I always like to do a nice breakfast for my kids on the First Day of School, but that was as far as I had gotten in my planning to celebrate the special day.
Then when I was out shopping I came across these giant smarties at the local grocery store and knew my kids would love them. (Smarties are how we get through Sacrament Meeting). I wasn’t sure what I would do, but Smarties and school just go together. I thought about writing a note that said: “To my little Smartie, I know you will do great in 4th grade” or something along those lines.
Then later I came across these fun gumballs in a ruler box at TJMaxx. The ruler just screamed “school” and the gum just screamed “kids”. I knew I would use these this year instead.
I wrote notes that said, “Have a ball in 4th grade!” (or 1st or Preschool) and tied them to the gumball boxes. Although these ruler gum balls are extra cute, any gum ball pack would do. If you are lucky enough to find the ruler gum pack, you could also play off the ruler idea with some kind of note like “You will rule the 1st grade!” I am still not sure if I will put these treats on their breakfast plates, in their backpack, in their lunch or on their dinner plates, but I know they will love them.
If the Smarties and gum don’t do it for you, here are a few other ideas to make the first day of school special:
Write a letter to each child with some advice for the school year. Put it on their breakfast plate.
Walk the kids to school.
Eat lunch with them in the cafeteria.
Do whatever you have to do to be home when they get home from school.
Have warm cookies ready for an after school treat.
Make a nice dinner where you all sit down together and talk about the first day of school. Maybe use the High-Low-Uh technique to facilitate conversation.
Any other ideas to celebrate the First Day of School?
Have fun moms and kids!
Tiffany, I used your smarties idea for the end of school…I also included smart food popcorn and a smart water. It was a big hit. Thanks so much for helping me be a fun mom 🙂
Ooh! Smart water is a great idea. Kids need more water and less candy. I might just use your idea next year. Thanks Shana!
what is smart water and smart popcorn?
Are these brand names?
Yes, Lynn. You can see a picture of these brands in this post:
https://www.raisinglemons.com/holidays/smartie-pants/
Such cute ideas! Love your daily ideas and thoughts. We already started school here in AZ (soon to be week 3) and it has been exciting. Some mornings can be hectic, so I’ve really tried to make the mornings positive so they have a good start to their day, as well as giving them a positive welcome home. On our 1st day I welcomed them home with freshly made muffins and we had a fancier dinner to celebrate. I love it when we all can talk about details from the day rather than getting one word answers! Sometimes food is the perfect way to get my boys to open up!
I am looking for a way to either decorate or surprise my son when he comes home from his first day of preschool.