The Backpack Checklist - To Help Your Child Remember To Bring Their Stuff Home

The start of a new school year can be challenging.

There are SO many changes:

• new skills to learn
• new caregivers and teachers
• new routines
• new classroom

With all that's going on, it's normal and expected for young children to forget their belongings at school sometimes.

And from a teacher's perspective, the end-of-day transition is often the most hectic for children and teachers. 

Everyone is tired and teachers have to get 20-30 children out the door all at once.

The good news is that there are things you can do at home to help your child to remember all of their belongings at the end of the day.  

Develop The Working Memory

Remembering what to pack or bring home is a skill that takes time to develop and is closely tied to executive functioning skills, specifically working memory. 

Working memory is the ability to hold information in your mind long enough to act on it.

For a child, this may look like remembering that the teacher said, “Put your folder in your backpack, then grab your lunchbox,” or checking their cubby and mentally running through what needs to come home.

For younger children, the reality is that up until now, they probably didn’t have to be responsible for their belongings. Someone, i.e. you, was always there to remind them.

It's just important to remember that they need time to develop these habits.

Create a Backpack Visual Checklist

A visual checklist is a great way to remind your child what goes into their backpack in the morning and what should be coming home each afternoon.

You can use the template we made by clicking here.

You can also make your own by taking photos of all the different objects that go into your child’s backpack. DIYing this can be really helpful if your child brings things of high importance to school, like glasses, medication, etc. because you can personalize it specifically to your child. 

Once the checklist is done, laminate it so it lasts all year.

Using A Checklist

Once you’ve created the checklist, go over it with your child every day before school.

Make it part of your routine so that it doesn’t feel rushed or stressful for either of you. Repetition helps to develop their memory, so going over it each day will eventually result in them no longer needing the checklist.

At the end of the day, unpack their backpack together, going over the checklist again. If they forgot something, that’s okay.  

Frame it positively, as a gentle reminder. Rather than “Don’t forget your water bottle again!” It’s more encouraging to say, “Remember to bring your water bottle home!” 

If a child gets the sense that forgetting something is “bad”, this can lead to stress and we have to remember that their memories are still developing. 

Activities that Help to Develop Working Memory

Here are some activities that develop working memory:

• Card Games: Games like Go Fish and Crazy 8s all exercise working memory, as children hold cards and rules in mind.
  
  
• Scavenger Hunts: “Find three things that are red and bring them back to me.” Click here to view all our free printable scavenger hunts.
  
  
• Story Retelling: After reading, ask them to tell you the story back in their own words or act it out.
  
  
• Start giving your child multi-step requests: “Please put your shoes by the door, then bring me your water bottle.” Start with two steps and gradually add more.

It’s actually pretty cool when you start to notice a child’s ability to follow multi-step requests. 

It means their working memory is... working.