Back to School {Giveaway CLOSED}

In Partnership with Target
I have this re-occurring nightmare where I am running around the house, the kids are naked and I am throwing things into plastic bags trying to get ready for the first day of school. Lucky this is only a dream and I am organised……………….aren’t I?

This year, thanks to Target I AM organised. I decided that as we had nothing much on today, we’d grab the note from school listing what was needed for 2014 and head to the local shopping centre. The kids obviously thought this was a delightful idea, as did FlyBoy (note the sarcasm) but I would not be defeated.  I was a woman on a mission.

Luckily Target have all I needed to get ready for the up coming school year.  First stop was going to be the hardest… school shoes.  Little Miss loves shoes so she would be easy, in fact it would be hard getting her to leave the shoe section, but Mr Seven hates the idea of shoes (and especially shoe laces). 

Target - Back to School Shoes 2

We quickly found some funky sneakers with great colours in many styles.  However our school is quite strict on black shoes and white runners, much to little Misses disappointment. We soon found black school shoes and runners at great prices, and better yet  there was no arguing and the shoes fit first time.

Target - Back to School Shoes

As reward for being good it was off to find back packs.  Now we need something sturdy as they get flung into cars, flung across the playground, flung across the house and regularly used as on obstacle at the bottom of the stairs. Target have a great range of bags for both boys and girls of all, from Barbie to Crusty Demons. 

The kids had trouble deciding what would be there ‘statement’ for the year but after much deliberation another item was crossed of the list.

On a roll now we headed to the beautiful shelves of stationery - my favourite bit.  I was in heaven finding glue sticks, erasers and pencils whilst the kids made the next difficult choice - pencil cases.

Target have some cool stationery packs, perfect for kids and stationery obsessed mums!  The kids have a tonne of stationery at home, though most seems to be stored on, under, and in the couch cushions,  but it is nice to start the year looking co-ordinated and tidy.

We picked up some extra Crayola Twistables (both pencils and crayons) at half price (yay!) a few reams of printer paper for only $3 and with Monster High and Star Wars pencil cases in hand we were nearly at the finish line.

Target - Back to School 1

Only one more item on the list then I was finished. Lunch boxes.  I hate lunch boxes. They usually end up broken or lost.  Again there were many to choose from.  Should I go plastic, insulated or forget it all and buy a big supply of brown paper bags and spend a year getting lunch orders? 

Then we found the perfect lunch boxes.  Brightly coloured, insulated Smash boxes – perfect to keep their food fresh during those hot summer months ahead (and hopefully cut down on the smell of uneaten bananas).

Target - Back to School Lunchboxes

Now thanks to the Target Back to School Sale we are set and ready to go.  Now all I need to do is label everything so it returns when the kids try there best to lose it all.

With thanks to Target, 3 lucky Samelia’s Mum readers will win a $25 gift card to help ‘get back to school’ ready too.

Enter via the giveaway widget below, or leave a comment telling me your best tips on getting "back to school" ready.



Terms and Conditions: 1. Australian Giveaway ONLY 2. Giveaway will close at 5pm on Friday 17 January 2014 AEDST. 3. The judge’s decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered upon. 4. The prize will be sent by the promoter. Samelia’s Mum will take no responsibility for any delay, loss or damage to prizes sent to winner/s. 5. Winner/s will be announced on the Samelia's Mum Facebook page and/or contacted by email. 6. Winner has 7 days to claim the prize. If it is not claimed within this time period, it will be forfeited.

10 comments

  1. my problem with back to school shopping is that I love school supplies too (and I am going to back to college online too) So not only did the girls need new pens/pencils/crayons/notebooks, etc, so does Mom! Another thing about stocking up when all the stuff is on sale at really low prices, is that you don't have that issue of it being 9pm or 6am and finding out they need a new notebook, folder, paper. You have it on hand already. I had a separate drawer for school supplies.

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  2. Amelia looks very happy with her shoes!

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  3. I am a stationary addict. I just can't get enough so the Back to School sales are one of my yearly faves!

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  4. As your children get older their interest and excitement about returning to school wanes. Or in the case of our son, he has never had any interest in school fullstop. However to increase their 'joy' of the new school year I try to encourage them to come with me and let them choose their favourite designs of stationery and lunchboxes. It brings a smile to their faces, even if it's just for a short time. Also talk it up about the fun they'll have in the playground again, seeing their friends after 6 wks break. And buy their school shoes a few weeks before school starts. Last year I made the mistake of buying our sons's shoes too early. Two days before school began, trying them on, his foot had grown during the holidays. Another trip to the shoe store and another $100 down the drain.

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  5. My best back to school tip? Get extra supplies. When the school book list says we need 6 x dotted third books I get 10. Because inevitably they will use up the six and then I have chase up one more. Any that don't get used get passed on to the next youngest sibling, or used up at home. I also have spare stationery drawer. When the older kids run out of something they replace it themselves with something from the drawer.

    I'd love to know how the lunchboxes go. I now have four lunchboxes to wash each day, so I am always eager to hear about really good ones. At the moment we use the Tupperware lunchboxes, which are brilliant, except my 12 year old is now eating more and I think I need a bigger option!

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  6. It's been a while since my four were at school. I always tried to be organised early so if anything wasn't available I had time to source it.

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  7. Buy all the back to school supplies in the early weeks of january and don't leave everything till the last week. It is easier to find the items now than in the week just prior to school. We purchased lunch boxes & bottles this week and were able to get the size we needed as well as the colour . Its easier to get the school dress in the desired size now ,later most of the sizes will be out of stock .The other reason to do this now is that many shops have sales or discounts at the moment on things like school shoes and sneakers, clothing & lunchbox labels, so its sensible to grab bargains...

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  8. Lists are always helpful - kids are too influenced by brands and emotions

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  9. Labels, labels and more labels. Label everything as kids are good at losing things.

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  10. I ask for Santa's help and my children usually get a lot of back to school stuff for Christmas. Then I only have to buy a little bit of stuff in January :)

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