(This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you purchase through these links I receive a small commission at no cost to you. For more information see our disclosure policy here)
Back to school this year is definitely different! With a lot of unknowns about what schools are going to look like and how they’re going to operate! But with all the inconsistencies in my kids lives this year, I wanted to still celebrate with our Back to School Traditions.
As of now, we are scheduled to go back to school four days a week, but I am not keeping my hopes up that things won’t change again.
So until things change and we roll with the punches again, let me share with you our top 5 back to school traditions! Some of them will definitely be somewhat modified depending on what circumstances are as we get a little closer to school!
I hope you can enjoy some of these traditions as you celebrate your little ones going back to school, (finally!).
Back to School Shopping
From the time I was little I remember going back to school shopping with my mom and siblings.
We were never allowed to wear anything we bought until school started, and I loved looking at it in the closet and thinking about wearing it!
It’s been a fun tradition that I have implemented with my kids.
Most of the time I just do their shopping for them while I’m out, but it’s a fun occasion for them to choose what they really like.
It also gives me a good opportunity to see what they’re liking and not liking in their clothes!
And the best part of them choosing is that it’s fun every time they wear those clothes. They have a different excitement about those clothes, than other things I chose!
This year it’s going to look a little different since we can’t go try things on and shop all day! But we will likely do some shopping online and try them on as they arrive!
I want my kids to have something to be excited about the first day back to school. They have a lot of anxieties about what going back looks like. So to have something fun to wear the first week or so of school will hopefully help ease those anxieties!
Back to School Teacher Gifts
I like to create a little gift for my kids teachers for the first day of school. Usually something useful that they typically ask parent to send in anyway! Check out my post all about our teacher gifts this year right here.
I know this year there will be lots of needs for hand sanitizer, extra face masks, and clorox wipes! And what teacher wouldn’t appreciate a little something to start off the year.
Our school is a low income school. We have a lot of low income housing that feed into the school, and that makes the needs of a lot of the kids relatively high. This year I made a few extra reusable face masks the teachers can have on hand to give away to students who need them. And a couple cute ones to keep for themselves!
If you’re not up for making your own. There are lots of available face masks on Amazon and Etsy that are cute and affordable!
Bath and Body Works also carries yummy smelling spray hand sanitizer that we paired with the masks! Cause we all know that teachers are going to blow through that stuff this school year! I found lots of great spray hand sanitizer options on Amazon too! I ordered the honest company brand on Amazon to have on hand in our home!
Sending a back to school teacher gift is a fun back to school tradition that also helps break the ice with your new teacher. And a really good way for them to remember your name on the first day. You know, not because you’re the naughty kid!
You can download the printable for free below!
Themed Back to School Dinner
This is probably my favorite back to school tradition. I love any excuse to do design something fun for an occasion. So our themed back to school dinner is definitely high up on my list!
Usually I decide on something that I would like the kids to think about or work on for the year. And come up with a theme for our dinner. Create a few printables as decorations, and we talk about going back to school and what theme we’d like to have for the year.
This year, I have chosen to have our theme be kindness. It’s so sad to read any news article and see how mean people can be to other people. Whether it’s in the comments, in the news story, or just alluded to. I know that the only way that is solved is one person at a time being kind, especially when it’s not easy to be.
And I want to instill that principle in my kids. Kindness goes a long ways, whether you’re the recipient or the giver.
So this year we are focusing on kindness.
You can download the free printables from our Kindness Dinner as a subsciber to our newsletter in the Freebies section of my site here.
If you’re looking for another larger and more monochromatic reminder of kindness this year, you can check out this kindness printable on Etsy.
First Day of School Printables
This is the first year that I have 2 kids going to school at the same time. For the last 2 years my son has started preschool a couple weeks after traditional school. But since he is going into kindergarten this year, they’ll both be starting at the same time!
In the past I had a chalkboard that I would hand letter and spend way too much time making cute for first day of school pictures. I love having some details about their likes on the first day of school.
But this year, I would have to make another chalkboard so they each had one. And to save myself time (cough, aka I’m lazy cough) I decided this year I would create one I could print, and easily fill out!
I love the results of how these back to school journal signs turned out. They have everything our previous chalkboard had, but now I can keep them if we want, and I they are colorful and cute!
You can find the journal back to school signs here. I uploaded to the Office Depot online and had them printed in a ledge size so they were larger for pictures!
If you want to have something simpler, without any writing required, you can purchase these back to school signs that just say first day of kindergarten. Or whatever grade your child is entering!
Or have your kids make their own! But it’s a fun way to celebrate back to school, showing off their favorite new outfit from school shopping, ready for the first day of school!
The first day of school can be hard for both kids and moms! If you’re worried about how the first day may go, include one of these fun new lunch box notes in their lunch! It will be a happy surprise for them! And with 20 different sayings you can include on in their lunch everyday for the first month back to school!
I love simple little things like this. They really make a difference. I love when my kids come home so excited about the silly note I left them in their lunch. It’s a really easy way to remind them how much you love them, and fun for the good and bad days at school!
I designed these coloring bookmarks as a great way to color and talk with your kids. You can sit down after the first day of school with a snack (more coming on that) and talk about the first day of school. When my kids have something they’re focusing on and we’re doing together I feel like they open up more.
Once they’re all colored up, laminate them with an at home laminator and they’re ready to start their at-home reading for school! And every time they put that bookmark into their book, they’ll think of the time you spent together making it!
Home from School Snack!
The last thing is pretty simple. But it’s a special home from school snack! We usually do something like a granola bar, or apple. But on the first day of school, I like to make something special like cookies or muffins.
This forces them to sit down while they eat their yummy snack and tell you all about their first day at school!
So really this is my sneaky way to hear all the fun details about the day. It’s also a good time to address any concerns or questions they have about the expectations of their teacher.
All in all it’s a good way for us to reconnect after being away from each other for the whole day!
If you want some fun ideas for after school snacks check out this Pinterest Board!
I know that once my kids go back to school, I’ll miss them like crazy. Especially after having them home for almost 6 months since schools closed in the Spring. These back to school traditions, make going back to school fun and exciting.
They are things our kids look forward to and will look back and remember.
I hope that as schools open and kids go back everyone stays safe, and kids can have a positive learning environment amidst all the crazy going on right now!
Best of luck in your family’s back to school traditions!
No comment yet, add your voice below!