I remember when I was younger I would get so fed up seeing all the shops full of ‘back to school’ displays right at the start of the summer holidays. Sometimes before the holidays had even started.
Now that I’m a parent though I sort of get it.
Don’t get me wrong, it still feels pretty mean to be talking about going back to school before the children have even broken up for summer. But I understand that feeling of wanting to get organised now.
The summer will fly by and before we know it the new school year will be starting and I want to have as much sorted as I can in advance, rather than face a last minute panic to buy uniforms and lunch boxes.
One thing I have already have ticked off my back-to-school to-do list is getting name labels, thanks to the lovely people at Stickerscape.
As soon as your child starts school, or nursery, you realise how important it is to stick their name on pretty much everything they own.
Jumpers seem to mysteriously disappear on a regular basis, and if they don’t have a name on them they’ll be destined to lurk forever in the lost property box. And it’s not just clothes; from books to bags to drinks bottles, you really do need to label everything your child takes with them to school.
Luckily though, the days of sewing little tags into every item of clothing are gone and things are much easier now with these bright and colourful labels from Stickerscape.
We were kindly sent a mixed set of labels for each of the children.
These sets are fantastic, basically covering all your name label bases. There are stick on labels in a variety of shapes and sizes and iron-on name labels in different sizes too.
Nerys’ choice – unicorn themed labels
There’s a great range of designs to choose from and it took Nerys quite a while to decide which ones she wanted most. In the end she picked the unicorn pack, and she was so happy when they arrived in the post.
The labels in this set are all pretty pastel colours and have pictures of unicorns, rainbows, hearts and flowers on them.
Nerys is really taken with the pretty colours and pictures on her labels, while I particularly like the fact that they come in such a good variety of shapes and sizes.
There’s a label for pretty much everything you can think of needing to have your child’s name on.
We’ve already used some of the rectangular stickers to label her back pack and drinks bottle and Nerys loves admiring the stickers when she goes in her bag to find her bottle after school.
Her favourite thing so far though is what we did with one of the circular stickers.
I cut one of the stickers in half and stuck the pieces in her pair of school shoes, so she can work out which shoe goes on which foot by making sure the rainbow picture looks right before putting them on. I can’t remember where I first saw this idea, but I know I’ve seen it several times over the last few years and always thought it was a fun idea for helping children feel more independent.
Rhys’ choice – space themed labels
When it came to choosing a design for Rhys’ labels the decision was a bit harder.
There were a few options that would’ve been great for him, like the dinosaur or insect designs, but in the end we picked out the space themed pack. I like the fact that there are some brighter labels in there, like the yellow ones, but quite a few of the labels are darker and a bit more subtle which I think works well for Rhys.
We’ve already used one of his labels on his lunch bag after realising that at least two other children in his class have got the same one.
I think most of his stickers will end up on the inside cover of his books; he has got an ever-growing library of books on all sorts of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction and he loves taking them to school to show his friends and to read at break time.
I do worry about them getting lost though so feel much happier with them going to school when I know they’re clearly labelled with his name.
We are really impressed with the name labels from Stickerscape so far.
In the past I’ve used another brand of name stickers which have done the job well, but were also really plain and simple. I love how bright and colourful these ones from Stickerscape are, and how useful the colours and pictures are for helping young children recognise them as theirs even if they can’t quite read their own name yet.
The stick on labels are really lovely quality, they feel thick and substantial and stick down nice and securely.
We’ve washed Nerys’ water bottle several times now and the label looks as good as new. They’ve been designed to be tough and durable and can happily go through the dishwasher and in the microwave and freezer.
I haven’t put the iron-on labels to the test yet, mainly because I hardly ever iron anything.
So, I’m waiting until I’ve bought all the uniform we need for September and will then iron on the new labels in one go. They look lovely and easy to do though, and once they’re ironed on they’ll survive in both the washing machine and tumble dryer which is really important considering how grubby the children are when they come home from school and how often their uniform has to be washed.
If you’re looking to get a step ahead before the back-to-school panic descends at the start of September then head over to the Stickerscape website and order some of these gorgeous name labels. There are different pack sizes to choose from depending on how many items you think you’ll need to label, but I think the mixed pack that I went for is a great option to really cover all your bases!
And while you’re there check out the stunning range of wall stickers they do too. They look like such a fun way to update and brighten up a child’s bedroom, and could be a really fun project for those rainy days that we’re bound to get at some point in the school summer holidays!
Disclaimer: we were sent the packs of name labels for the purpose of this review, but all words and opinions are my own.
