Get a Head Start on Your School Shopping With This List of 20+ Essentials on Amazon

Published Jul 9, 2026 9:05 am ET


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It seems like summer just started, but here we are: already a month out from the start of the new school season. And if you’re looking to get a head start on your back-to-school shopping, we’re here to help with a list of essentials that are just a click away on Amazon.

We’ve included options for students of various ages, from elementary school to college, and everything has a minimum shopper rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Many of these items are also Prime-eligible, meaning they’ll show up to your door within two days if you have a Prime membership. And best of all, they’re all on sale for discounts of up to 50% off!

From laptops to lunch boxes, shop our top picks below!

20+ Back-to-School Essentials to Snag on Amazon

Backpacks and Laptop Bags

Laptops, Tablets and Hard Drives

Headphones and Earbuds

Lunch Boxes and Water Bottles

Calculators, Portable Chargers and More

Kayleigh Drake

Kayleigh Drake

Author McClatchy Commerce

Kayleigh Drake is a Commerce Content Editor at McClatchy. She’s based in Birmingham, Alabama, and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Kayleigh has written and edited content for numerous publications, with a particular focus on the food, kitchen, home and lifestyle verticals. When she’s not fulfilling her editorial duties, she loves record shopping, playing guitar, baking and buying entirely too many plants.

Tracy Yochum

Tracy Yochum

Editor McClatchy Commerce

Based in Charlotte, NC, Tracy Yochum joined the McClatchy Commerce content team as a Commerce Writer and Editor in early 2023. She began her journalism career in the 1980s at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey, where she was an award-winning reporter and editor. She joined The Charlotte Observer in 1997 as a copy editor and served in several newsroom and publishing center roles before joining the Commerce Team.