Fun First Day of School Crafts

Many parents are taking a few moments on that hectic, exciting and often emotional morning of the first day of school to snap some photos of the first day of school. A back to school picture frame is a fun craft for the first day of school to showcase those smiles and of course all of those back to school clothes, backpacks and lunch boxes.

There are of course easy to assemble back to school theme foam frame kits available or kids can add foam stickers to craft stick frames. Look for stickers with buses, pencils, apples, books and other school supplies. The yellow and black are popular colors for first day of school frames as they represent a school bus. Don't forget to add a magnet, the grade and the school year to your first day of school crafts.

Green idea: What to do with those pencils that have been sharpened down to the nub? Glue them onto a back to school craft photo frame. They'll be just the "write" size.

Back to School "Punch Card" Bookmarks: Back to school crafts that encourage reading.

A bookmark is a great back to school craft but this bookmark offers a unique twist. Many retailers, food shop and coffee shops offer a "punch card." Here we are going to create a bookmark that offers a "punch" for each book read.

Kids can use scraps of heavy paper to create a bookmark and decorate with stickers and markers. The key is to make this bookmark extra wide. Have students write the numbers 1 through 5 down the left side and the numbers 6 through 10 down the right side. After completing a book, let kids use the hole puncher to punch out the numbers. Offer a small reward when a bookmark punch card is complete.

Extra touch: Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark to tie on a piece of ribbon.

First Day of School Cone Crafts: Schultute is a first day of school tradition in Germany.

I loved the idea of the cones featured in Parents magazine's August 2010 issue. In Germany, where children begin school in the first day, parents fill cones with treats for the first day of school. Kids can create their own back to school craft cones using poster board, construction paper, wallpaper scraps, or even newspaper. Tape, stickers, or a hole punch and yarn can be used to close the cone. Add a ribbon or yarn handle so these first day of school cones can hang on a door knob or school peg.

Parents or teachers can fill the cones with back to school supplies or first day of school treats.

Alternative idea: Reuse left over party hats that will make the perfect cones when turn upside down. The kids can still decorate and personalize them.

Favorite Summer Memory Diorama: The diorama is a great story starter craft before writing.

We all know there are plenty of shoeboxes around after so many people bought new shoes for back to school that are perfect for creating summer memory dioramas.

Dioramas are a good way to kick off the school year by reusing and recycling scraps too.

Many kids dread that first "what I did over the summer" writing assignment. Making a diorama will give them a good start towards choosing a topic and deciding on important details.

Bonus: Creating a diorama is a great pre-writing activity. Kids can create a diorama of their favorite summer memory, verbally describe their memory and then put the pencil to the paper.

Sources:

Personal experience as a teacher and mom

Cone craft idea, Parents, August 2010 issue