10 School Year Must Haves

It's that time of year where tons of people have school on the brain.  Whether you're a teacher, have kids going to school or taking classes yourself.  The stores are packed with school supplies and there are talks of back to school wherever you go.

I thought I'd share 10 Back to School Must haves for our family.

1. BARGAINS - it's the perfect time of year to stock up on Summer clearance.  My kids will be wearing summer clothes for at least another two months so we picked up some great bargains at Kohls, Old Navy and Target this week.  Kohls had tons of clearance items for $2 and $3.  Fletcher is stocked up for this summer and next.  Old Navy had tons so many great things, too.  Be sure to head to your favorite stores and dig through their clearance.

I put a couple purchases a month on my GAP card and rack up the rewards dollars.  These 6 boys tops came to a total of $25 and I paid for them entirely with free rewards.  So be sure to use your GAP card for outside purchases and earn free clothes like I do.

Kohls - I LOVED all of the little boy clearance at Kohls right now.  So many cute things.  I bought some clothes for right now and lots for next summer.  These 9 items came to a total of $24, I used a coupon, a gift card and only ended up paying $8 for all of this.  What a deal!  I'm not a huge Kohls shopper, but I do stop by to check out their clearance at the end of a season.

Target - Cat & Jack can do no wrong in my book.  I love almost all of their stuff.  Olive saw this dino dress that her friend was wearing earlier this week and she had to have it.  It's her favorite color and she loves dinosaurs.  So we are the proud owners of this sweet dress.


2. BOOKS - We've been reading a lot of books about school this summer.  It's given us lots to talk about and the stories have given Olive a tiny glimpse into what life at school is like.

3. NAPKIDS
I picked up a pack of these Napkids Napkin Notes at Meijer this summer.  I though they'd be perfect to write Olive little notes in her lunch.  She can't read yet so I plan to draw her little pictures, emojis and fun letter messages.

4. Pink YUMBOX - we've entered into the world of packing lunches and I'm so excited for Olive to have a yumbox.  The compartments are the perfect size and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I won't have to waste money buying plastic bags for her to throw away each week.  We've already used it a ton this summer for lunches on the go.  You can read more about them here

5. CHARACTER BACKPACK & LUNCHBOX - we searched high and low for a GIRL Paw Patrol backpack and Amazon ended up having the cutest options.  We got it on super sale for Prime Day for around $12.  We picked up the My Little Pony lunch box last year on clearance at Meijer for $5.  I had envisioned a Pottery Barn Kids monogrammed backpack and/or lunch box, but Olive had big opinions on what she wanted to carry to school.  No problem.  She's thrilled so I'm thrilled.

6. FUN LUNCH ITEMS - emoji pretzels, favorite snacks, mini water bottles, etc.

7. Fun BACK TO SCHOOL DECOR at home to get everyone excited for a new year.

8. PLAY - give your kids lots of down time to just play and enjoy their toys :)

 9. OUTSIDE - Go outside and enjoy the fresh air before it's time to head back to school.  Once school starts, be sure to give you kids tons of time to play outside in the evenings.  Fresh air is good for everyone.  So are s'mores :)

 10. SLEEP - make sure everyone gets enough sleep.  Olive loves her dino dress so much that she's been wearing it non-stop.

I'm teaming up with some of my favorite mamas today for:
First Day of School Memories & Moments.

Join us with any back to school posts!!  The link up will be open for a couple of weeks and you can join us on instagram with the hashtag #2017B2S.  I can't wait to see what everyone is doing to kick off a new school year!!

An InLinkz Link-up