Labeling School Supplies – How to keep it easy and organized

August 29, 2018 Kristin, Exploring Domesticity

Labeling school supplies can be a little overwhelming. There is so much stuff! We have some tips for making it easy to label your kiddo’s school supplies for back to school and all year long!

When is it easier just to take a good ol’ Sharpie to everything and what a time saver it is to have labels on hand so you can throw them on everything!

We participate in affiliate programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

It’s the first day of school for our kiddos! This year we have a kindergartner and a second grader. As each year goes on we get a little bit better and better at this school thing.

One of the things we’ve perfected little by little since preschool is finding out what school supplies work best for us and how to keep them labeled and organized.

School Supplies

Each year the school supplies change. We get the list from the school and we do our best to get everything on it.

I typically do the school shopping alone. That way I don’t have to deal with all the requests for different colors, characters, etc.

Plus, I loooove school supplies!

Doing the shopping isn’t my favorite, but the first thing I do when I get home is spread everything out and start organizing. I might even use the back-to-school sales to pickup my favorite pens.

After all the supplies are laid out, the kiddos get their choices on colors. They’re just fine with that. For now, they don’t see “cool school supplies” as an option and I’m going to keep it that way as long as possible.

Labeling School Supplies

Labeling school supplies can be a pain (but, just between you and me, I secretly love it!). I go with a combination of good old fashioned labeling with a sharpie and using my favorite Mabel’s Labels in all shapes, sizes, and patterns.

For supplies such as markers, crayons, pencils, glue, and paints, it’s always easiest to just go with the basic Sharpie label. Depending on the color, I use a black or silver Sharpie.

Scissors are another one that are much easier with Sharpie and I usually just write the name right on one of the blades. For notebooks, I love the look of a cute label on the front. Just in case it falls off over time, I also find a small spot to label with a marker just to double up.

For everything else we love cute labels!

Mabel’s Labels have been my go-to for a long time. We use them on all our school lunch and snack supplies. Also, I label the heck out of everything during the winter months when we have all sorts of winter clothes for school. Heck, we even use them for travel, group trips, and just about everything!

Mabel’s Labels have definitely become one of my favorite mom hacks. I actually tracked them down to become an affiliate because I already use them on everything! Definitely one of my biggest tips for moms – I even try to give them to my friends and family as baby shower gifts.

Mom hack (and money saving hack): If you’re just starting out with daycare or preschool, go with the smaller labels and just use the kiddos last name.

That’s what we did for years! I have the mini labels with just the kids’ last name in a gender neutral design and I have used them since preschool for both our boy and girl. It’s also smart to do it this way for lunch containers so you can use them for both children.

Order mini labels here and use KRISTIN10 to get 10% off!

This year, the kiddos finally got to pick out their own labels and designs for labeling school supplies. We got the school combo pack, and I’m loving the tag mates which is a size we haven’t used before. We use them for everything!

What we label

Backpacks
Clothing – jackets, hats, mittens, extra clothes, shoes, etc. – they stick great and go through the wash!
Lunch/snack containers and water bottles – they stay on even in the dishwasher!
Folders and notebooks
Pencil Boxes (our classes share the pencils, but the mini labels would fit on individual pencils if needed)
Headphones
Blankets or Towels for rest time

Get 10% off your Back to School Combo kit with the code KRISTIN10!

There is probably so much more I’m forgetting!

I actually just keep all our labels right in a drawer in our kitchen and I’m labeling something new almost daily. As they take a new sweatshirt to school or a new snack container, I’m sticking a label on it.

Allergies

I also want to let you know, for kiddos with allergies, you can also get Allergy Alert Labels and have those ready whenever you need them. So important and helpful, especially for when you’re first labeling school supplies and the teachers are just getting to know their students!

Are you going crazing with labeling everything your kiddos are bringing to school? Check out these tips!

Click To Tweet

Special mom extras

As moms we have to put our special touch on everything. I like to make sure the kids are all set with some special things in their backpack to help them get through the school year.

Backpack Supplies

Tissues
Pencil
Bandaids – this one actually came in handy last year, when our little guy got a cut and his sister found a bandaid in her backpack for him – so sweet!
Cough Drops
Lip Balm
Gum or a small snack – if it’s ok with your bus driver – I never used to do this, but the kids feel so special when they find a random goodie in there
A special little note from mom

I can’t stress it enough – label, label, label! The more things you can get their name on, the more chance they have of coming back home.

If you don’t have labels yet, grab a marker and try to get everything you can. Then, order some labels because they are a major time saver when labeling school supplies! Have them ready and stick them on everything. If you pick up some Mabel’s Labels use the code KRISTIN10 to get 10% off!

Plus… you can win a set of Back-to-School Mabel’s Labels to make school supply labeling a breeze for yourself!

Mabel’s Labels Ultimate School Combo Giveaway

One winner will receive their own personalized ultimate school combo set.

There are three ways to enter. I will pool all the entries and randomly select a winner on 9/5/2018 and the prize will be fulfilled by Mabel’s Labels.