Finding the perfect school bag for your child

The importance of a good school bag is often underestimated. With a few pointers you’ll be able to pick a bag that serves your child best and hopefully they’ll even love it too!

Picking out a new school bag for your child may be more of a challenge than you anticipated – there are so many to choose from! As mothers, we want our children to have school bags that are functional and comfortable to wear. Our kids, however, are much more interested in whether or not the bag looks good! Trying to take everything into account and making the correct decision can be overwhelming, so here are a few things to bear in mind.

Sizing up your child’s school bag

One of the key decisions to get right when selecting a new school bag for your little one is the size of the bag. You may think that bigger is better, and will last your child longer. While they will grow into it, and it will be able to accommodate the larger volume of books and materials in the later years of school, it might not serve them best now. Consider choosing a bag that can contain all of their school things right now and has a little extra space. In a few years, when they’re bigger (and so is their workload!), you can pick up a larger school bag.

Pockets and compartments

Not all school bags are created equal. Some are essentially just one big compartment, where all of your child’s things will swim around freely. Others are a maze of little pockets, all too small to be of any real use! In the middle though, you will find bags with a main compartment for books and materials, and then a selection of smaller pockets perfectly suited to holding things like a pencil case, lunchbox or medication.

Adjustable straps fight back pain

Proper, padded shoulder straps with adjustability are a must-have for your little one’s new school bag. You can change the length of the straps so that the bag sits in the middle of your child’s back and limits strain. The padding will ensure that they will be as comfortable as possible when the bag is on their shoulders.

Durable but stylish

Two (often conflicting!) traits of school bags are durability and style. Even the most careful child’s school bag will experience quite a lot of wear and tear. From getting squeezed around school corridors to being piled in a corner during different activities, the bag has a lot to withstand. So choose carefully, or you’ll be buying replacement after replacement. At the same time, we don’t want our children to feel self-conscious if they think they have a weird, practical bag. They’ll want something with a bit of style so they can fit in. Listen to their input on this too, and perhaps allow them to pick a bag from a range that you have created, taking all the previous points into account!

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