Back to School traditions

[stephg]

What are your back to school traditions? This will be my 4th year to hs and we never have done anything special during the first day of school each year. I was thinking of doing a form that has my ds weigh/height, add his picture, etc. Have you seen a fun form like this?

 

Thanks,

 

Stephanie

 

(MJ 8, Agi 3)

[fourcatmom]

:bigear:

 

I would love to hear some ideas. We jumped in HSing last January so this will be our first whole year of HSing. We are starting the day after Labor Day. I am hoping to take the Friday before to go do something fun but on Tuesday, I want to have a few fun 1st day type things to do. I also have to work, so it will have to be simple yet memorable and fun.

[Spryte]

This year we're making a little book with all of his "stats" as part of the first quarter of school. All the usual stats, plus some extras like how many pancakes he can eat at once (that's our first day of school breakfast), his height in drinking straws, just little silly things. I'll put them all into a little notebook for him to keep.

 

On the first day that the kids here go back to school, we do a few silly fun things - picnics, day at the museum, play dates. Our not-back-to-school celebration. :) I take lots of pics, too.

 

Oh, and we do give him a school cone filled with school supplies and fun little goodies. These are traditionally only for the K year, but we somehow slipped into the habit of doing a cone each year. I get way too excited about school supplies!

[KristenR]

:bigear:

 

Anyone else with any memorable traditions?

[MerryAtHope]

I have a form! Let me see if I can attach it. When the kids were younger they would draw a picture on the bottom part.

 

Another favorite first day tradition is to make monkey bread for breakfast! This recipe is awesome, although the picture doesn't do it justice--so gooey and delicious!

 

Merry :-)

First Day Questionaire.pdf

[Embassy]

I wrap up their new school books and supplies as presents for them to open. They love it. It is their "box day." We also do first day pictures and play games. Any work we do that day is chosen by the child.

[abbeyej]

One of our back-to-school traditions is an adapted version of the German schultüte (schultuete). In Germany, these are just for kids beginning kindergarten or first grade. Apparently I've backed myself into a corner and must do them every year. :)

 

Actually, I didn't do them a couple of years ago. I guess I was overwhelmed that year or thought the kids were too old or something... The kids still have conversations that go like this:

Child2: "Do you remember that year Mommy didn't make us school cones?"

Child1: "Yes, that was awful!"

roflol... ;)

 

So now I think I'm stuck doing these 'til they go to college. And beyond. :)

 

But it's great fun. In past years I've made these from any old poster board / tissue paper in the house (even brown paper, in a pinch). I fill them with art supplies, pencils, erasers -- basically whatever school supplies I would have bought anyway -- and a few other fun things like educational card games, an inflatable globe, a few small treats...

 

This year, for the first time, I ordered ready-made cones. You can absolutely make your own! But I figured I'd spent enough years staying up late the night before school starts, making them. So this year I ordered from http://kindercone.com/ -- the cones are gigantic, well-made, and they shipped to me very, very quickly along with a personal note thanking me for my order. I'm planning for them to last us for several years. This website also has some cute ones, though I've never ordered from them. I also got the Pelikan fountain pens for the kids from Kindercone -- I think they'll really enjoy learning to use those. :)

 

I also went a little overboard with items to fill the kids' cones this year. Dh was driving past an AG store, so I asked him to pick up Molly's school supplies set for dd. Apparently he couldn't help himself and bought Kit's as well. ;) She's also getting a Doctor Who pencil case. ... Ds recently rediscovered HA Rey and some of the stories he hadn't read as a small child (I had The Journey That Saved Curious George as a connection to WW2, but it's full of wonderful illustrations from other Rey books, so we also had to get our hands on a copy of Curious George and Friends -- just one CG story, but a number of other more and less famous stories as well!) Anyway, because of his newfound/rediscovered love of HA Rey characters, I picked out two of these lovely stuffed creatures to go in ds's cone... (They're cheaper at Amazon, but I could link to better pictures this way.) Both kids will get some pencils and glue sticks and that sort of thing.

 

*But* you don't have to go crazy like I did this year. Past years here have proven that a homemade cone with pencils, stickers, and a piece of chocolate make kids perfectly happy as well. :)

 

We'll open these the day before school starts, since we'll actually have a pretty full day once our work starts up. But if they finish at a reasonable time, I'll probably surprise them and sneak out for ice cream or another treat at the end of the day.

[Runningmom80]

One of our back-to-school traditions is an adapted version of the German schultüte (schultuete). In Germany, these are just for kids beginning kindergarten or first grade. Apparently I've backed myself into a corner and must do them every year. :)

 

Actually, I didn't do them a couple of years ago. I guess I was overwhelmed that year or thought the kids were too old or something... The kids still have conversations that go like this:

Child2: "Do you remember that year Mommy didn't make us school cones?"

Child1: "Yes, that was awful!"

roflol... ;)

 

So now I think I'm stuck doing these 'til they go to college. And beyond. :)

 

But it's great fun. In past years I've made these from any old poster board / tissue paper in the house (even brown paper, in a pinch). I fill them with art supplies, pencils, erasers -- basically whatever school supplies I would have bought anyway -- and a few other fun things like educational card games, an inflatable globe, a few small treats...

 

This year, for the first time, I ordered ready-made cones. You can absolutely make your own! But I figured I'd spent enough years staying up late the night before school starts, making them. So this year I ordered from http://kindercone.com/ -- the cones are gigantic, well-made, and they shipped to me very, very quickly along with a personal note thanking me for my order. I'm planning for them to last us for several years. This website also has some cute ones, though I've never ordered from them. I also got the Pelikan fountain pens for the kids from Kindercone -- I think they'll really enjoy learning to use those. :)

 

I also went a little overboard with items to fill the kids' cones this year. Dh was driving past an AG store, so I asked him to pick up Molly's school supplies set for dd. Apparently he couldn't help himself and bought Kit's as well. ;) She's also getting a Doctor Who pencil case. ... Ds recently rediscovered HA Rey and some of the stories he hadn't read as a small child (I had The Journey That Saved Curious George as a connection to WW2, but it's full of wonderful illustrations from other Rey books, so we also had to get our hands on a copy of Curious George and Friends -- just one CG story, but a number of other more and less famous stories as well!) Anyway, because of his newfound/rediscovered love of HA Rey characters, I picked out two of these lovely stuffed creatures to go in ds's cone... (They're cheaper at Amazon, but I could link to better pictures this way.) Both kids will get some pencils and glue sticks and that sort of thing.

 

*But* you don't have to go crazy like I did this year. Past years here have proven that a homemade cone with pencils, stickers, and a piece of chocolate make kids perfectly happy as well. :)

 

We'll open these the day before school starts, since we'll actually have a pretty full day once our work starts up. But if they finish at a reasonable time, I'll probably surprise them and sneak out for ice cream or another treat at the end of the day.

 

This is such an awesome idea! Thanks. :D

[Mommy22alyns]

I have a form! Let me see if I can attach it. When the kids were younger they would draw a picture on the bottom part.

 

Another favorite first day tradition is to make monkey bread for breakfast! This recipe is awesome, although the picture doesn't do it justice--so gooey and delicious!

 

Merry :-)

 

 

Oooh, thanks for this!

[justamouse]

One of our back-to-school traditions is an adapted version of the German schultüte (schultuete). In Germany, these are just for kids beginning kindergarten or first grade. Apparently I've backed myself into a corner and must do them every year. :)

 

Actually, I didn't do them a couple of years ago. I guess I was overwhelmed that year or thought the kids were too old or something... The kids still have conversations that go like this:

Child2: "Do you remember that year Mommy didn't make us school cones?"

Child1: "Yes, that was awful!"

roflol... ;)

 

So now I think I'm stuck doing these 'til they go to college. And beyond. :)

 

But it's great fun. In past years I've made these from any old poster board / tissue paper in the house (even brown paper, in a pinch). I fill them with art supplies, pencils, erasers -- basically whatever school supplies I would have bought anyway -- and a few other fun things like educational card games, an inflatable globe, a few small treats...

 

This year, for the first time, I ordered ready-made cones. You can absolutely make your own! But I figured I'd spent enough years staying up late the night before school starts, making them. So this year I ordered from http://kindercone.com/ -- the cones are gigantic, well-made, and they shipped to me very, very quickly along with a personal note thanking me for my order. I'm planning for them to last us for several years. This website also has some cute ones, though I've never ordered from them. I also got the Pelikan fountain pens for the kids from Kindercone -- I think they'll really enjoy learning to use those. :)

 

I also went a little overboard with items to fill the kids' cones this year. Dh was driving past an AG store, so I asked him to pick up Molly's school supplies set for dd. Apparently he couldn't help himself and bought Kit's as well. ;) She's also getting a Doctor Who pencil case. ... Ds recently rediscovered HA Rey and some of the stories he hadn't read as a small child (I had The Journey That Saved Curious George as a connection to WW2, but it's full of wonderful illustrations from other Rey books, so we also had to get our hands on a copy of Curious George and Friends -- just one CG story, but a number of other more and less famous stories as well!) Anyway, because of his newfound/rediscovered love of HA Rey characters, I picked out two of these lovely stuffed creatures to go in ds's cone... (They're cheaper at Amazon, but I could link to better pictures this way.) Both kids will get some pencils and glue sticks and that sort of thing.

 

*But* you don't have to go crazy like I did this year. Past years here have proven that a homemade cone with pencils, stickers, and a piece of chocolate make kids perfectly happy as well. :)

 

We'll open these the day before school starts, since we'll actually have a pretty full day once our work starts up. But if they finish at a reasonable time, I'll probably surprise them and sneak out for ice cream or another treat at the end of the day.

 

that is awesome.

[susancollins]

Merry,

Thank you for the First Day of School document.

[rwjx2khsmj]

We take first day of school pictures. We also have a first day of school tea party.