15 First Day of School Traditions To Kick Off a Great Year!
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We’re all about our first day of school traditions in the house! It’s the perfect way to kick off the school year on the right foot – Check out these fun ideas!
Hi friends,
The first day of school is often filled with all kinds of emotions. Happy, sad, scared, nervous, tired, excited.. the emotions will definitely range year to year.
One thing we can do to pump them up for a great school year is make sure the first day as special as can it can be. In our house this involves a few first day of school traditions that they can always look forward to!
Having fun first day of school traditions your little ones can look forward to each year will help make for a smooth transition back to school. Truly, back to school season is an exciting time for everyone as our little ones head off on another adventure full of learning and growing!
The Best First Day of School Traditions
1. Create a first day of school countdown
Turn “How many more days of summer break do we have?” into “How many more days till school starts?” with a fun countdown!
There are so many different ways to make a countdown, a simple paper chain countdown is a good classic. If you’re feeling a bit extra you could even do an advent calendar type of countdown where each day they get a small back to school gift.
Back to school advent gifts could include:
- A fun pen
- Cute notebook
- Gel pens
- Glitter glue
- Backpack charms
- New lunchbox
- Fun erasers
- A sticker book
- Backpack pins
- A bookmark
Here’s a super cute back to school paper chain countdown you can recreate:
2. Have a back to school fashion show
When you were growing up, what was one of the best parts of back to school season?
Going on a shopping spree for a brand new wardrobe, of course!
On the day before the first day of school let your kiddos hold a mini fashion show in the living room to show off all of their new cool and cute outfits. Provide commentary as your kids strut across the room and rate the outfits (they’re all tens and we know it lol).
Have them save the best for last and show off their first day of school outfit on the last walk!
Not only is this fun for the kids and whole family but it’s also a great way to give them a big confidence boost before school starts!
3. Read a book about school the night before
The perfect bedtime story before the first day of school? A book about the first day of school, of course!
There are so, so many great books about starting school or going back to school. This is one of my favorite first day of school traditions! Here are a few great book to check out:
Kindergarten books:
Other back to school books:
4. Plan the perfect first day hairstyle
Being dressed for success means looking your best from head to toe!
If your kiddo is anything like mine, finding the perfect hairstyle for the first day of school is a must.
I’m always willing to and plan time for a special hairstyle that takes a bit longer than the usual morning ‘do. My daughter loves to have her hair curled (something we don’t often have time for in the morning) so I make sure we get up slightly earlier just for that.
Pro-tip: I love to put all my supplies for the year in a small caddy for easy access. It carries just about everything we need for any hairstyle. Make sure you stock up on basics like black and colored hair elastics, bobby pins, etc.
5. Surprise them to decorations when they wake up
Sometimes it’s the small things that mean the most.
What better way to send your kids off to school than making it feel like a mini party?
Don’t feel the need to go crazy with this (but by all mean if you do, I wanna see!) but a few hanging swirls, window clings or even just decorating their their doorway with streamers could make all the difference!
These small quick decorations should only take about an extra 5 to 10 minutes the night before and will make the first day of school feel like a total celebration (because it totally is)!
6. Serve a special breakfast
My kids always know breakfast on the first day of school will be a special treat they may not otherwise have on a regular school morning!
If you’ve been on Pinterest, you’ve no doubtably seen these adorable back to school breakfast set ups! If you have the time and energy for that, I definitely encourage you to go for it!
In our house, most often a special breakfast means donuts, cinnamon rolls, fun shaped waffles (love the dash minis) or even *shhh* a fast-food breakfast! Serve them up with some fresh fruit and protein for a well rounded but still fun breakfast.
{Related Post: 31+ School Breakfast Ideas For Kids On Busy School Mornings}
7. Take a few cute back to school photos
Ahhh, my absolute favorite part of the first day of school – photos!
These are definitely some of the most cherished photos for us parents.. It’s so insane to see how much our little ones learn and grow at the beginning and end of each year.
There are some really fun and cute photo ideas out there if you want to take the extra time to set up something memorable. Another equally cute option is to simply have your little hold up a sign of sorts!
The two most popular options for signs are probably the chalkboard signs or letter board signs although there are also a quite a few adorable printable sign options too!
{Related Post: 25 First Day of School Picture Ideas You’ll Want To Recreate This Year!}
8. Pack an adorable first day lunch
If you only pick any day of the year to put in effort into your little ones school lunch, make it today (and their birthday)!
I know you already have all the cute lunch essentials ready to go, now it’s time to put them to use! A few fun ideas include sprinkles in their yogurt, an apple shaped sandwich, apples cut into ABC shapes and a cute lunch box note to top it off!
You can download and print off our free lunch box notes to use for your own kiddo here!
{Related Post: 7 Kids School Lunch Essentials To Make The CUTEST Lunches!}
9. Decorate the car for drop off/pick up
If your kiddo isn’t shy, I bet they’ll absolutely love this one!
This first day of school tradition is actually perfect for the first and last day of school. Grab some bright auto markers and go crazy on your car windows!
Draw school supplies, “__ grade here we come!”, draw a frame from the window where your kiddo sits, “honk for good luck”, etc. First day of school traditions like this are a great way to make your little one feel like a celebrity on their big day!
10. Wear matching back to school bracelets
My wrist is stacked up with 2 (soon to be 3) matching back to school bracelets on the first day of school!
If you’ve never heard of these bracelets, basically they’re just a cute way to let your little ones know that you’ll be thinking of them all day and that they can easily just think of you whenever they feel scared or nervous too.
These are especially great and a must have for kindergarteners going off on their first school adventure!
11. Make a good impression on the teacher
So, this is one of those first day of school traditions that isn’t really for your kid but still definitely involves them!
My daughter enjoys helping me think of a simple, yet sweet first day of school gift for her teacher. Not to be a suck up, but to show them that you’re here and ready to make it a great year together!
Don’t overthink this gift too much, just something simple and sweet like personalized pencils, a sharpie set, post-its, etc. Be sure to include a quick, mini note saying hi and briefly introducing yourself and your child.
Another great idea is to include a quick “teacher survey” to get to know them better! (Psst! This will help you out when it comes to birthday and Christmas gift ideas later on in the year)
We actually have a free printable teacher questionnaire here!
{Related Post: Teacher Questionnaire For Gifts Printable | All My Teachers Favorite Things}
12. Give your kid a small first day gift
I know, I know, we’re not over here trying to make first day of school an actual holiday but hear me out!
A small gift after the first day of school is a good idea if you’re little ones love language is receiving gifts. Again, doesn’t need to be some huge, expensive, wrapped and well thought out thing. Also doesn’t need to be multiple things. Just something small.
A bouquet of flowers, a pack of personalized pencils, a cute little “study buddy” squishmellow or just a small pack of their favorite candy are all perfect ideas!
13. Write a special sidewalk message
Earlier we talked about decorating the car, but what if your kiddo is a bus rider? This is the perfect idea to still celebrate their first day!
Get the leftover summer chalk out and decorate your sidewalk or driveway. You can draw arrows pointing to the house saying “first graders this way!”, draw a hopscotch for them to play on, write a sweet message, etc.
Use lots of color and try to make a little bit interactive for a fun welcome home surprise!
14. Complete a first day of school interview
These are my absolute favorite piece of the first and last day.
Just like the photos, these are perfect to look back on at the end of the year and over the years.
We have a free first and last day of school interview printable that you can download here!
There is also a kindergarten specific first and last day interview printable over on HeyMomster.com if you’d prefer that one. You can check that out here!
15. Go for an after school treat
Lastly, what better way to end a busy first day of school than with an after school treat?
Where we are, it’s still hot as ever in August when school starts back up. An ice cream date makes the perfect treat to cool off but, anywhere is great really.
A quick after school treat gives you the perfect opportunity to get some one on one time with your kiddo and hear all about their first day on this new adventure!
Let’s be honest, preparing the first day of school takes weeks and is pretty hectic. Making sure everyone has everything they need and is ready to go on that first day back to school is stressful on it’s own.
Don’t stress yourself out trying to fit in all of the cute, insta-worthy first day of school traditions. Your little one will cherish whatever it is that you do to make their day special even if it’s just one small thing. You’re still creating life long lasting memories that they will cherish forever.
Please don’t ever feel like you need to always be doing the most. Do what you can without wearing yourself out. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty glass.
Take care of yourself and have a great school year!
