here too. She has the small Mackenzie backpack in the Lavender Floral Blooms pattern. It’s basically her in a backpack and it holds up to her daily abuse. I hope she will want to continue to use it when she starts Kindergarten in a few years.
Lunchbox
If your kid will be attending a full-day Kindergarten program that doesn’t offer school lunch as a matter of course, he will need a lunchbox. My son has been attending a preschool for his whole life that includes lunch, so the prospect of making daily lunches for him is daunting. I’m trying to make the most of it by making sure I’m prepared.
Insulated bag
Gone are the days when kids brought lunch to school in a brown paper bag. If you’re going to be packing a lunch for your Kindergartener, you should probably send it in an insulated bag. The options for insulated lunch bags are basically endless. You can find any color or pattern, shape or size you want.
Ice packs
If you’re planning to send anything perishable in your kid’s lunches, you’ll need to have ice packs to keep the food cold before lunchtime. The conventional wisdom (from the USDA) is that a typical lunch requires two ice packs to keep it cold. I’ve decided to kill two birds with one stone and got my son an insulated lunch bag with built-in ice packs for his lunch this year. It’s by a brand called Pack It Cool. We have a snack bag that’s a similar concept that we love, so I’m trying out the lunch box.
Containers
When I was in school, my mom relied entirely on Ziploc bags to pack my lunch. Now that we are all trying to be a little more sustainable, most parents are more reliant on reusable containers for packed lunches. This can look like a bento box-style container that holds the whole lunch and can be slid right into the lunch box or it can look like individual containers for each food item. Or, it can be a mix of both depending on what you’re sending with your kid for lunch that day and whether you remembered to clean out the lunch box the night before.
If you want to send hot food with your child for lunch, you’ll need a thermos. I love that the Thermos brand Funtainers come with a spoon and have tons of color and character options!
Water bottle
If your house looks anything like my house, you’re probably overrun with kids’ water bottles. But they might not actually be in good shape or big enough to last your kid through the school day. I know most of the water bottles in my cabinet are gross and have a capacity of around 10 oz. They just aren’t going to cut it for big-kid school.
I think an insulated water bottle that has a capacity of at least 16 oz. and is in a color or pattern your kid loves is the way to go. I sat down with my son a few days ago and perused our options on the internet. He settled on the kid version of the Owala FreeSip in the color Blue Citrus (which is actually orange, his favorite color). It checks all of my boxes and all of his boxes!
Labels
Don’t forget that you need to clearly label all of your kid’s Kindergarten back to school essentials with his name. Sure, you could go old-school and use a Sharpie, but I’ve found that dishwasher- and laundry-safe name labels are the way to go. I have ordered plain white labels with my son’s full name from NameBox. I’m hoping they hold up!
Childcare
Last, but certainly not least, on my list of Kindergarten back to school essentials is childcare. If you’re a working mom like me, your kid has probably been in full-time daycare since he was just a few months old. Daycares are usually open early and late and are closed only on major holidays. Schools do not follow this same schedule. They start after most working adults need to leave for work, end before the end of the workday, and observe many many more holidays. I’m not even going to get into summer break.
This vastly different schedule means that you need to have a childcare plan for when your kid isn’t sitting at his desk. For me, that meant a shift to part-time at work for mom, plus an add-on enrichment program because my school district only offers half-day Kindergarten. It’s also going to mean juggling coverage of the random school days off throughout the academic year and camps in the summer. I’m not going to tell you exactly how to best cover childcare for your kid, because every family is different. Just think about your childcare needs and devise a plan that works best for you.
Other posts
This is my first foray into school-related content, but I’m sure it won’t be my last. In the meantime, here are some kid-related posts that will probably be helpful to you if you have a kid in need of Kindergarten back to school essentials:
You can do this, moms! Work through this list of Kindergarten back to school essentials and both you and your new Kindergartener will be ready to go on the first day of school. What am I missing? Please help me by letting me know in the comments or over on Instagram @sarainseason.