Backpack etc for 9 year old

[Itsreallynotdifficult]

Hi all! My son is due to start middle school in September (we live in an area with a 3 tier system: first school to y4, middle y5-y8 etc) in first school he just had a book bag, he now needs a backpack and pencil case for y5 at a new school, he’s 9, what style of backpack do kids in y5/6 have? Are Minecraft/marvel designs etc appropriate? I feel like given a full choice that’s probably what he’d pick, he’s not into sports/teams/brands etc just yet, want him to be able to pick something he likes but don’t want him to get picked on if all the other kids have just got plain sort of ones?

It's been a few years since my daughter was that age but at the time Hype backpacks were all the rage. Not sure if they're still socially acceptable (eye-roll) but might be a good shout!

Why not just ask him? A bunch of random mums won’t know what he likes. Let him choose what he wants.

I'd probably try to discourage superhero/Minecraft designs at that age, kids can be mean if they see something as "babyish". I'd probably encourage one like Adidas/Nike/Puma, you can usually get these reasonably cheap in Sports Direct.

I'd go for a plain-ish one. Avoid any bullying or him nagging for a new bag if he decides he doesn't like whatever it is. You can get him some keyrings to decorate it if it's too boring and they're easy to change when he changes his mind.

Because, like I said in the OP, if I just ask him he’s likely to pick a character one, which I don’t have a problem with if that’s still suitable for 9/10year olds, but if the general consensus is that in middle school kids don’t have character ones if they’re seen as ‘babyish’ and there’s a chance he’d get picked on then I can manage his expectations and show him more appropriate ones so he can still have a choice. I’m not asking anyone to tell me what he likes, I’m asking what’s not ‘cool’ among 9/10 year olds so my child doesn’t get bullied.

Thank you, I actually just spotted some hype ones online this morning whilst having a look, I think he’d quite like this style, he does like bright colours, which then led me to make my post lol. I didn’t want to unnecessarily take away his free rein to choose (almost)anything he wants and pick him a boring one and then all his peers show up with funky ones lol.

My DS also had hype at that age but was a few years ago now so hopefully someone with more recent experience can come along to help.