One of my favorite things as a kid was picking out my new school backpack every year. It was definitely one of the only things I looked forward to when back to school season came around. However, nowadays many of our kids don’t have the luxury of hitting up LL Bean for a cute monogrammed backpack…instead we have to scour for the awful mesh or clear backpack. I get sad that my kids don’t have the same joy of being able to pick out whatever design they want because the mesh backpack options are so limited. So every year I go on the hunt for mesh backpacks that my kids will actually get excited about. Why is it so difficult to find affordable and stylish mesh backpacks? Have no fear Mamas, I have searched the internet for you and found some great options! Hopefully one day we will have freedom to get whatever backpack we want again, but until that day…here are my favorite picks of the season for boys and girls that won’t break the bank.

Thankfully, few brands like Adidas, Nike, and Amazon have given us some cute options for mesh backpacks that will hold up through the entire year! We have purchased Adidas and Nike backpacks in previous years and I am happy to report that these backpacks not only held up the entire year, but also were able to be donated at the end of the school year because they were still in such good condition (no tears, zipper still in great working condition). If you are in the habit of buying new backpacks every year, I highly recommend donating your old ones! Many churches in the area collect supplies for local children, but often they only take new donations. So instead, we have donated our gently used backpacks to be sent overseas(through our church) to help school kids in developing countries. Our friends in Rwanda tell us that they can’t find durable backpacks in their country, and so this is a welcomed donation. I know, now my whole complaining about not being able to find cute mesh backpacks, seems a bit trivial. Sigh. But, now when I shop for my kids and what they like…I think about what Rwandan kids would think is cool too. It’s definitely interesting to think about how shopping smart today can impact children around the world tomorrow.

If you have found any other cute and durable mesh backpacks, I’d love to hear! Or if you are in the habit of donating your school backpacks, where do you donate them too? I bet there are many places that need donations that I haven’t thought of before!