I have five sons close in age (12, 11, 9, 7, and 6). Ever since I had my second son, they have all been assigned a color to help keep track of what belongs to which boy. Backpacks, water bottles, lunch boxes, and other items are color coded. This system works pretty well, but it doesn't work all the time. Sometimes there are less than five colors of an item available, or sometimes two boys want the same color or pattern. If the item isn't labeled, then confusion abounds and no one is sure which item actually belongs to each boy.

Enter Zippies.

Zippies are a brilliant invention. They are adorable (though my boys would call them "cool") flexible rubber characters with a space to write a name and emergency contact number. They can be attached to nearly anything by using attached rubber loop or plastic clip. The rubber loop can be used to hang the Zippies on water bottles, or use the clip to attach the Zippies to backpacks, lunch boxes, or key chains. Not only do they work well for labeling items, but clip one to your child's belt loop or necklace, and your child's name and a phone number are easily found on your child if they get separated from you while you're out and about.

Zippies are available in ten different designs, and each one is named. We received "Faina" (looks like a green frog face), "Chip" (a blue face with a huge smile), and "Tazmo" (looks like a tiger). My boys liked all 3 designs, and I can see Zippies getting a lot of use in our household. Even if I had fewer children, I think Zippies would see a lot of use because they make items so easily identifiable.   If you are looking for a fun way to label your children's items, check Zippies out.