Back to School Tips for Moms

Today I’m sharing some fresh back to school tips for moms! Here we are again – getting ready to head back to school! I can’t believe it.

Fitz will be in First Grade – so much to learn! I just wanted to share some quick and easy back to school mom tips to get your family started on the right foot.

*There are affiliate links in this post, which means I may earn a small amount of commission for items purchased.

I can’t start a new school year without getting excited, prepared, and organized for what’s to come. I always end of tweaking things from past years to make things even better. Here’s what we’re doing this year to get ready for back to school 2022:

Get Excited

I love to do some things to get Fitz (and myself!) excited about heading back to school. Here’s some simple ideas:

Read some back to school picture books

You can see a quick list of some great back to school picture books here! Just take this list to the library and start reading. This also helps if you have a little one anxious about starting school. Picture books are a great way to have early conversations about school and ease any difficult feelings.

Give a fun back to school gift

It doesn’t have to be expensive! I found these adorable $10 alphabet jammies from Old Navy (and matching ones for little sis!), bought him a book for his new grade level, and then grabbed a gold star balloon from the dollar store.

It’s a fun little gift for the night before school. They can get cozy in new jammies, read a new book, and tie their balloon around the bed post.

Make a school themed treat

We saw these adorable pencil cookies over at The Three Snackateers and had to try them! This is how we made them:

Cut to angle the tip of lemon or vanilla wafer cookies
Dip the angled edge in white almond bark (or white frosting)
Add a mini chocolate chip at the tip to look like pencil lead
Dip the other end in strawberry frosting (or pink colored almond bark)

That’s it! The best part is the kids can help make it so easily with you. They don’t have to look perfect, it’s just another fun way to start getting excited about going back to school.

Get Prepared

Getting prepared for a new school doesn’t have to be a big deal, but a few simple things can make the transition a lot easier.

Practice routines early

As a former elementary teacher, I always recommend to practice your school morning routine early. There’s nothing worse than stressing out on the first day of school, hollering at your kids, and running late. About a week before school starts (or more), start teaching and practicing the morning routine.

Older kids need this as much as younger ones, so don’t leave them out! It’s so easy to forget about routine during the off season, and going over routines prior to the first day will make everything go smoothly. You can read more about smoother mornings here.

Use morning checklists for kids

Click to grab my free mini bundle of morning checklist for kids. You can also email me if you want a custom checklist and I’ll tweak them as needed! I’m happy to make your mornings work better for you and your child.

Get Organized

I have three MAJOR tools that help us stay organized during the school year. I can’t live without them!

Check them out here:

School Cart

…or homework cart, or whatever you want to call it. I go crazy when the school things are floating all around and we’re trying to find something for homework, a paper to send back, or the take home folder.

Using a rolling cart keeps everything organized in one place. And, it easily tucks away into a corner when not in use. You can even put a command hook on one side and hang a backpack on it!

With multiple kids, you could use one shelf for each kid. Right now I just have Fitz in school, so here’s how I organize the shelves:

Top shelf: supplies like pencils, crayons, scissors and glue. You can add anything else you may need for school work or homework assignments.
Middle shelf: Fitz brings home weekly readers for us to practice at home and we sort them here.
Bottom shelf: Fitz takes out the papers from his “Take Home” folder and puts them in the plastic tub. Then I can go through and sort them.

We grabbed this white cart from Target and then we added this cute school themed garland from Amazon to decorate it just for fun.

Art Portfolio

I love this art portfolio because you don’t have to only use it for art…you can use it to save any papers you don’t want to toss!

After Fitz’s papers are in the tub from his take home folder, I go through and sort them. Some papers we need to do something with (homework or signed forms), some we toss, and some are just too cute and I want to save them.

I just stick this art portfolio in Fitz’s closet and that’s where the “save” papers go. I moved the portfolio to a lower shelf in his closet so that he can help put papers away also.

There’s nothing that annoys me more than piles of school papers on the kitchen table, counter, etc. Using these systems helps to prevent that and keeps papers from getting lost!

Unfortunately, our exact one is sold out, but here’s a super similar art portfolio that does the same job!

Hanging Closet Shelf for Kids

Finally, this is my tried and true tip for earlier mornings. Grab this five shelf closet organizer, and prep all of your kid’s school outfits for the week over the weekend. It’s even got space for shoes, hair-bows, or any accessory they might need. Such a time saver!

I let my son pick from any slot for the week so he still feels like he gets some choice, too. It’s a win-win!

Which tip are you going to use to get back to school ready? I hope you found something that you liked!

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