The Back to School Checklist I Actually Use (And Wish Someone Had Given Me Years Ago)
Every August I tell myself I'm ahead of it. Every August I'm standing in a shop on a Tuesday night buying indoor shoes because school starts Thursday. If that's you too, this one's for you.
I put together everything I've learned raising kids through kindergarten, primary, and now into the pre-teen chaos of phones and group chats. Age by age, what they actually need, what's worth buying and what isn’t, and which after-school spots in Zürich and Zug are already filling up for September.
Kindergarten (Ages 4 to 6): It's All About Labeling
This year is less about gear and more about routine. Involve your child in choosing their own things when you can. Kids who pick their own backpack tend to actually carry it without a fight.
Pack this:
- Backpack sized for their frame, no wheels (they can't manage stairs with one)
- Malschutz or craft/painting apron for creative sessions
- Lunchbox with an easy-open clip
- Labelled water bottle, 500ml minimum, spill-proof
- Two sets of indoor shoes
- Spare clothes sealed in a bag and left at school
- Rain jacket, pants, and boots, name inside the collar
- Snowsuit and snow shoes, labelled
- Sun hat and labelled sunscreen
The tip nobody tells you: label every single hoodie, not just the jackets. At this age everything looks identical and nothing comes home. Thirty seconds with a permanent marker saves you a week of arguments.
Before day one, visit the classroom if the school allows it, and agree on a goodbye ritual you'll repeat every single morning. Consistency does more for first-day nerves than any pep talk.
Primary School (Ages 7 to 10): Independence Starts Here
This is when kids start developing their own working style, and the first screen time conversations usually kick off.
What's worth having:
- Ergonomic backpack with a chest strap
- Stocked, labelled pencil case
- 600ml water bottle and a thermos for winter lunches
- Gym bag with indoor trainers
- A basic kids tablet for reading and educational apps, without social media capability
- Volume-limited headphones (85dB max) for classroom use
- A simple alarm clock, so mornings start becoming their job, not yours
Worth knowing: the most downloaded educational apps for this age group in 2026 are
- Grafari for children with dyslexia - FREE trial available here for English, German or French
- Calcularis - FREE trial available here in English, German or French
- Duolingo Kids FREE
- Khan Academy Kids FREE
- Scratch Jr FREE
- Toca Life World All free, all genuinely good.
Build one habit now that pays off for years: twenty minutes of reading, every night, no negotiation.
Upper Primary (Ages 10 to 12): The Phone Question Arrives
This is where what parents think their kids need and what kids actually want starts to pull apart. Academic demands jump, and so does the pressure around phones and group chats.
Academic essentials:
- Laptop or Chromebook (check what your school requires or provides before buying anything)
- Physical or digital planner for tracking assignments
- Four-colour highlighters and index cards for revision
On the tech question: If you're introducing a phone, do it with a contract attached: screen time limits, no social media, location sharing depending on how you live. If it's not phone time yet, a smartwatch like the Apple Watch SE or Garmin Bounce lets them message you without opening the door to everything else.
Know this before September: Swiss law sets no minimum age for smartphone ownership, but the Swiss Federal Commission for Children and Youth recommends no personal smartphone before age 12, and no unrestricted social media before 16. Many Zürich and Zug schools publish their own device guidelines now. Ask your school for theirs before term starts, not after a problem comes up.
Middle School (Ages 12 to 15): Systems Matter More Than Supplies
By this stage the supply list matters less than the routines you build around it. Independence is the goal. Some scaffolding is still allowed.
Academic toolkit:
- Laptop, minimum 8GB RAM, SSD storage
- Scientific calculator (TI-84 is still the school standard)
- Noise-cancelling headphones for study focus at home
- A desk lamp and an actual planner, paper or digital
What they're really talking about in 2026: AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are already part of homework life. The useful conversation isn't whether to allow them, it's teaching the difference between using AI to understand something and using it to skip understanding altogether.
One number worth sitting with: Swiss teenagers spend an average of 6.5 hours a day at a desk between school and homework. A chair that supports their spine at this age isn't a luxury purchase, it's a health one.
Non-negotiables that actually help:
- One fully screen-free activity a week
- 9 to 10 hours of sleep under 14, 8 to 9 hours at 14 to 15
- Regular movement outside school hours (the link to academic performance isn't up for debate at this point)
The After-School Spots Filling Up Right Now
Here's the part that actually saves you a headache. The best after-school programmes in Zürich and Zug open registration in August, and the good time slots are gone within days. If your child is even a little interested, register now. You can sort logistics later. You can't get the spot back once it's gone.
Weekly STEM courses for ages 6 to 10 across Zug, Rüti, and Schmerikon, where kids become "Why Explorers," working through hands-on experiments, LEGO® Robotics, and programming. Every week begins with a new "Why?" helping children understand how the world works while developing the curiosity, problem-solving skills and confidence they'll need to shape tomorrow.
Drama and musical theatre for ages 4 to 18, with academies across Geneva, Zürich, Zug, and Basel. What I like about it is the range: kids go from weekly sessions all the way to full stage productions, working on acting, singing, and dance. For a quieter kid especially, the structured safety of rehearsal builds a kind of confidence that's hard to get anywhere else.
AtoZ English
Since 2008, AtoZ English has run reading, writing, grammar, and spelling classes for English-speaking children in Zürich, Zug, and Aargau, from age 3 through primary school. The course progression moves from Start Reading (Phonics Fun! Level 1) through to Need to Read (Book Club) for confident young readers, with EAL support also available. Classes run Monday to Saturday in various locations. Baar has a Monday, Herrliberg/Männerdorf on Zoom on Tuesdays, most locations on Wednesdays, Cham on Thursdays and Baden/Oerlikon on Saturdays and are aimed at keeping bilingual and expat kids fluent in English reading and writing alongside their local schooling.
Futurekids
Futurekids runs half-day and full-day camps during every school holiday for ages 5 to 17, covering robotics, coding, 3D design, and video game creation. Each week is built around a real project, so kids aren't just learning theory, they're building something they can actually show off by Friday, whether that's their first game, a 3D-printed design, or a robot they've coded to move. Most creations go home with them at the end (robotics kits stay on site), and no prior experience is needed. Locations across Zürich, Zug, and Winterthur, as well as Basel and Bern.
Coding a Story
Coding a Story runs bilingual (English and German) weekly classes from their Zürich location on Tödistrasse. Wednesdays and Saturdays cover coding, robotics, and computational thinking for two age groups (4 to 7 and 7 to 12), Fridays bring a class on entrepreneurship for kids, and Saturdays also include a track on intelligent robots, robotics, and AI for older kids and teens. It's a good fit for families who want a structured weekly rhythm rather than a one-off holiday camp, and the bilingual format works especially well for Zürich's international families.
Storycraft
Storycraft's Little Artists classes run for ages 7 to 12 on Wednesday and Friday afternoons in Rüschlikon, working through drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and craft using everything from acrylics and watercolours to clay and papier-mâché. Projects often unfold over several weeks rather than wrapping up in a single session, which gives kids the time to actually develop an idea rather than rush a one-off craft. For tweens and teens who want more independence, the Teen & Tween Studio (Thursdays, ages 10+) lets students choose and lead their own projects, from canvas painting to kiln-fired pottery, with guidance rather than instruction. Classes run in English, with German support available.
Individual and small-group language coaching in English, German, and Hungarian, specifically for kids navigating school transitions. If your child is moving between international and local systems, or joining a bilingual programme mid-year, this is targeted support rather than generic tutoring, and that distinction matters more than it sounds.
You don't need to buy everything on this list today. But the after-school spots won't wait!
Pick the two or three things from this guide that actually apply to your kid this year, and start there.
Save this post and share it with the parent in your group who needs it.
