Seven tips to prepare your home for the back to school rush
With the new term just around the corner, you have a very narrow window to prepare your home for the chaos of the back to school rush.
From getting your children up in the mornings and preparing packed lunches, to the school run and monitoring homework, there’s plenty to keep you busy in term time. And this can come as quite a shock after a long summer off.
To help you, VonHaus have teamed up with experts to share some handy tips on how to prepare your home for the back-to-school rush and make the whole process as simple and stress-free as possible.
Seven tips to prepare your home for the back to school rush
Working with Emma Stonham, a professional organiser and coach from Organised Co, VonHaus has put together these top hacks for sorting out your home before the back-to-school rush.
1) Prepare a homework box
Where does your child do their homework? Many children may not have a specific desk I their bedroom for homework, and may instead use a shared desk or sit at the dining room or kitchen table.
By using a storage box or having a set of drawers close by with homework supplies they can have easy access to get what they need. Try to enforce them tidying away once they have finished to help bring a sense of achievement and encourage independence.
Using drawers means you can keep items organised by subject or child, and they can be easily removed and placed back when it’s time to tidy. This also means less clutter at the end of the day when you’re trying to relax.
2) Get your kitchen ready worth everything you need easily accessible
Having a good flow in the kitchen will make busy mornings much more streamlined and generally make your life much easier. This can include keeping items to make breakfast and lunches accessible and using clear kitchen containers for staples such as flour, pasta, sugar so they’re easier to find.
For children, consider putting their plates and bowls in a drawer easier to reach so they can get their own cutlery, and placing healthy snacks in easy-to-see areas so they’re more likely to opt for them rather the more sugary snacks.
3) Create shoe and bag stations
Leave large baskets for children to place their coats, shoes and bags in when they come back from school. Not only will this look tidier, but it makes life much easier the next morning when both you and your children know where everything is.
If everything is always in the same place, it becomes habit and routine and there’s no frantic searching for a lost shoe when you’re already running late!
4) Get a good night’s sleep
It’s easy for the usual bedtime routine to slip during the summer holidays, but the return to school means it’s more important than ever to make sure they get the recommended nine hours of sleep. You can read tips on how to get your child back into a healthy sleep routine ready for school here.
5) Count down to going back to school
Whether just starting school or returning for the new year, creating a physical planner or calendar of how many days until they go back to school is a great way to encourage building routines in the lead-up to September. This can include early bedtimes, making their beds and brushing their teeth, etc.
6) Plan fun lunches and snack stations
Fun and nutritious lunches will help your children keep going throughout the day, alongside a selection of healthy snacks and nibbles available when they get home from school.
This is a terrific way to experiment by making some fun recipes with your children in the kitchen. Here are seven simple recipes your children can make on their own.
7) Decorate your child’s space to promote productivity and relaxation
If you feel like giving your children’s room a clear-out and a bit of a spruce up before they return to the classroom, have you considered that the colours in their rooms can actually affect their productivity and relaxation?
Rebecca Snowden, Interior Style Advisor at Furniture & Choice recommends staying away from energetic colours such as red and orange as this may raise their heart rate and affect sleep quality. Instead you’re better off sticking to restful colours like blue, green, or white for a calming effect.
If you want to make their room, feel more exciting, introduce pops of a zesty colour like yellow for a boost of productivity. Whether it’s painting your doorframe yellow or going bolder with a feature wall, yellow is not only joyful to have around but is also associated with happiness and creativity.
Worried about back to school expenses? Here are five ways you can save money on back to school essentials.
Photo by Josh Applegate
