I love this time of year! The freshly sharpened pencils and the boxes of neatly nestled crayons! Teachers buzzing around labeling everything and designing bulletin boards! New backpacks and lunch boxes!
And I love sharing the excitement with my kiddos – although they keep giving me the side-eye whenever I mention school because it means summer is almost over.
To lessen the blow of that reality, here is a quick list of 7 things you can do to make the back to school season fun for your family!
Countdown
We are about 2 weeks away from school starting in our neck of the woods. Now is the time for a countdown to build anticipation and excitement for the first day! Countdowns are also great visuals for little learners who ask 4,000 times a day if school is starting tomorrow. 🙂
You can do a countdown using THIS ADORABLE FREE PRINTABLE, or a countdown with M&M’s like THIS ONE, or – my personal favorite – a Prayer Countdown like THIS ONE.
Teacher Gift
Teachers are my favorite. I love starting the year off with a thoughtful gift. You can find some amazing, inexpensive teacher gift ideas and FREE Printables HERE. Also BROWNIE POINTS.
School Supply Fun
We went school supply shopping this past weekend and it prompted me to remember THIS SUPER CUTE FREE Printable Scavenger Hunt that gets your kiddos racing around the house searching for school treasures using the rhyming clue cards. It’s so easy and will be such a fun memory!
Special Treats
Win even the most hesitant school-goer’s in your house with THIS yummy School Bus Treat. Go ahead. It’s not like you’ve been eating ice cream and popsicles all summer long. 🙂
Back to School Books
I love using books as a way to get my kids prepared for a new change or season in their life. I put together a list of our family’s favorite back-to-school-themed books HERE.
Back to School Dinner
The night before the first day of school I like to make my boys their favorite meal and stick in a few toothpicks with taped signs that say, “2nd grader!” or the title of whatever grade they are entering (see example HERE). One time I even pulled the toy school bus out of the car bin and set it on the table as our centerpiece. Nothing fancy or expensive, just a little magical touch to celebrate the new year.
PRAY
This last point is by far our most important preparation for back to school! I had just crawled under the covers the other night when I felt the Lord nudging me to get back out of bed and go pray over each of my boys while they slept – something I love to do and wish I did more! I prayed for their friends, for their obedience, spirits of kindness, attentiveness, their teachers, etc. The Lord is all you and your kids need for a wonderful school year. Read more of my thoughts on prayer and grab a FREE Printable featuring specific Back to School Prayers HERE.
How do YOU like to get ready for Back to School?
Joyfully,
Julie 🙂
Love the treasure hunt! I’m going to create packages with all the items and a set of the clues and send to my niece/nephews and my Godsons and their brother. I’m sure they will love the hunt! Thanks so much for all your great ideas!