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Making first day of K special


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A school cone (schuletüte / schultuete) is great fun. In Germany, huge cardboard cones almost as big as the children are given to them on the first day of K and 1st grade, filled with school supplies, small toys, and treats. As Americans have started to adapt the tradition, some of us just keep filling the cones year after year. :) When my kids were little, I'd make a cardboard cone (I'd cheat and make two or three -- if I was filling one for dh too, since he's a professor and also has to go "back to school" -- small ones out of a single piece of poster board) every year. One year I started to think they were "too old" and I never did school cones. They *still* bring it up! "Do you remember that year you didn't make us school cones? Yeah, that was horrible." Roflol... Goofballs. ;)

 

Anyway, you could make or buy one now (Kindercone.com has some nice ones, either pre-filled or empty to fill yourself -- MagicCabin also has them, but only pre-filled), fill it, take his photo with it, and then each year do it again, so you have photos of him growing larger and larger next to his school cone. I did eventually buy pre-made ones for the kids. They're nicer than the ones I used to make -- but nobody ever seemed to mind those either. :)

 

Things to put in cones include: fun pencils, nice scissors, art supplies (colored pencils, markers, paint sets, chalk), fountain pens (yes, there are lovely ones from Germany for kids), educational card games, small stuffed animals (particularly related to a favorite children's picture books or to history you'll be studying that year), small musical instruments (triangle, recorder), little kits, paper dolls, Dover mini books, stickers, special candy or treats... Even special tea for "tea time" (when you use the grown-up china and read poetry together) or tickets to a local museum or botanical garden that you'll be visiting, etc.

 

Have a great time building memories together!

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Last year for my son's first day of K, I gave him (and dd) small gifts (Smencils, homeschool theme teeshirts, erasers that look like other objects, and a piece of candy).

 

We took a first day of school pic and mounted it on background paper, then added his handprint, weighed and measured him and added that info, and wrote the year, grade, and his name.

 

We made a "back to school wreath" for the front door and decorated it with cute schoolish looking things.

 

We made a fall seasonal "tank" (we do a small tank instead of a table) and put things in it that reminded us of fall (including decorating the back of the tank with fall color paper leaves.

 

We did our school day and later that day we went for a walk and played a board game. Some people go for ice cream or whatever.

 

Enjoy your K year! :)

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Every year I get my kids a gift bag of fun little odds and ends. This year they got decorative pencils, stamps, mad libs, erasers, etc. Fun stuff like that, nothing major. We also throw a "back to school" party. We do school like normal but I bake treats. This year we had some juice concoction I found on Pinterest and scones. I also make sure we get some new school supplies, even if we don't strictly need it. I want them to feel that the start of a new school year is an exciting and special time. :)

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One year, I bought plastic file boxes and let the kids pick out stickers. They decorated the boxes with markers and stickers. We used them to hold workbooks, notebooks, and school supplies. When it was school time, they pulled their boxes out and were ready to go! I actually still have them in the storage room. :tongue_smilie:

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