Cool back-to-school products for your child

BIC’s Velocity Bold Ball Pens have the company’s patented Easy-Glide System ink technology, meaning smoother ink that writes better.

$4.49 for four-pack
Available at major retailers

Indigo’s Note to Self 7-Year Pen has a jumbo ink supply that lets you write as much as two meters a day for seven years!

$9.50
Available at Indigo, Chapters or Coles

Is your child a budding artist? The journal has offbeat, clever, and fun drawing prompts on every page. It’s the perfect inspirational sketchbook, sure to entertain and encourage your child to draw – whether it’s a bicycle or sketching an image to show the sound of girlish laughter.

$19.95
Available at Indigo, Chapters or Coles

The Kinder Book Bag, in blue, pink, and green, has several pockets and panels, and a reflective strip for nighttime visibility.

$32.00
Available at Mountain Equipment Co-op or MEC.ca

The Deluxe Book Bag Daypack, in green, blue, and red, is a great upgrade for older students who need to carry a laptop along with their books. It has a side-access padded laptop compartment.

$42
Available at Mountain Equipment Co-op or MEC.ca

For kids who don’t like wearing a backpack, the Velocio Messenger Bag is a great alternative; it’s big enough to store a laptop, and the main compartment has a key clip and plenty of pockets.

$42
Available at Mountain Equipment Co-op or MEC.ca

To give your kids a head start in keeping organized, get a calendar where they can write down all of their assignments and homework. The What A Week Calendar doubles as a weekly calendar with other reminder slots (“this weekend,” “next week,” and the cheeky “maybe never,”) and a mousepad for your computer.

$12
Available at Indigo, Chapters and Coles

Get your children all their day-to-day school supplies in the Micro Office Tool Box. It contains a mini-stapler, staples, a compact highlighter, scissors, scotch tape, and post-it notes. It even keeps your kids organized with drawings of where the contents should go back.

$12
Available at Indigo, Chapters and Coles

If your kid is in the market for a new phone, the Nokia Lumia 900 will be a perfect fit. The touch-screen phone is sleekly designed with an easy-to-navigate menu and large icons that even large fingers can touch with ease. The 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera take high quality photos, which can be edited with their Creative Studio app.

Read a review written by our ParentsCanada staff.

Available exclusively through Rogers for $29.99 on select 3-year plans

The Excite 10 Tablet from Toshiba features a high-definition Autobrite LED Backlit screen, and a super-thin profile of just 0.35 inches. It has up to ten hours of battery life, and has several built-in ports. It’s the perfect gadget for web browsing, reading, and playing (educational) games. Comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.

For 16GB, $499.99
Available at Future Shop and Toshiba.ca