Habibti Family
Back to School, Sorted: The Last-Minute Edit
The summer holidays may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean everything has to be perfectly organised just yet. While some parents have had their back-to-school lists ticked off for weeks, others are only just realising that the new school year is fast approaching, and that’s completely okay.
Whether you’re still searching for the perfect school essentials, looking for ways to make the morning routine a little easier, or need to pick up those all-important extras you forgot about, our last-minute back-to-school guide is here to help. From practical essentials and clever accessories to fun finds that will make heading back to the classroom feel a little more exciting, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite picks for children and parents alike. Because being prepared doesn’t always have to mean being early, sometimes, it’s about knowing exactly what to buy when the clock is ticking.
The Essentials
Ready, Set, School!
The must-haves for getting them out the door and ready for the new term.
PO.P WEATHER PRO® WATERPROOF SHELL JACKET STORMY £60
Heading back to school means being ready for whatever the British weather throws their way, and this waterproof shell jacket from PO.P is designed to do just that. The hardwearing STORMY jacket is both windproof and waterproof, with fully taped seams and a 12,000mm waterproof rating to keep little ones dry through rainy walks and playground puddles. It’s also breathable, durable and finished with 360-degree reflective details for added visibility. The detachable, adjustable hood, fleece-lined cuffs and two zipped pockets make it a practical everyday layer, while the plum shade adds a stylish touch to their school-day wardrobe.
Bobux RIPLEY - KID+ - BLACK £65.00
A school shoe that brings a sporty twist to the traditional black pair, the Bobux Ripley is made from breathable premium leather and designed to keep up with busy school days. With 2 easy straps, there are no fiddly laces to worry about, while the protective leather toe cap helps withstand playground adventures. The flexible, durable rubber sole supports natural movement, making these a practical and comfortable choice for everything from the classroom to lunchtime play.
Need them in a hurry? Bobux offers express shipping with next-working-day delivery on orders placed before noon, while standard delivery is free on orders over £75 and express delivery is free on orders over £150.
WATERMELON KIDS WATER BOTTLE £22
Make staying hydrated a little more fun with Chilly’s Watermelon Kids Water Bottle. The 350ml bottle is perfectly sized for little hands and school bags, with a 100% leak-proof covered straw lid that makes sipping easy throughout the school day. Made from 90% recycled stainless steel, it features vacuum insulation to keep water cold for up to 24 hours, while the hard-wearing powder-coated finish is designed to handle busy days in the classroom and playground. It’s also completely BPA-free, making it a practical and colourful school-day essential.
Need it in a hurry? Chilly’s offers free delivery on orders over £40, and you can also add name engraving for £10 — although engraved bottles take an extra working day to arrive, so keep that in mind if you’re shopping at the last minute.
Vamoosh Rapid Action Stain Wipes £4.99
Because school uniforms and food spills are a combination nobody can avoid, these handy Vamoosh Rapid Action Stain Wipes deserve a place in every back-to-school bag. Designed to tackle fresh marks from food, drinks, grass and more, simply grab, dab and go, no soaking or scrubbing required. Made with biodegradable, plant-based fibres and plastic-free, they’re perfect for keeping in a school bag, car or at home for those inevitable last-minute stain emergencies.
The Modern Milkman – Fresh Essentials Delivered to Your Door
Take one more thing off the back-to-school morning checklist with The Modern Milkman. From fresh milk, eggs and bakery essentials to juices, cereals and more, you can build an order around your family’s everyday needs and have it delivered straight to your doorstep. Even better for busy school mornings, deliveries arrive by 7.30am, up to three times a week, meaning your fresh essentials can be waiting on the doorstep before you’ve even started the school run.
You can order through the app and make changes up until 8pm the evening before your scheduled delivery, making it particularly handy if you realise you’re running low on milk or lunchbox essentials. With fresh produce sourced from independent British suppliers and a return-and-reuse system for its glass bottles, it’s an easy way to make those hectic weekday mornings that little bit simpler.
Stationery & School Supplies
New Term, New Stationery
Because there’s nothing like fresh pens and supplies to make going back feel exciting.
Uni-ball Posca Marker Pen and Bottle Set 8 Pack £30
Give their school essentials a creative upgrade with this colourful POSCA set from Hobbycraft. Alongside a reusable water bottle, it includes eight water-based, acid-free paint markers in four fine and four medium tips, perfect for adding a personal touch to everything from school projects and notebooks to the bottle itself. The vibrant, opaque ink works across surfaces including paper, card, glass, fabric, wood and metal, and is both water- and fade-resistant, ideal for creative kids who like to make their mark.
Need it in a hurry? Hobbycraft offers Next Day Delivery when you order by 8pm, priced at £7.95, while standard UK delivery is free on orders over £25. If you’re really down to the wire, Click & Collect is free on orders over £10, with orders placed before 8pm available to collect from one hour or the next working day at most stores, subject to stock.
A5 Hardback Journal Notebook – £5.89
A simple but stylish addition to any new-term stationery collection, this Smarpau hardback journal is perfect for keeping school notes, ideas, lists and plans all in one place. The A5 notebook features a durable leather-look cover and 180 pages of thick, lined paper, making it a practical everyday companion for everything from class notes and revision to journaling and creative writing. At under £10, it’s also an easy last-minute addition to the school shopping list.
Uniball Eye Designer Pack of 5 Assorted Colours £12.99
Give their pencil case a colourful upgrade with the Uni-ball Eye Designer five-pack. Featuring black, blue, red, green and violet pens with eye-catching chequerboard metallic barrels, they’re as stylish as they are practical. The 0.7mm nib delivers smooth, precise writing, while Uni-ball’s fade-, water- and fraud-resistant Super Ink makes them ideal for everything from everyday school notes to revision and important coursework.
STABILO swing cool Pastel - Highlighter £4.50
Give their stationery stash a pastel upgrade with the iconic STABILO BOSS ORIGINAL highlighters. Available in a selection of soft, understated shades, they’re perfect for colour-coding notes, highlighting revision points or adding a little creativity to schoolwork and journaling. The classic chisel tip offers two line widths, 2mm and 5mm, while the water-based ink and Anti-Dry-Out technology provide up to four hours of protection when the cap is left off, making them ideal for busy study sessions.
uni-ball Eye 5 Black Medium Pens £8.62
A stationery classic for a reason, the Uni-ball Eye Medium is the kind of reliable pen every school bag needs. This five-pack contains smooth black rollerballs with a 0.7mm line width and Uni-ball’s Super Ink, which is water-, fade- and tamper-resistant. The Uni-flow system keeps the ink flowing consistently right down to the last drop, making them ideal for everyday note-taking, homework and revision.
Japanese UIXJODO 0.5mm Retractable Gel Pens – 5 Pack – £9.99
Give their pencil case a stylish upgrade with these Japanese-inspired retractable gel pens, designed for smooth, precise writing. The 0.5mm fine-point tips are ideal for neat school notes, revision and journaling, while the soft silicone grips make longer writing sessions more comfortable. Each pen also features a handy metal clip for attaching to notebooks or folders, making this five-pack a practical, and rather pretty, addition to a new-term stationery collection.
Learning, Playing & Creating
Little Minds, Big Ideas
Fun finds that encourage creativity, curiosity and learning beyond the classroom.
Beauty of Letters £22.50
Make learning the alphabet an adventure with Beauty of Letters, a vibrant new book from award-winning author and illustrator Tom Schamp. Designed for curious children aged five and up, this beautifully illustrated hardback transforms the ABCs into an interactive world of look-and-find discoveries, visual puzzles and playful word connections. From animal and musician alphabets to hidden objects and secret words, every page is packed with details to spot and explore. With 64 colourful pages, it’s a brilliant way to encourage a love of letters, language and creativity, and one they’ll want to return to again and again.
Available from good booksellers. For stockists visit prestel.com
Hape Solar System Puzzle £29.99
Take learning beyond the classroom with this brilliantly hands-on Solar System Puzzle from Hape. Designed for budding space explorers aged five and up, the wooden puzzle features eight planets, a glowing LED sun and a double-sided poster packed with fascinating astronomy facts. As children piece together the planets, they’ll develop fine motor skills, memory, planning and problem-solving, while discovering more about the solar system along the way. A fun, screen-free activity that makes learning feel like play.
Express Your Feelings Sensory Bottles £25.96
Help little ones make sense of their big feelings with this colourful set of four sensory bottles, each representing a different emotion: happy, sad, scared and angry. Designed for children aged three and over, the bottles use colour, facial expressions and mesmerising movement to create a tangible way for children to identify, explore and talk about how they’re feeling. They’re securely sealed and perfectly sized for little hands, making them ideal for a quiet moment at home, a classroom calm corner or some focused sensory play after a busy school day.
Alphabet War £9.99
Make spelling practice feel more like play with Alphabet War, a fast-paced card game that combines the competitive fun of UNO with the word-building challenge of Scrabble. Players race to get rid of their letter cards by adding, removing, replacing or rearranging letters to create new words, while special punctuation cards let them skip, reverse or attack their opponents. Designed for ages 6+, with games lasting around 5–15 minutes, it’s an easy one to pull out after school, and a fun way to sneak a little vocabulary practice into family game time.
Smart Games Apple Puzzler £12.99
A clever little brainteaser for curious minds, Apple Puzzler turns problem-solving into play. Designed for ages 8+, the one-player game challenges children to fit five colourful worms inside a three-sliced apple, positioning them correctly before stacking the pieces together and closing it up. With 80 challenges that encourage concentration, logic, spatial insight, visual perception and problem-solving, it’s a brilliant screen-free activity for quiet afternoons after school.
Rainbow Visual Timer £22.96
Make busy school-day routines a little easier with this colourful Rainbow Visual Timer from Learning Resources. Designed for children aged 3+, it uses bright rainbow lights to make the passing of time easy to see, helping little ones understand how long they have left for everything from getting dressed and brushing their teeth to homework, screen time and sensory breaks. With five settings, 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes, it’s a simple way to encourage independence, focus and smoother transitions without constantly having to say, “Five more minutes!”
It can be set to either light up or gradually go dark as time passes and doubles as a gentle nightlight, while magnets and keyholes on the back make it easy to position at home or in the classroom. A brilliant little helper for getting those back-to-school routines back on track.
Lunchbox & Snacks
Pack, Snack, Repeat
Easy lunchbox favourites and tasty treats for busy school days.
Pip Organic Strawberry & Banana Pipcrunch 4x6g £3
A little lunchbox treat with plenty of fruity flavour, Pip Organic’s Strawberry & Banana Pipcrunch is made for those moments when they’re craving something sweet. Each crunchy bite combines organic fruit with a light, crispy texture, making these 6g portions easy to pop into a school lunchbox or keep on hand for an after-school pick-me-up. Like the rest of Pip Organic’s range, it’s made with 100% organic ingredients, with no added sugar, sweeteners or artificial colourings, perfect for parents looking for a fun snack with a simple ingredient list.
MINI BABYBEL® LIGHT £2.45
A lunchbox classic with a lighter twist, Mini Babybel Light packs plenty of cheesy flavour into a convenient 20g portion. Made with 100% real cheese, each mini Babybel contains just 42 calories and is rich in calcium and protein, making it an easy grab-and-go addition to school lunches or an after-school snack. It’s also vegetarian, lactose-free and made without added colours, flavours or preservatives. Available in handy nets of six, 10, 12, 15 and 28, they’re an easy one to add to the weekly shop when you’re stocking up for the new school term.
Available at all major retailers nationwide.
SUKKARI DATES SNACK PACK 12 X 30G £9.99
A naturally sweet lunchbox treat with a delicious caramel-like flavour, Datekin’s Sukkari Dates come in 12 individually portioned 30g packs, making them wonderfully easy to pop into a school bag. Soft, creamy and naturally golden, these dates contain just one ingredient: 100% natural Sukkari dates, with no added syrups, glazes or preservatives. They’re also naturally high in fibre and packed with nutrients, making them a simple alternative to more processed sweet snacks.
Pip Organic Strawberry & Mango Pipstick £3
A fruity little lunchbox hero, Pip Organic’s new Strawberry & Mango Pipsticks are made with just two ingredients: 95% organic mango and 5% organic strawberry. The fruit is simply sliced, dried and pressed into a fun, chewy stick that’s easy to pop into a school bag for a sweet snack on the go. There’s no added sugar, sweeteners or sulphites, with only the naturally occurring sugars from the fruit. Perfect for lunchboxes, after-school snacks or keeping in the cupboard for those “I’m hungry!” moments.
GoGo SqueeZ 4x 90g £2.55
A lunchbox favourite for busy school days, GoGo squeeZ Apple Fruit Smoothie Snacks are made with 100% fruit, combining apple, apple purée concentrate and lemon juice concentrate in a convenient, squeezable pouch. With no added preservatives and no need to refrigerate before opening, they’re easy to pop into a school bag for a quick snack between lessons or after school. Each 100g pouch contains just 53 calories, and the handy format means there’s no spoon required, simply squeeze and enjoy.
Available at all major retailers nationwide.
Datekin Sesame & Tahini Date Balls 12 x 5 Pack £28.99
A sweet-and-savoury twist on the classic date, Datekin’s Sesame & Tahini Date Balls combine naturally sweet pressed dates with a creamy roasted tahini centre, finished with a golden sesame coating for a satisfying little crunch. Made with just three ingredients, dates, tahini and sesame seeds, they’re high in fibre, contain no added sugar and are naturally vegan and vegetarian. The handy five-pack makes them an easy addition to a lunchbox or an after-school snack when they need a little pick-me-up.
The Laughing Cow Light £2.40
A fridge staple for easy school-day snacking, The Laughing Cow Lightest Cheese Triangles offer all the creamy, mild flavour you’d expect, with just 2% fat and 17 calories per triangle. Each individually wrapped 15g portion is a good source of protein and calcium, making it easy to pop into a lunchbox or serve with crackers, celery sticks or veggie dippers after school. They’re also vegetarian, contain no artificial colours and are individually sealed to help keep them fresher for longer.
Little Extras
Tiny Treats, Big Smiles
Fun little finds to make the first day, and every day after, feel extra special.
Sylvanian Families Key Chain Cutie Cherries £17.99
Add a little charm to their school bag with this adorable Sylvanian Families Cutie Cherries key chain. Featuring a sweet Sylvanian character in a playful cherry-themed design, it’s a fun way for little ones to personalise their backpack, pencil case or keys, and makes a lovely little back-to-school treat. Small enough to take everywhere, it’s one of those finishing touches that can make a new school bag feel completely their own.
Baked by Steph Personalised Back-to-School Backpack Letterbox Iced Cookie £13.95
Make the first day back a little sweeter with this adorable personalised backpack-shaped iced cookie from Baked by Steph. Hand-iced in the brand’s East London bakery, it’s made from a buttery vanilla biscuit base topped with colourful royal icing, with space for a personalised message of up to 30 characters. A fun little surprise to slip into their school bag, or send as a thoughtful back-to-school treat. It’s also vegetarian and Halal friendly.
3Doodler Start+ Essentials Pen Set £39.99
Let their imagination go from 2D to 3D with the 3Doodler Start+ Essentials Set. Designed for creative kids aged 6+, this child-safe 3D printing pen lets them draw, design and build their own creations using plastic filament that hardens quickly, with no hot parts, messy resin or sticky glue. The set comes with 72 colourful strands of filament, an activity guide with step-by-step projects and a USB-C charging cable, so they can start creating straight out of the box. It’s a brilliant way to encourage creativity, planning, problem-solving and spatial thinking while making school projects a little more exciting.
Recent Toys Meffert’s Mini Ghost Cube Key Chain £14.28
A pocket-sized puzzle with plenty of brain-teasing appeal, the Meffert’s Mini Ghost Cube brings the challenge of the classic Ghost Cube into a compact keychain design. Suitable for ages 9+, its unusual shape and smooth-turning mechanism make it a satisfying little puzzle for children who love to test their problem-solving and spatial reasoning skills. It’s small enough to clip onto a school bag, making it a fun way to keep their minds occupied on the journey to school or during downtime. The miniature also comes in environmentally friendly, plastic-free packaging.
Light-Up Tracing CenteR £27.50
Make practising letters and numbers feel like play with the Light-Up Tracing Centre from Learning Resources. Designed for little learners aged 3+, this sensory-friendly activity uses a sealed LED tray filled with red sand, allowing children to trace letters, numbers and shapes and watch their creations glow as they write. The set includes 18 double-sided activity cards, 340g of sand and a stylus with a rake end, helping children build early handwriting, drawing and fine-motor skills while encouraging calm, focused play.
AQUABEADS PAW PATROL KEYCHAIN CRAFT KIT £16.28
Keep little hands busy with this fun AquaBeads PAW Patrol Keychain Craft Kit, where children can create their favourite characters and turn their finished designs into something they can actually take with them. Suitable for ages 4+, the kit includes colourful beads, including star beads, keychain clips and everything they need to recreate Chase, Marshall, Skye and Rubble. Simply arrange the beads on the tray, spray with water, leave them to dry and watch their creations stick together, no heat or glue required.
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