Back to School Labels
Is it that time of year already? I can’t believe I’m already planning my classroom materials and getting the boys’ backpacks ready! This year, our youngest is getting his first “big boy” backpack for daycare, which means we’re officially swapping his “theme” from cats to Mickey Mouse.
Theme? Yes. As a teacher and a former student of private school—where we all wore the exact same uniform as each other—I am well aware that things easily go missing in the bustle of the day. Even at our own house, we have to be mindful to keep straight whose generic black athletic shorts are whose in the laundry basket! One way I do this is by theming their materials to something they like. My youngest started with cats because they were his favourite animal when he began daycare. All of his labels were cat themed, his lunch box had cats, and so did his sheets. My eldest is in love with trains of all kinds, so his items are all themed around trains (he even just got a new train lunch box for this year). It’s just a quick visual to make sure you’re grabbing the right kids’ stuff while you’re running out the door.
I also know the true importance of labelling everything. If it has the potential to be taken off, dropped, left behind, or misplaced, it needs a label. Cellphones should be labeled in those upper grades. In the lower grades, if your student has some sort of tracker because they’re taking the bus, that needs to be labelled. Tupperware, clothing, water bottles, pencils—anything you don’t want to have to buy every other week should have a label on it, especially clothes.
For anything going into the dishwasher (or potentially getting a water bottle spilled on it in the backpack) we use Name Bubbles. It was recommended to me when I was pregnant with my first and I have used them since he started daycare in 2022. We love that they’re dishwasher safe and that they make labels you can write on when you’re meal prepping. We label all of our travel items with Name Bubbles as well, just in case something gets left behind! They are super difficult to remove by accident, but I’ve been able to intentionally remove them with some elbow grease from glass tupperware and stainless steel water bottles (without chipping). I haven’t tried to remove them from plastic or fabric. The latter is because we don’t personally use their clothing labels as clothing labels (though we do love their shoe labels!).
For clothing, especially because my oldest has a uniform, we use Label Weavers’ woven name labels. Here’s the thing. They take some time to put on (you can use a handheld sewing machine to make it quick) and they can be very easily removed, so you have to know your audience. If your fear is someone stealing an item, get a more permanent, stick-on tag like Name Bubbles. We use these primarily for spare clothes at daycare and uniform items, so it isn’t really a concern for us. That said, with uniforms or anything you plan to hand down or give to a second hand store, it’s exceptionally convenient to use a fabric tag.
Sharpie runs, even the clothing one, unless it’s on one of those stick-on labels that never comes off (I think Avery makes blank clothing labels to write on, it’s what I used for my eldest’s first year at daycare). I can’t tell you how many times we used to argue at school over who was wearing whose sweatshirt because by week three you couldn’t read a single name—it was all a smudge of black.
Stick on labels don’t come off easily. You don’t want to sell or hand-me-down your child’s name to small, local second hand stores and your school’s uniform swap. In the case of the latter, you’re about to have someone’s new sweatshirt that’s two-sizes-too-small for your child come back to you in the bottom of the backpack one day. Your option is to stick it to a tag, which then either removes the size or the care instructions. The care instructions for some more obvious items might not matter, but knowing if an item fits certainly does! Not to mention, the care instructions are rarely in a place a teacher can check quickly.
The fabric tag comes off with a seam ripper or a small pair of scissors without damage to the clothing. You can still attach it to a tag (I do so that the teacher can see it quickly) or anywhere you want. I recommend, if you have a less common last name, to just put your last name. This way, you can just hand items down to your next without having to re-label. If you’re planning to save your drawer space and drop everything at the school for a uniform swap as soon as it stops fitting over your child’s head, then pull that tag out and bring it in!
