14 Awesome Items That Are Sure To Make Back-to-School Easier & More Fun for Everyone

Kids are going to lose things. It's inevitable. Most moms have had to deal with a child who has lost a backpack, a lunchbox, a water bottle, etc. Tile can help with that. The company offers various personal tracking devices, including the Tile Mate, which is perfect to attach to your kiddo's school essentials, so you'll be able to find them when they get misplaced. You can buy them individually, but we recommend the two pack.

Listen, making your kids lunch every day is a time-consuming task. We get it. It's OK to take a shortcut sometimes. Lately, we're obsessed with New Zealand-based company Fix & Fogg's peanut butter and jelly nut butter. It's a delicious and nutritious all-in-one product that will save you a step — and an extra utensil — when you're throwing together those PB&Js. And honestly, it's so good, you'll probably just keep it out so you can have some for your own breakfast or lunch. Look for it along with all of their other flavors, on Amazon and at Whole Foods.

It's a rare kid who gets excited about brushing his teeth, but throw in a character and a fun app, and it might just get a bit easier. The Philips Sonicare Sonic Electric Toothbrush for kids is an interactive toothbrush that connects to an app that acts as toothbrushing coach for kids. It uses adorable monster characters to encourage children to brush their teeth more often and for long enough.

There really is a smart device for everything. The Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook is perfect for high schoolers and responsible middle schoolers who take lots of notes for school. It allows students to upload their notes to popular cloud services and utilizes a special pen that wipes clean, so the note-taking surface can be used again and again.

A good water bottle is a back-to-school investment. Nothing beats a sturdy, insulated reusable water bottle that can get your kid through the school day and extra-curriculars. We love this model from Takeya because it features a leak-proof straw lid and nice, wide handle that can be attached to sports bags and backpacks.

I don't know about anybody else's kids, but mine are sure to side-eye their lunch if any of the cold items come close to room temperature. Especially cheese! This bento box has a removable ice pack to keep food cool longer. It's leak-proof and has four compartments to make perfect kid-sized portions.

If you dread hitting the mall or even big box stores to help your kids pick out all their trendy new duds for the school year, Kidpik is the answer. It's a clothing subscription box that features the most adorable fashions for kids. You decide how many items come in your box each month and you can pause, skip, or cancel at any time. Plus, if you decide to keep everything in your box, each item ends up only costing about $15.

These days, we are all about getting our kids to take ownership of as many of their personal daily tasks as possible. This magnetic responsibility chart can help get the job done. It features magnets for things like getting dressed, making the bed, and doing homework, along with more magnets that your kids can use to mark off each completed task. It's also a whiteboard, so they — or you — can make notes as needed.

One thing about teens and grooming — especially young teens (tween boys, we're looking at you) — is that if it takes extra effort, they're gonna avoid it or try to find a shortcut. Make shaving easier with the OneBlade First Shave Teen Shaver. It's perfect for boys maintaining peach fuzz, but it also works great for legs. It's rechargeable and can be used wet or dry.

Your kid will actually want to carry this backpack from Hanna Andersson. It's a classic style that's available in a few different prints that kids of a wide age range will think are totally cool. We love that it features an interior pocket perfect for electronic devices, reflective strips on both the front and back, and ergonomic straps for comfort. The company also offers matching lunch bags.

How many times has your kid found herself sans a sharp pencil come homework time? Yeah, we know. We love these manual pencil sharpeners by Bostitch because they are double sided and come in a three-pack, so you can give them out to your kids, and keep one hidden away for pencil sharpening emergencies. Kids will love the bright colors.

Young girls have enough to worry about without having to stress over how getting their period will affect their school days. We love that Blume has paired up with makeup and personal care retailer, Ulta, to create this awesome period self-care kit that incudes organic cotton pads, a microwaveable heat pack to help alleviate cramps, and a relaxing roll-on aromatherapy oil to help with PMS symptoms. It's just what every girl of a certain age needs.

Right along with the back-to-school season, comes cold and flu season. All those beginning-of-the-school-year colds can really put a damper on the experience, so now's the time to start boosting your kiddo's immune system. These immune-boosting liquid daily vitamins from Vital Vits include burdock root and elderberry for an extra immune boost and they can be mixed into food or drinks, so even your pickiest kid will get the benefits of a daily multivitamin. They're sugar-free and plant-based as well.

Disclaimer: The advice on CafeMom is not a substitute for consultation with a medical professional or treatment for a specific condition. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified professional. Please contact your health care provider with questions and concerns.

Trust us … go ahead and get the giant pack of pencils. Ticonderoga is our go-to brand for pencils because the erasers are just better. We've even noticed teachers requesting them specifically. We love that they now offer pre-sharpened packs that you can pull from any time the need arises. We recommend keeping this pack holed away at home to disburse as needed.