What’s in My School Emergency Kit? 25 Essentials Every Teen Girl Should Keep in Her Backpack

School days are long, and somehow the most random problems always seem to happen when you’re nowhere near home.

Your period starts unexpectedly. Your hair tie snaps. You spill something on your shirt five minutes before a presentation. Your lips are painfully dry. Your phone is at 8%. Or you realize after lunch that you definitely have something stuck in your teeth.

That’s exactly why having a small school emergency kit tucked inside your backpack can be such a lifesaver.

You don’t need to carry around half your bathroom. A small makeup bag or zippered pouch filled with a few carefully chosen essentials can handle most of the little emergencies that come up during a normal high school day.

Here are 25 things worth putting in your school emergency kit.

1. Period Products

Even if you don’t expect your period, keep a couple of pads or tampons in your emergency kit.

You may need them unexpectedly—or a friend might.

If you normally use a specific product, keeping your preferred brand and absorbency in your backpack is much better than depending on whatever might be available at school.

2. Extra Underwear

It takes up almost no room and can save the day if you have a period leak or another unexpected accident.

Fold a clean pair and place it inside a small zippered or reusable bag so it stays clean.

3. Hair Ties

Hair ties seem to disappear at an alarming rate.

Keep at least two or three extras in your emergency kit so you’re not trying to resurrect the stretched-out hair tie that’s been living around your wrist for three weeks.

4. Claw Clip

A small or medium claw clip is another easy way to get your hair out of your face during class, gym, lunch, sports or an unexpectedly bad hair day.

5. Mini Hairbrush or Comb

Wind, hats, hoodies and gym class can do some interesting things to your hair.

A folding brush or small comb takes up very little space and makes quick touch-ups easy.

6. Deodorant

After gym class, walking between buildings or simply surviving an unusually warm classroom, you may be very glad you packed deodorant.

Look for a mini deodorant instead of carrying a full-size one.

7. Body Wipes

Individually wrapped body wipes are perfect when you want to freshen up but don’t have access to a shower.

They’re especially useful after gym or sports.

8. Lip Balm

Dry, cracked lips can be incredibly distracting.

Keep an inexpensive lip balm permanently in your school kit so you’re not constantly moving your favorite one between your bedroom, purse and backpack.

9. Lip Gloss

Lip gloss isn’t technically an emergency, but sometimes you just want a quick refresh before lunch, pictures, a presentation or hanging out with friends after school.

Keep one easy everyday shade in your kit.

10. Mini Lotion

Cold weather and constant hand washing can leave your hands painfully dry.

A travel-size hand lotion is especially useful during fall and winter.

Just make sure the cap closes securely. Nobody wants an exploded bottle of lotion inside their backpack.

11. Hand Sanitizer

Schools are basically germ-sharing headquarters.

A mini bottle of hand sanitizer attached to your backpack or tucked into your emergency pouch makes it easy to clean your hands before eating or after touching shared surfaces.

12. Tissues

A small travel pack of tissues is one of those things you won’t think about until you desperately need one.

Then you’ll be extremely happy they’re there.

13. Stain-Removing Wipes or Pen

Ketchup on a white sweatshirt.

Coffee on your jeans.

Chocolate on your shirt.

Of course it happens on the day you actually care about your outfit.

A stain-removing wipe or pen can help you deal with it before the stain has hours to set.

14. Mints

Keep a small package of mints in your kit for after lunch.

If your school allows gum, you could keep that instead, but mints are usually easier and less likely to cause problems in class.

15. Floss Picks

There are few things more annoying than having food stuck between your teeth and being able to feel it for the next four hours.

Put a few individually protected floss picks in your kit.

16. Compact Mirror

A small mirror lets you check your teeth, makeup or hair without making a special trip to the bathroom.

Choose one that closes so it doesn’t get scratched or damaged inside your bag.

17. Bandages

Paper cuts, blisters and random tiny injuries happen.

Keep several adhesive bandages in different sizes in your kit.

Your school’s health office should handle anything more significant.

18. Blister Bandages

If you wear new shoes to school, you’ll understand why these deserve their own spot on the list.

A blister bandage can be the difference between mildly annoying new shoes and limping through seven class periods.

19. Safety Pins

A broken strap, loose button or clothing mishap can happen at the worst possible moment.

A couple of safety pins can temporarily hold things together until you get home.

Keep them closed and secured inside a tiny container or pouch so nobody accidentally gets poked while digging through the bag.

20. Portable Phone Charger

This one takes up a little more space, but it’s worth it.

If you use your phone for transportation, contacting family, after-school activities or emergencies, having a small charged power bank in your backpack can be incredibly useful.

Just remember to recharge the charger occasionally.

21. Charging Cable

The portable charger isn’t going to do much without the correct cable.

A short charging cord is perfect for an emergency kit because it doesn’t create a giant tangled mess.

22. Emergency Cash

Keep a small amount of emergency money somewhere discreet in your backpack.

Even $10 or $20 can help if you forget lunch, need transportation, have to buy something unexpectedly or your phone payment isn’t working.

Don’t keep a large amount of cash at school.

23. Spare Contact Supplies or Glasses

If you wear contacts, consider keeping whatever backup supplies your eye-care provider recommends for you.

Students who rely on glasses may also want to keep an older backup pair in their backpack if they have one.

Being stuck at school unable to see properly is definitely an emergency-kit-worthy problem.

24. A Snack

Keep one shelf-stable snack in your backpack for unexpectedly long days.

Granola bars, crackers, pretzels or another nonperishable snack are easy options.

Check it occasionally so you don’t discover a granola bar from freshman year hiding at the bottom of your bag.

25. Emergency Information

Most teens have important phone numbers saved in their phones—but what happens if the phone is dead, lost or broken?

Keep a small card somewhere private in your backpack with essential emergency contact information.

It can include a parent or guardian’s phone number and another trusted emergency contact.

You don’t need to include unnecessary private information.

What Should You Put Your School Emergency Kit In?

You don’t need anything fancy.

A medium-size zippered makeup bag works perfectly. Pencil cases and small toiletry bags are also great options.

The goal is to make the kit small enough that it can live in your backpack all semester without becoming annoying.

You can even use several tiny pouches inside one larger bag—for example, keeping period supplies separate from beauty products.

What About Medicine?

This is one category you shouldn’t automatically toss into your backpack.

Schools can have specific rules about students carrying prescription and over-the-counter medications, including common products such as pain relievers.

Check your school’s medication policy and have a parent or guardian work with the school nurse or health office when necessary.

An emergency kit is supposed to make your school day easier—not accidentally get you in trouble for carrying something your school requires to be stored elsewhere.

Don’t Forget to Restock Your Kit

The best school emergency kit is one you can actually use.

Once a month, take five minutes to check it.

Replace anything you’ve used, throw away wrappers, check expiration dates where applicable, recharge your portable battery and make sure nothing has leaked.

At the beginning of each season, you can also swap a few things out. You might want extra lotion and lip balm during winter, while body wipes and deodorant may become more important during warmer months.

Build Your Own School Emergency Kit

You definitely don’t need all 25 items.

Start with the things you’re most likely to use and build your kit around your own school day.

For most teen girls, a great basic kit could include period products, extra underwear, deodorant, hair ties, lip balm, tissues, stain remover, mints, bandages, a portable charger and a little emergency cash.

Add everything to a cute zippered pouch, toss it in your backpack and forget about it until you need it.

Because when something goes wrong at 11:30 on a Tuesday morning, you’ll be very glad you packed it.