It’s backpack time! No, not quite back-to-school, but if your kids are anything like mine, their backpacks are sporting spilled lunches, unidentifiable stains and possibly rips and holes. After being thrown on the bus floor, left in snow piles and tripped over countless times, our backpacks have seen better days. So I’m loving the idea of starting summer with a new backpack just for day camps, park days, swimming and sleepovers. And when I learned more about the mission of Backpacks With a Purpose (b-wap), it took no convincing for me to order The Recess Bag to do the job of summer schlepping.
Before I go into details about the adorable new kids line, I have to tell you about the b-wap mission. For every backpack you purchase from b-wap, they donate TWO backpacks to nonprofit organizations who fill the backpacks up with food or school supplies and deliver them to needy children. The program partners with both a domestic and an international organization and you can choose which organization you’d like to donate your backpacks to. Read more about this year’s nonprofit partners here. Nothing warms a mama’ s heart quite like knowing your purchase is helping other people. And, if I can just brag on the company a bit, Backpacks with a Purpose has distributed over 1 MILLION backpacks to people in need!
Now for the backpacks. Backpacks with a Purpose just launched their new children’s line, The Recess Bag. I went with a fairly gender neutral Singin’ in the Rain pattern. As soon as I opened the backpack, both my three-year-old son and my ten-year-old daughter decided it should be for them. So I guess it appeals to all ages and genders! Not only is the backpack adorably fashionable, but it’s super functional, too. With a padded insert to fit a small tablet and several fabric dividers for organization, I was able to fit more than I expected in this bag. Since there are two mesh water bottle holders and front carabiner loops, you could even tote your lunch or sleeping bag on the front of the bag to open up interior space for other things. And, seriously, how cute is the contrasting stripe in the interior?!
Marketed for kids 5-12, I see this bag being perfect for preschoolers through around 4th grade, depending on your child and their needs. When my daughter starts 5th grade, she’s responsible for taking a lot more to and from school. And with after school activities, she will probably need to move up to an adult-sized backpack. If you’re looking for something bigger or geared toward teens and adults, the b-wap original backpack features a larger capacity and a padded laptop sleeve for toting around more gear. Check out b-wap, their mission and their great bags and tell me which one you’d love this summer.
