My girls are headed to kindergarten this fall, so this is our first round of buying school clothes. What exactly do you buy and what quantities. Here in Ohio it will be pleasant through October (likely) and then begin to cool for winter. I assume they can still wear some summer clothes to school; I have bought a couple tops and pairs of jeans each but don't want to go too overboard since they grow like weeds. We've been used to "play" clothes for the sitter since they were babies - I want them to wear good cltohes to school. And, they are twins but have said they don't want the same clothes, so I look at that as they will have double outfits to choose from. Plus, I'm excited to go shopping with them, but want to have some sort of control over ourselves :-).
We have similar climate her in Michigan. I buy lots of jeans/pants and lots of Tshirts. Then some sweatshirts/sweaters for colder weather to wear over Tshirts. I keep it simple for school and don't really let my daughter wear dresses/skirts to school.
My daughter hates jeans, so we do skirts w/short underneath, dresses with leggings and cloth pants with nice shirt. To be honest in kindergarten they will be doing a lot of moving and messy activities, what is wrong about wearing play clothes to school? They will want to be comfortable and dressed for what they are doing. My daughter is also going in to kindergarten, the teacher gave me the break down of the day they will be outside or in the gym TWICE a day I want my daughter to not feel she needs to keep her clothes clean or unable to do something because of the way she is dressed.
FYI my daughters teacher told me that the kids have to do EVERYTHING by themselves. So if they do not know how to tie shoes yet make sure they have slip on or velcro shoes. If they struggle with buttons make sure that pants/skirts do not have them because the teachers DO NOT want to waste time with that.
I'm in PA. My son wears shorts through at least the end of Sept. I don't even buy long pants til after that--been burned a couple times where the pants don't fit by the time he puts them on the first time.
You probably need less than you think...
Have you seen HOW casual kids dress for school??!!
Good luck & have fun shopping!
I stock up on socks, underwear, they get new sneakers, I buy shorts and t shirts now when they are on sale I have boys so I get their shorts a size bigger they adjust tight enough to fit them but being a little long is ok they will get a few weeks (maybe) out of them now and can use them next spring. After school starts jeans and long sleeves tend to go on sale so that's when I buy them but I don't buy much because with Christmas around the corner they get plenty of new clothes from family.
Our school is uniforms... with that I get a few pairs of pants and shorts (boys) or skorts/jumper (girls) in each color they are aloud and 1-2 of each (yellow, white, light blue & dark blue) short sleeved shirt in each color to start. Then, when the weather starts to get colder I get them 1-2 of each long sleeved shirt in each color and a sweater or two for each kid. Plus they all get 2 pairs of shoes - one dress and one gym shoe and socks/tights & underwear.
My preschooler is not uniforms... he gets 3-4 pairs of pants or a few shorts (if his are looking bad) and about 6 or so new t-shirts. When I get the older kids their winter wares, I do try to get my preschooler a few new long sleeved shirts as well, but he's not big on long sleeves, so sometime he just gets a few more t-shirts.
Also, my kids do get a few more things for Christmas and if they need it we buy some replacements come spring.
But this year, I am lucking out a bit... we have somethings that will carry over from last year and my preschooler has a bunch of nice looking hand-me-downs from a cousin. Which is a huge help since mommy is still unemployed... and the school is asking for so many school supplies this year.
I have also been finding a few things at the Salvation Army & Goodwill to help with the cost this year... not sure if that is a worry of yours or not, but you can find some really nice stuff there, sometimes they even have the tags still on them.
Have fun shopping with your kids... don't forget the school supply list too.
My kindergarten daughter was not excited about changing her play clothes in for school clothes. She still wore sweat pants alot and I let her, lol. As someone else already said plenty of socks and underwear, and new sneakers. I too usually wait until fall actually arrives to go through things and see what they need. Usually just a few pairs of pants and we usually wait till Christmas to buy our kids new shirts...
don't get anything thats' expensive cause remember they will be playing HARD at school there is still the chance of ripped knees and DIRTY clothes. Shorts and tshirts is fine for school, until it gets cool. you just have to make sure you check with the school dress code first, here they can't wear tank tops, middrifts or shorts shorter than their fingers when they put their arms down by their sides. sure have some cute nice stuff for them but remember they will have PE and recess. A good pair of running shoes is a must too. I'd jsut buy for the warm weather , then when it starts to get cool take them again so you don't have to anticipate what size they will be.
Make sure they can unbutton & button back up the jeans you've bought because they'll be doing the restroom thing alone. Stay away from belts at this age....too time consuming/frustrating for the child. My daughter will be starting Kindergarten as well. She will mainly be wearing leggings (thanks to some hand me downs from a dear friend), shorts that don't have any buttons/zippers, & comfy tops. I bought plenty of undergarments: socks, undies, under shirts for the cold weather days. I would also suggest a zip up style sweater. I found from experience it will get used a lot & is easy enought to take off and tie around their waist while on field trips. As far as the summer clothing, if they already have some items just put them in those clothes. As others have said, the will get stained up so don't buy anything too expensive. I try and shop off the clearance rack when possible.
Here's a clothing-related tip from our experience: When school starts, find out which day each week your girls have art class (if your K does a specific art class with the art teacher as opposed to the regular class teacher; ours did). We found out quickly that the art room's paints, though they were claimed to be "washable," weren't. So I made sure that every Wednesday for art class day, my daughter wore something older, not a newly bought outfit, just in case they painted that day and she ended up with paint (or oil pastels or marker) on her! I found other parents did the same thing (and a few parents kept saying, "Darn, I never can remember the art class day and we have so many ruined shirts!"). If they don't have a specific art class, ask the teacher, or parents who have done K in your school, if the classroom paints and pastels and markers really do wash out or not. Schools unfortunately usually have to buy the less expensive "washable" brands which often aren't truly washable. That's just a tip to save some money and frustration!
Only other tip is -- Yes, do exert some control. It's SO easy to over-buy on that exciting before-school shopping trip, but by Christmas they'll be grown out of what you get in September! Go into the stores with definite plans for X bottom pieces (trousers, skirts) and Y top pieces and Z sweaters (one, probably) and stick to that number of pieces. Have fun.
Clothes that layer well, like bicycle shorts for under dresses to cover underwear.
My daughters would were dresses 365 days per year, but sometimes the wether does not permit it - so leggings and plain tees work great under dresses that are too springlike.
A good sweater cartigan to have in the school bag every day in case it gets cold.
Soft pants that allow a child to move, not just jeans, that will be easy to play in and have gym class in.
One great pair of sneakers. All other shoes should have good soles an dnot be slip-ons for running and climbing so they will be safe on teh playground and in PE. Slide on shoes are a bad idea. Also in our preschool, they don't allow boots (rubbers or snow, because of the tripping hazard. They do allow them at the elemebtary school. However, teachers don't want to be helping 25 kids take their boots or "rubbers" on and off several times per day, In first grade, my daughter couldn't even change shoes for PE, she had to wear sneakers that day. So assume whatever shoes they wear to school are the ones they have on all day, regardless of weather. It's tricky, to get the right collection of shoes that are still pretty and go with everything!
Undershirts! Another good layering idea for warmth. And a pair of "long johns" or winter underwear.
Try to to pick everything in 2-3 coordinating colors, so you can match no matter what. For instance, I always buy a lot of navy blue, pink, and brown, because I know this well together from fall to spring and coordinate well with different shades.
Look for gloves, hats, and earmuffs too and buy an extra pair to always have in the school bag. A little umbrella too, if they ride the bus. (and a big one for you)
Have fun, and look for a tax free shopping day in your state. In VA, it is the weekend of Aug. 5. Have fun!!
