The 9 Back-To-School Gadgets Every Busy Parent Needs

Going back to school throws families for a loop. It's time to adjust to new schedules, create new routines, coordinate after-school activities and sports, and keep up with classwork, all while managing work responsibilities, chores, homework, and daily life. Little events like school fundraisers, parent/teacher conferences, and club duties come out of nowhere. And at some point through it all, you've got to put dinner on the table.

Each new school year brings new challenges, but the right gadgets and technology can make life easier for everyone. There's no doubt kids need help managing schedules and workloads, especially as they get older. What worked for the family last year might need an upgrade or a complete overhaul. No matter the age of your kids, these back-to-school gadgets are designed to keep students connected and protected, give parents peace of mind, and make a new school year feel a little less hectic.

Part of Google's smart home product family, the Google Nest Cam gives parents a reliable way to check in on their kids from anywhere at home. The wired or battery-powered indoor camera easily mounts to any wall and can be angled to give you the view you need. Once installed, download the app and create an account to pair the app with your camera. You can get a real-time live video feed of your home and up to three free hours of past live video if you need to catch up on what you missed.

If there's activity in your home, Google Nest Cam will send an alert to your phone. It can tell the difference between people and pets, so your indoor pets won't constantly set off any alarms. In terms of video quality, the 1080p camera feed gives you a crystal-clear picture. You can also toggle between normal and night vision depending on the time of day. Encryption keeps your smart cam secure from outsiders. It comes with everything you need to install the camera, including a wall mount, stand, and hinge to adjust the camera to your desired angle. You can get the Google Nest Cam from home improvement retailers or Amazon for $99.99.

Digital calendars solved the traditional headaches of fixed paper calendars. You can take your digital calendar everywhere, easily edit events, and add as many events as you like without running out of space. The Skylight Calendar ups the ante by bringing your digital calendar from your phone or computer to your wall or desk and adding a few cool features.

A large, brightly lit screen shows you each day, week, or month at a glance. Key features include color-coded chore charts, custom grocery lists and other to-do's, and weather alerts. You can use the included mobile app to add events to the calendar, which anyone in your household can access via their own app or the calendar interface.

The Plus plan adds a few extras to your calendar. When you're not checking your schedule, the calendar can double as a digital photo frame showing you your favorite images. You can upload your photos via the app and change them whenever you want. The Magic Import feature will turn all those little paper notes, flyers, and email reminders into events on your calendar. The subscription add-on is $39 for the year. You can also buy the Skylight Calendar outright with no plan starting at $159.99 for the 10-inch version.

Losing keys can be a thing of the past—for parents and their kids. The Schlage Keypad Entry Door Lock is a smarter door lock that lets you set up an access code for keyless entry into your home. If your child is a bus rider or has a carpool bringing them home to an empty house, they won't have to fuss with keeping up with keys (or remember to bring a key with them to school in the first place).

This keypad entry door lock is unique because it will automatically relock itself after five seconds, giving your student enough time to enter the home and shut the door. You also won't have to worry about whether they've locked themselves inside. From the inside, you can open the door at any time without dealing with locks or keys, but opening the door on the inside won't unlock it on the outside. This means no more broken windows or expensive locksmiths to get back into your home. Even better, no programming is required since the lock comes with two preset codes ready for use. The Schlage Keypad Entry Door Lock retails at Lowe's for about $126 (prices may vary by finish color).

Another Google Home smart device, the Google Nest Hub gives you the advantages of a smart speaker with the convenience of a screen. Similar to a smart home speaker, the Google Nest Hub can serve as the nucleus of other smart technologies, like lighting, door locks, and window shades. The biggest difference is the presence of a screen, which you can use to watch videos and get visual information.

During the school year, it's useful for setting alarms and reminders, offering homework help, playing music or podcasts, or video chatting with your kids or teens while at work. The Nest Hub is also a Chromecast device, so you can send content to it at any time. It can also double as a home intercom speaker; use the command "Hello, Google Broadcast" and share your message across all connected devices in the home. If you have a Google Nest doorbell, kids and teens can also use the Nest Hub to see who's at the door before answering it, giving them an extra layer of safety when you're not at home. You can get the Google Nest Hub second gen for $99.99. There are other models available too, including the Google Nest Hub Max.

Between school supplies, gym bags, and extracurricular activities, kids have no shortage of things to keep up with at school. Water bottles, backpacks, lunch boxes, extra shoes and clothes, musical instruments, house keys, car keys, laptops, electronics, sports equipment, hoodies and jackets, purses, and a myriad of other extras can easily get lost in the daily shuffle — and can be costly to replace.

That's what makes Tile Mate such an essential back-to-school gadget. These small black squares are actually tracking devices. They connect to an app on your phone, allowing you to track the item they're attached to. If your student is notoriously forgetful about a certain item, you'll get your money's worth simply by never losing that item again. Or, if your child rides the bus or rides home with someone else, you can attach a Tile Mate to their backpack or shoes to keep track of them when you're not there. A three-pack of Tile Mate tiles costs about $50 on Amazon.

Every piece of art, every report card, and every A+ assignment is worth keeping. Digital storage is the solution if you want to eliminate clutter without discarding your child's precious work. Western Digital's EasyStore Hard Drive gives you a terabyte or more of storage space — likely enough to store all of your child's coursework and achievements from Kindergarten through graduation. It connects to your computer via USB, where you can drag and drop images, videos, and other content for safe keeping.

Mega storage comes in a compact device you can place on your desk without it getting in the way. It's the place where you can add school pictures, scans of artwork, photos and videos from sports games and activities, award certificates, or anything else you and your child might want to relive one day. It also includes backup software in case of hard drive failure so you won't lose all of your content. You can get the two-terrabyte version of the EasyStore Hard Drive from Best Buy for $79.99.

‌No matter what you buy your child for school, chances are there's another student with the same one. Some items are easier to write names on than others, especially if you want to be inconspicuous about it. For everything else, there's the Phomemo Bluetooth Label Maker.

This portable, handheld label maker uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone, where you can use the app to design labels and print them on demand. From putting names on lunch boxes and pencil boxes to creating unique labels for each notebook on each subject, you can customize your child's school supplies in seconds. Make labels for cables and cords, storage jars and drawers, snacks, personal items, name tags — you name it. The app templates include over 1,000 symbols and multiple frames and fonts, so every label can be customized to your liking. The Phomemo Bluetooth Label Maker retails on Amazon for about $37, depending on the color, and comes with three pre-cut rolls of sticky labels. These also make great teacher's gifts.

‌Rocketbook is a paperless notebook that transforms your written content into digital files. The spiral notebook includes 32 pages in varying formats, including lined paper and dots. After your teen writes their notes with the included FriXion pen (or does their very best doodles in study hall), they can use the app to digitize their content. From there, they can edit, add to, or delete information. The app lets you share it with others or connect it with common apps like Slack, Asana, or Dropbox. When you're done, you can use the included microfiber cloth to erase your work in the notebook and use it again.

It's a pen-and-paper experience that many creatives find hard to let go of, but it adds the convenience of digital editing and saving. It's also more eco-friendly than paper since you can reuse the notebook as many times as you like. The Rocketbook Core package comes with the notebook, Pilot FriXion pen, and cleaning cloth for $36.99. The company also makes a sticky notes package with 15 reusable sticky notes, a case, a pen, and a cleaning cloth for $24.

Smartwatches for kids might seem like yet another screen, but they actually offer several benefits to parents and their school-aged children. For starters, they can help your kids stay organized by setting reminders for tasks and activities, especially if they're home alone after school for any length of time. They can also count steps and encourage your child to stay active. You can keep tabs on how much physical activity your child is getting each day. 

An upgrade from the Fit Bit Ace 3 for kids, the FitBit Ace LTE is ideal for children ages 7-to-14. It helps them gain a new level of independence by allowing them to manage schedules, communicate with family and friends, and keep track of time. There are also fun games included that will reward your child for playing or completing other tasks. This watch includes a location-sharing feature, fitness tracker, and texting and calling functions so you can stay in touch no matter how much your schedules differ. You can purchase the FitBit ACE LTE for $229.95, not including the cost of the data plan.