The Best Back-to-School Gear for the New Year

Your child will feel like a superhero when wearing this lightening backpack! At just over a foot high, it's large enough to fit lunch and early-grade-school supplies. (And a shout-out to the brand for gifting backpacks to children in need.)

Extra credit for cuteness! The dachshund-in-a-bun-covered FurReal Heartdogs Backpack is a tall 16 inches for big kids with books and has a water bottle pocket on each side.

Made of recycled polyester, this adorable 11-inch backpack is gender-neutral animal chic for preschoolers who only need to tote a few essentials.

Their favorite toy in bag form: The LEGO Brick Backpack is a little over 15 inches high, comes in 11 colors, and has one water-bottle pocket and two fun circular zipped pockets, plus a laptop sleeve inside.

The soft ears make it, but we love the clear pouch and puffy koala nose too. Skip Hop's 14-inch-tall backpack—which comes with a water bottle pocket—is the right size for preschool and kindergarten.

Kids can rock the coolest reptile print with this classic 16-inch backpack for grade school. Add a monogram so that the swamp comes back home with the right kiddo.

Reusable silicone Stasher Sandwich Bags make ditching single-use plastic baggies a no-brainer. Plus, a portion of every purchase from the new Endangered Seas Collection—with wavy, colorful stripes—goes to the protection of oceans and their ecosystems.

The BPA-free 12-ounce bottle serves up out-of-this-world characters: space explorers doing their thing as surfers, dancers, loungers, and dunkers.

Who better to chill out your child's lunch than a frosty blue polar bear? And don't worry; the nose on the lightweight Bear Ice Pack is sealed shut for a leak-free freeze.

The tiny Fabelab Lunch Bag, made of organic cotton, adds a little bit of magic to lunchtime. Tie the ears of the unicorn to hold a sandwich or snacks inside.

Reminiscent of a Tic Tac box but with dual compartments, these containers can fit 4 ounces of snacks in either side, which kids can have fun dispensing from the tiny doors. The boxes are also dishwasher safe.

This lunch box, which comes in this otherworldly Mermaid Multi Swirl pattern, is thick and sturdy so food stays cool and unsquished. FYI, you can stash a drink in the bottom.

The skateboard, hammock, pool float, and break dance motif on this bento box is a mash-up kids didn't know they needed. It's got three compartments and an ice pack.

Maybe you can't be in the classroom to motivate your child, but this pencil set can, with feel-good reminders like "Be Kind to Yourself" and "It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect."

These Fiskars scissors are engineered with your child's safety (no sharp edges) and comfort in mind. A little digit can fit nicely into the finger loop, while the smaller thumbhole prompts more precise snipping.

Let this Peeps-like product charm your kid into sanitizing their hands. Hook it onto their backpack or lunch box for easy access. You get to choose from five scents, like this orange blossom, or go fragrance-free.

Drop writing utensils into the mouth of an amusing monster! The soft sack is actually one long zipper, so your kid can unzip it all the way to watch the monster unravel, then cinch it back up again.

Encourage less stress about making mistakes with the ClickIt Eraser at the ready. Your kid taps the top, and more eraser appears.

The bright colors and big numbers on this acrylic ruler make learning to measure a treat for the eyes too.

Here's a shark that doesn't chomp—it sharpens. Open mouth and insert pencil with the Great Write pencil sharpener.

Kids get a kick out of designing their look-alike with these labels! You'll be thrilled that the name stickers are waterproof—they stick to clothes through the washing machine and lunch supplies through the dishwasher. Label with abandon!