Squishies, brainrot and an 'emotional support Eleven': Gen Alpha backpacks offer a peek into their world

From lucky pencils and lip gloss to squishies and a soccer ball, the contents reveal what these kids love, need and refuse to leave home without.

New clothes. Supplies. Lunches. Sports schedules. Tracking apps. Walking group text threads.

A new school year comes with a seemingly endless checklist. According to Yahoo's Back-to-School Trends Report , one item generates more search interest than anything else: the backpack.

Backpacks have long been a form of self-expression — Disney princesses, superheroes, sports teams. For Gen Alpha, the customization is even more layered: charms, sushi key chains, Liila dolls, plush clips and danglecore transform the outside of a bag into its own mood board.

Inside, the personality continues. Alongside notebooks, laptops and school ID's, you'll find Laneige lip gloss, Touchland hand sanitizer and Hero blemish patches. There's lots of LoveShackFancy , not to mention Squishmallows, Pokémon , Roblox brainrot and squishies .

Then there's the unpredictable: The giant Tootsie Roll container, which seems almost retro. The "mistake paper" ball that grows and grows. Also — my fave — a "secret society" ID card.

"You never know when you're gonna need something or if your friend needs something," Tootsie Roll aficionado and prepared-for-anything Claire, 12, tells Yahoo.

She's one of 11 kids, ages 7 to 12, from across the country who agreed to give us a backpack tour. Here's what they stash inside and clip outside.

Everyone needs a Claire, the friend guided by the "be prepared" motto.

Wearing an Alex Warren T-shirt, the Pennsylvania seventh grader shows me her "purpley-blue" JanSport, a smaller version of last year's pack, which hurt her back.

Inside are the usual school basics — a laptop, an accordion binder and a "C" pencil case. As she talks, a stack of Post-its falls out of the bag.

"I like to have like two, three packs of sticky notes on hand," she tells me, adding that she carries the same pink "lucky pencil" she's used on all tests since fifth grade.

The "just in case" stuff: hair ties and bobby pins, Touchland hand sanitizer, scissors and a "school emergency kit" with mints, "Gummy Burst"-scented deodorant, Kayali perfume, e.l.f. lip gloss, Invisalign rubber bands and a broken nail file.

"Just, like, kind of anything I need," she says. "I can grab it throughout the day."

Other distinctly Claire items: an oversize and loaded Tootsie Roll container won at a bat mitzvah that she dips into if she's "feeling down or … just like tired," The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes from the Hunger Games series ("I've read all the other ones") and a green bunny squishy with the "perfect texture."

On the outside? A lone purple crocheted heart, chosen because it's her favorite color. ( Tweens love lavender. )

"I have, like, a system with my stuff," the Florida seventh grader says.

One look at her navy JanSport confirms it: Haidyn's folders are arranged in class-period order. History is first, reading second, with less-used materials tucked further back and everyday essentials — laptop, lunchbox and calculator — within easy reach.

The front pouch holds a pencil box with a ROYGBIV array of writing tools and a handful of school IDs in case "I lose one or something," which seems doubtful given her system. In a side pocket, she keeps a pencil, pen, dry-erase marker and hairbrush for easy access.

Some Gen Alpha must-haves: a smartphone, a hot-selling Owala water bottle , sunglasses, Native deodorant, lip gloss and Trident Vibes gum, which she keeps at the top of her bag.

Meanwhile, her backpack's look follows a system too. According to her mom, it "has to hang low or else it's not cool."

The North Carolina seventh grader keeps things simple.

He's on his second Baseball Lifestyle 101 ice cream-drip backpack with a matching water bottle, though his mom says he likes ice cream more than baseball. (From what I've seen on social media — including a recent goal — soccer seems to be his sport.)

Which brings me to the fact that he didn't want to talk to me about his backpack, which I can fully relate to.

His mom tells me he travels light because his school has a no-homework policy and students don't have to haul supplies back and forth. The only things that come home are his Minecraft lunch box, which he's been using for the last few years, and a folder.

He's also deep into Michael Jackson, reading a biography at night and drawing his own versions of the King of Pop's album covers.

And that crumpled ball? Reagan and his classmates make them out of "mistake paper and do-overs," including rejected art.

Did someone say soccer ? City kid Edie, a sixth grader from Massachusetts, makes her love of the sport known.

"In my backpack, I always have to have my water bottle, soccer ball and cleats," she tells me. "They're most important to me because I love to play soccer and you always need to hydrate."

Her bright pink Nike Elite backpack is covered in empowering words like "courage" and "strength." The positive messaging continues inside with a pouch that reads, "You're beautiful, don't change."

Inside, there is a mix of school-day basics: notebooks, folders and a striped pencil case. There are also some just-in-case items: Kleenex, Band-Aids, hair ties, ibuprofen and three colorful NeeDoh Cool Cats squishies.

Nobody is left wondering who Beau is rooting for.

The nearly 8-year-old second grader from Texas carries a black Old Navy bag featuring Lionel Messi under a giant "G.O.A.T." banner. A gold FIFA World Cup trophy key chain, purchased at a soccer jersey store in London, hangs on the front. The soccer theme continues with a black, white and gold Nike water bottle.

A gold Lego robot key chain, bought at the Lego Store at the Philadelphia International Airport, adds a non-soccer note. He's actually downgraded his danglecore this year.

"Last year, I had a lot of metal key chains, and they hit together and it was annoying," he shared.

Inside, everything is straightforward second-grade school stuff — a folder, a bento box and the basics — making the message on the outside even more pronounced: Messi all the way.

This sixth grader from Ohio scored LoveShackFancy x Yoobi for Target before much of the collection sold out.

Kate has the floral backpack, a matching pencil pouch, notebooks and a pouch for her Chromebook charger and earbuds.

Bows — a signature part of the brand's ultrafeminine, romantic aesthetic — are pinned across the front pouch. Another bow dangles alongside bear and rabbit plush key chains.

Her water bottle fits the trend-aware vibe too: a Starbucks x Dandy Worldwide Road Trip bottle. A Yondr pouch keeps her phone locked away during the school day.

In the bag, she's carrying Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio , "the book that I'm reading right now," plus her folder for chorus and computer.

Audrey's JanSport looks pretty neutral on the outside. Inside, it's a colorful wonderland.

The Pennsylvania fifth grader is prepared like her sister Claire, but her version leans more toward self-care. She has five lip glosses, a Crocs x Touchland hand sanitizer, a compact mirror, a brush and hair ties, perfume, a mini first-aid kit and Scope.

"If I have tea in the morning or matcha, I have mouthwash," she says.

That stash sits alongside squishies (dumplings and NeeDoh), a rubber duck and a Stranger Things Funko Bitty Pop.

"It's my emotional support Eleven," she explains. ( Millie Bobby Brown is also a Gen Alpha fave .)

Her books include Frindle for class and a signed copy of Small Town Monsters . Of the latter, she says with a wink, "What I like about this is I have this nice little bow charm [bookmark] on a horror book."

On the outside, Audrey has key chains including her name in beads, a heart and a cupcake. She isn't over the loss of an earlier one.

"I had Tarte lip gloss on this, but it fell off and I lost it forever," she says. "I'm sad about that."

"I have an Apple AirTag because this year I'm walking home since I'm now in fifth grade," Lucy tells me.

The New Jersey fifth grader has confidence to spare, so much so that when her younger sister got shy during her own backpack tour, Lucy answered those questions too.

That self-assurance carries into what she packs. Lucy's neutral All in Motion backpack contrasts with the frillier LoveShackFancy x Yoobi supplies inside. Her nonessential must-haves include Laneige Peach Glaze lip serum ("so my lips will never get dry") and hand sanitizer ("in case I touch anything gross").

I needed a fainting couch after hearing how she selected her reading material: "My teacher said to bring a book, so I chose P.S. I Like You because I like romance," she says.

The Taylor Swift fan also leaves me with her thoughts on what her friends will have in their bags this year: "Owalas, squishies, fidgets and Fugglers ," she predicts.

This is Lucy's sister, and while she's a little shyer, she's living in her own bright and colorful world.

The New Jersey second grader's school supplies, housed in a cherry- and heart-covered Locker Club bag, are basically a lineup of favorite things: a blue axolotl pencil case, a Squishmallows spiral notebook, a metallic rainbow composition book, light blue scissors and strawberry hand sanitizer.

Her logic is refreshingly simple: axolotls, Squishmallows, pink, blue and strawberries. She likes what she likes.

"Me and my friend play this game where we are in this secret society thing, and we have like an ID," Dash tells me, holding it up.

That is just one thing the fourth grader from California has a story about. Even his key chains — sushi, corn and an NFL London Games charm — on his JanSport come with origin stories he's happy to share.

One marks a reading marathon, during which he says he was "one of the best in the class." Another came from a perfect-attendance streak. He's also in a school play, which explains the pink highlighter he uses to mark his lines.

Yes, there's a homework folder and math book, but I'm more excited by his hand-drawn "Mecha-Tech" pictures and the "Star Dollars" he earns at his after-school program and trades in for prizes, including a Pikachu figure he holds up.

Then there's a Roblox brainrot figure that he found on the ground.

"It is a spaghetti toilet," he says with a smile.

Rachel says the things in her backpack "mostly reflect who I am" — especially her love of singing, her friends and family and "how messy I am."

On the outside of the New York sixth grader's Simple Modern bag are some of her "most prized possessions": a Liila toy key chain her mother bought her and a blue plush Rhode Island key chain she bought on a trip there.

Inside, band and chorus binders hold her sheet music — fitting for a kid who wants to be a singer-songwriter. She also carries plenty of pencils because hers tend to "spontaneously go missing," plus a planner with an encouraging message on each page. There's also a key in a Hello Kitty wrap.

Her toiletries stash is pure middle school: Laneige lip balm, La Roche-Posay sunscreen and moisturizer, blemish patches, Kleenex and a scrunchie.

"It can be very useful for school and day-to-day life," she says. "And if you don't believe me, ask my friends. Most of them have something like this as well."