While you're out shopping for back to school clothes and accessories for your kids, you'll want to make sure that you don't leave one very important item off your list -- the perfect backpack.
Having a sturdy bag to transport all of your kids' books, papers, and other belongings to and from school is a definite must, but with so many different bags out there to choose from, finding the right fit isn't always easy.
A good rule of thumb is to gauge what kind you buy based on your child's age and size, because that alone will help determine how much weight they can carry.
Here are some recommendations to help you find the perfect backpack for your kids based on what grade they'll be going into.
Preschool -- For little ones who are just starting off, make sure to purchase a mini-backpack; otherwise, you may witness your child falling over from the weight of too many arts & crafts projects!
Kindergarten -- For your child's first experience in "big kid" school, you'll want to make sure to step things up and get them a junior sized backpack to make sure all of their papers fit.
1st Grade to 3rd Grade -- Get your grade schooler a backpack that is more of a standard size, without being too overwhelming or huge. The straps on the bag should not be too large for your child's height and frame.
4th Grade to 6th Grade -- As your child's books get heavier, so does the weight on their shoulders. This is a good time to start thinking about getting a backpack with wheels so they can pull it on heavier days.
Have you purchased a new backpack for the upcoming school year yet?
Image via lori05871/Flickr
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Many schools don't allow wheeled backpacks because they're dangerous.
I went with a cheapie "Avengers" backpack that my son fell in love wtih at Target this year, but I plan, when it falls apart, to get him a replacement from Land's End. He's going into 3rd Grade, so he'll need to size-up from the one that he carried from preschool-2nd Grade, which was also from Land's End, and has now been taken over by his dad to hold gym stuff. Those bags are virtually indestructable. They're expensive on the front end, but holy cow, are they durable!
And Rhonda's right - I know the schools in our town don't allow wheeled bags. (although I can't imagine how they'd be dangerous - not questioning Rhonda on that one, questioning the logic of teh school system)
I just got a letter from my daughter's preschool warning us that the "mini" backpacks are not big enough to hold projects and papers.
My oldest kid, my 9yr old boy, he gets cheapie backpacks, because he DESTROYS even the best made ones. I bought him a hiking pack last year, waterproof, durable, extra support, and 1 month later, full of holes. He kicks them, drags them, throws them. All while walking the 4 blocks home from school. No amount of grounding, extra chores, and even a swat on the ass has helped. So I get him cheap ones, and make him do chores for a dollar per chore, then give me the money, to help him see how much it costs to replace them.
It hasn't worked. I'm at a loss.
Mutts... WalMart bags until he can keep THEM from ripping apart!! (and good luck with that, 'cause they tear if you sneeze in an adjacent room!)
@the4mutts, try what you're doing with a twist. Inform him that the very next backpack he destroys, his younger sister (the most girly one) gets to pick the color of his new backpack. He will not be allowed to influence her on style, decorations or color of said backpack. Tell him that this state of affairs will continue until he learns to take care of his backpack. My own 20-year-old son suggests teaching him to sew and handing him the materials and having him make his own. (I like mine better, it's more evil.)
If he doesn't care for the idea of his sister picking his backpack, hand him the pieces of his old ones and tell him to piece together a backpack from that. If that doesn't appeal to him, tell him he can carry his books in a shopping bag. (That very last suggestion came from my daughter.)
LL Bean makes the best BackPacks ever! I still have the one from when I went to first grade and it's in pretty good shape. And the ones I upgraded to as I got older I still use :)
Then when I refused to get him another, he borrowed duct tape from my SO, and taped his remington backpack together.
This kid is so weird.
Maybe I'll try the shopping bag thing. He HATES to carry things in his hands. Or I'll give him my beachbag/purse hhaha
Storkneedsgps- my kids' school doesn't have hallways. Its all outdoors until you walk into the classroom doors. The walkways between classrooms are HUGE, like alleyway huge.
Their school also encourages the roller bags, and has higher hooks in the classrooms to hang them on. They're more worried about the kids devolping back problems than they are about a "pain in the ass" for the teachers.