It’s back to school time, and for me (and many of you) it’s BACK TO PRESCHOOL time! Which means that my kids will be doing the following in a classroom instead of my house:
Can I get an amen? 🙂
Today I thought I’d share with you a few ideas and tips for fellow preschool moms who are sending their kids back to preschool. I feel somewhat left out since I don’t need to buy school supplies (I know – I’ll look back in a few years and probably laugh at today’s post). But I love school supplies! At the end of today’s post I share a great way to meet that school supply fix and help a local non-profit too. (This post contains affiliate links.)
Preschool Lunch Ideas
I don’t know about you, but I usually start off the year with creative, colorful, well-rounded lunches. This is actually a photo I took before the first day of school last year. I was so optimistic about my endurance for the rest of the year. I mean it wasn’t that exciting or creative.
But by mid-September I’m pretty much throwing boring sandwiches or whatever I can find in the pantry or fridge into the Bentgo boxes. By the way, these Bentgo Lunch Boxes are amazing. They keep food warm or cold a few hours and remind you to give your kids their fruit and veggies. I bought a third one this year now that Foster’s going to preschool every day. I’ve learned to plan for laziness …
To help me with my creativity in lunch assembly, I created this Pinterest board. Check it out! There are so many creative moms out there who have shared their ideas. Pin away ladies! And follow me on Pinterest!
Water Bottles and Lunchboxes
I recently had an epiphany regarding water bottles. I would spend about 10 minutes putting together water bottles each time I unloaded the dishwasher (and, of course, this was after letting these items dry on the drying rack for a couple hours – why can’t they design kid items that dry in the drying cycle? … I digress). Anyways, it was like a puzzle (yes, I like puzzles but not this kind) trying to match up the correct straw with mouth piece and lid. And some bottles even had an extra piece or two thrown in to further complicate things.
Well, I decided to simplify my life and choose a few of my favorite versions, stock up on them, and donate or toss the rest. Best decision ever! Look at my new tidy water bottle drawer.
I couldn’t completely consolidate down to just one water bottle (I still prefer one for Parker’s milk, one big kid type for dinners at the kitchen table, and we love our Snack-eez), but I now have a system that makes it easier.
For Foster (and now Parker), we mostly stick with these Contigo water bottles.
They’re super easy to put together and clean. And they don’t leak!
We have used these Gerber Graduates sippy cups for Parker the past year or so.
They don’t leak and only have 3 pieces. Win!
We do still have a couple of these Camelbak .4L water bottles too. They hold up super well, and are really cute. They’re on sale right now at Target by the way.
You can also find lunch boxes on sale at Target right now starting at $6!
Toddler Clothes
During my Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Post on Kids, I mentioned that I typically don’t spend much on my kids’ clothes. Instead, I love to take advantage of Target sales. And right now, it’s a great time to do so. You can get kids and toddler jeans on sale starting at $6. WHAT?!?
But, I do have to tell you I absolutely love these Native Shoes I picked for Parker at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.
They’re easy to slip in and she doesn’t need socks (which the girl has a serious aversion to for some reason).
And if you’re looking for basics that will withstand stains and hard play, don’t forget to take advantage of Hanna Andersson’s kids basics sale right now. I love these dresses – we have two of them.
These dresses are lightweight, hold up well, are super cute by themselves in the summer and with tights in the fall and winter.
SafePlace School Supply Drive
And before I wrap up today’s post, I want to mention a really easy way to help out a great organization. SafePlace provides housing, healing, and support for individuals and families affected by domestic violence, and sexual assault and exploitation through prevention and intervention services. I’ve mentioned SafePlace before in my Touch-a-Truck post. This cause is dear to my heart as I’ve seen the effects of sexual abuse on thousands of children across the country.
SafePlace is still accepting school supply donations for the 300-plus children they serve during the school year. You can easily donate to their wish list on Amazon here. So, if you’re like me and really wanting to shop for school supples – here’s your chance to do so and help out a great organization!
Have a great day!
