Back to school essentials to prepare for the new year

No matter whether it’s their first year of school or last, there’s always plenty that needs to be done to ensure the family is well prepped and ready.

It’s not just important to have all the essential items – pens, books, backpack – sorted, but some other aspects of the home ready to roll for the new school year. The most important thing is to get the whole family involved with these simple tasks to make sure the first day back runs smoothly (and first couple of weeks if we’re honest).

Here are a couple of things to think about as you prepare to re-start the new year schedule.

This might seem a little too analogue in our digital world, but a great way to make sure everyone is up to date (and keeping up to date) with others in the home is a simple weekly, monthly or annual wall calendar. Plaster it somewhere obvious in your home, the kitchen is a great place for this. Not only can the whole family keep up to date with what is coming up in the week, but they can also keep you updated of what is happening for them.

Hot tip: Make it a fun task for adults and kids alike. Get each member of the house to choose a colour to represent them – even the pets and encourage them to update their activities on the calendar (Disclaimer: someone else might need to help the pets and younger humans!).

No matter whether it is your daughter's soccer game, Tuesday night dinner with the grand parents or the swimming carnival. You will never double book yourself again!

One point to you and zero points to forgetting that after school music lesson (high-five)!

It’s the first things the kids ask for when they get home (and likely your partner too). To help settle back into routine easily, make sure you keep a mix of quick, easy, fun and healthy snacks at the ready.

Explore fun new ways to get the family involved with easy and fun recipes. Bonus: Snack time doesn’t have to be just about filling the tummy, it can be a learning moment and well spent family time too.

Take our digital cookbook for our Pie Magic® Pie Maker for instance. It’s packed with delicious and easy snacks that you and the family can choose from to create and enjoy together. You can download Sunbeam's Pie Maker Cookbook on our pie maker recipes page.

Hot tip: map out your ideas for the week and pick up your ingredients in a Sunday night shop so that they are ready to go for the week ahead. One less thing to have to manage during the week is always a good thing.

It’s been a long summer break of weeks spend in shorts and a t-shirt, swimmers, and light dresses. Unfortunately, your work wear and school uniforms take a little more upkeep.

Getting the whole family into a routine for the week ahead is a great way to save on time with uniforms. Selecting out your wardrobe choices for a week at work and popping them out on a dresser or at one end of your wardrobe for easy picking each morning is a sure way to take a little stress out of the morning and save you time.

The kids can help with this too. Treat them to some TV time while they help with the laundry for the week ahead. For those younger humans in the home, get them involved in sorting out their uniforms ready for ironing and helping with the folding of smaller items like socks and undies. Get the big kids involved in the ironing! It’s a win, win for everyone. And while they may not love the idea now, they will certainly enjoy the reward – and lessons learnt, later.

Hot tip: for helping to prep the kids uniform for the week ahead is to keep your Handheld Garment Steamer handy. Because there is no need for an ironing board, its super easy to get wrinkle free results quickly and easily. Perfect for if you have a last-minute touch-up before you head out (on not just your kid’s uniforms, but your outfit too!)