Going Back to School? Check our Back to School Guide 2013

Little man is starting school in a couple of weeks, I cannot believe he is old enough to be going to school. I went back to work after my maternity leave, so he has been at nursery from 9 months old. I am used to being without him during the day – although I still miss him – but starting school is a whole different story. OMG, my little boy is going to “big school”, as he says.

He’s been getting really excited, we’ve been trying and testing school items, uniforms and everything he might need for school. So, here are our essentials in our Back to School Guide 2013, which has been divided into Uniforms, Stationary, Lunchbox, Grooming and Wellbeing.

Uniforms:

We have tried two different supermarket school uniforms, you can check what we found of School Uniform by George at Asda and School Uniform by Nutmeg at Morrisons.

Stationary:

GettingPersonal Personalised Notebooks, GettingPersonal.co.uk has a lovely range of personalised notebooks and journals in their back to school range. Little man was sent a Personalised Notebook Awesome Adventures (RRP £5.99), you can personalise it with any names you choose, up to 18 characters. It is a cool and bright design!

He was also sent a Personalised Notebook in Comic Speech Bubble (RRP £5.99), you can personalise two lines, up to 18 characters each. They are a luxury full colour glossy cover notebooks in hardback, hand finished and ring-bound, great quality notebooks, perfect to make children feel special at school. Little man loved seeing his name on the personalised notebooks and he can’t wait to start using them for school work.

Sprout Pencil is the world’s only pencil that you can plant. School children go through a large amount of pencils, so it is refreshing that Sprout pencils can turn into something else. Basically, you can use it as a normal pencil to write and sharpen when required. Once it gets too short to be used again, you should gently press Sprout into the soil with tip-side up, push it in up to the edge of the green cap.

By adding water, sunlight and love, Sprout will grow into a plant and you can enjoy fresh herbs in 4-5 weeks. Sprout comes in 7 different herbs: basil, cilantro, rosemary, sage, dill, mint and thyme. Little man is looking forward to writing with his Sprout pencils and planting them afterwards. Sprout pencil is now available through an international webshop partner, it can be ordered at http://www.getyoursprout.com/, priced at €3.50 per Sprout, or €30 for 10 Sprouts.

Lunchbox:

Chia Bia Bars are organic nutrients bars that are a great alternative to chocolates. They provide good nutritional values of fruit and nuits, the chia seeds contained in each bar are tasteless but very healthy. They contain high level of protein and fibre, keeping kids full for longer, and they are the highest plant-source of Omega 3, giving children a big brain boost.

Little man was sent two different flavours to try: chocolate, apricot and pumpkin and chocolate, cranberry and coconut. Little man’s favourite flavour was chocolate cranberry and coconut, yummy! Not only they are delicious, they are also healthy, so perfect for lunchboxes. Chia Bia bars are available at independent health food stores, Holland & Barrett and Selfridges.

Little Crackers Juice is the new fruit juice drinks range with no added sugar or sweeteners created by the award winning Cracker Drinks Co. Each carton of the juice drink counts as part of kids’ five a day with 75% pure juice and a splash of water, providing a high fruit content of 75%.

The juices feature a playful new character range called ‘Fruitheads’. Little man was sent two flavours to try Blackcurrant & Cherry with Billy Blackcurrant and Cheeky Cherry, and Pear & Vanilla with Vicky Vanilla and Peter Pear. Little Crackers juices are funky and healthy, perfect for lunchboxes to make sure kids get more fruit into their diet. Available in packs of three 200ml cartons with a straw, Little Crackers range is available in Sainsbury’s priced at £1.99.

Dettol Antibacterial Wipes and Surface Spray are safe to use around children and non-toxic around food, so ideal for cleaning lunchboxes. Bacterial growth and contamination of ready-to-eat food increases the risk of tummy upsets and food borne illnesses in children, so it is important to keep lunchboxes healthy and hygienic.

Antibacterial wipes and sprays are convenient and hygienic for keeping lunchboxes and kitchen surfaces bacteria free. Choose products that are safe for food surfaces such as Dettol Antibacterial Wipes and Surface Spray to clean lunchboxes before you pack them and lower chances of tummy upset and food borne illness in children. Dettol spray and wipes leaves lunchboxes clean and smelling fresh.

Grooming:

Michel Mercier ‘Untangle Your Day’ Detangling Brush is a patented brush with 428 bristles positioned at 32 different heights and 16 different diameters which are positioned just so to relieve the tugging that can happen when detangling. Every boy and girl need perfectly groomed hair at school, and this brush easily guides through wet or dry hair, with a unique distribution of the bristles which also massage the scalp and stimulates blood flow and in turn, encourages healthy hair.

Little man’s hair is quite long at the moment, and we have no intention of cutting his curls, so we will be using Michel Mercier Detangling Brush to look after his hair for school. He was sent a blue brush which has been designed for curly/ thick/ afro-Caribbean hair textures, they are also available for other hair types such as fine and normal hair. Michel Mercier Detangling Brush is available at Sainbury’s stores nationwide, priced at £12.99.

Hedrin Head Lice Protection Spray is the first clinically proven treatment for preventing head lice. Hedrin Protect & Go is a fuss-free spray which, when applied twice-a-week, protects children from the parasites by breaking the life cycle and killing lice before an infestation can be established. The Orange & Mango scented conditioning spray is also ideal for times when the risk of infection increases such as the beginning of a new school term, at children’s parties and sleepovers and following an outbreak letter from the school.

Whether I want it or not, little man has a high chance of getting head lice, so I am pleased I can prevent head lice with Hedrin Protect & Go. It is easy to apply and dries naturally leaving the hair looking healthy and conditioned. Hedrin Protect & Go is available from Boots, pharmacies and leading retailers nationwide, priced at £4.29 for 120ml.

Wellbeing:

NasalGuard Cold & Flu Bock is a new drug-free triple action gel which protects against cold and flu viruses by simply dabbing a small amount of the water-based gel around nostrils and above upper lip to create an invisible barrier around the nose. It is suitable for children, non-drowsy and can be used safely alongside other medicines. It comes in a handy package and for ultimate protection, it should be used before the cold and flu season start, usually from October to April.

I don’t like seeing little man poorly and I am sure he would be very upset if he had to miss school due to being ill. We will be using NasalGuard Cold & Flu Block during the academic year to reduce the likelihood of getting sick from cold and flu. NasalGuard Cold & Flu Block is available at Boots, priced at £11.99 for 150 applications.

Haliborange Kids Softies is a range of vitamin softies all individually tailored for children’s specific nutritional needs. The Haliborange Softies range come in a variety of delicious fruit flavours to appeal to children’s taste buds, making supplements a tasty and enjoyable experience. Haliborange Kids Multivitamin Fruit Softies, available in strawberry and orange, have been specifically formulated with eight essential daily vitamins to help promote healthy growth and development.

Haliborange Kids Vitamin D and Calcium Softies are essential for healthy bones and teeth, while Haliborange Vitamin C Immune Softies, blackcurrant flavoured, has been specially formulated to help maintain your child’s natural immune defences. Little man loves taking Haliborange Kids Softies, he likes the fruity flavour and shapes. Haliborange Kids Softies are available at all leading pharmacies, retailers and health food shops, priced at £4.99 for 30 pack.

BlueberryActive is a 100% natural blueberry concentrate, containing the concentrated juice of over 1,250 blueberries. Blueberries is a superfood with powerful antioxidant properties, which can boost brain performance and help protect against neurodegeneration. BlueberryActive contains no additives, preservatives or sugars. You just need to mix 30ml of BlueberryActive into a glass of water, or add to apple juice or a delicious smoothie.

Each 210ml bottle makes approximately 7 glasses, or two litres of diluted juice. It is rich in flavonoids, proven to improve memory function and sharpen concentration so a perfect drink for kids to have in preparation for going back to school. BlueberryActive Concentrate is available from Holland & Barrett and other health food stores nationwide, priced at £13.99 for 210ml. The team at CherryActive has kindly offered a unique code for my readers in order to receive 10% off if they purchase from the CherryActive website by entering “LILINHA10” at the checkout.

Aqua Ears Ultra Soft Ear Plugs use the same technology as BioEars, which is one of the best selling products from the world’s leading innovators in ear care, Cirrus Healthcare. They use ACTIValoe a powerful anti-microbial agent, which keeps the earplugs free from the bacteria that can lead to degradation in ordinary earplugs, thus ensuring that the ear canal remains fully protected.

Aqua Ears Ultra Soft Ear Plugs are easily moulded to the shape of your ear providing a comfortable airtight seal, resulting in your ears being protected from water penetration and harsh noise. They come in cute character designs, little man loves his Finding Nemo and SpongeBob SquarePants designs. Aqua Ears Ultra Soft Ear Plugs are perfect for back to school swimming. They are available at Boots, priced at £4.99 for 3 pairs in a waterproof carry case.

Zeamu Music, new record label for young children, has created an album of songs to empower children and encourage them to open a dialogue with parents about their feelings. To help both children and parents deal with back to school angst, Zeamu has created 4 special songs: “Friend Of Mine”, a song voiced by a child who is left out of things because they feel different; “What Do You Want”, how a pushy parent can make a child feel inadequate; “School”, what child wants to go to school and learn when they could be playing instead; and “Beat The Bullies”, a child tries to rationalize what makes a bully the way they are.

The songs are pop and catchy and the album has a mix of pop tunes, perfect to calm down before the school term begins as they help children identify how they are feeling. Zeamu Music can be downloaded from www.zeamumusic.com at 99p each and £10.99 for 14 tracks.

Good luck going back to school! 🙂

The products were provided free of charge for review purposes. However the opinions expressed in this review are honest and my own.