Can it really be that time of the summer where we are thinking of first day of school activities?

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Time flies. This year I will have one in a 2nd grade and one in kindergarten and one that specializes in making messes. 🙂 Kids like routines and they like having things to look forward to, so having a few fun first day of school traditions up your sleeve will have them excited.

I’m all about keeping things easy (I need easy to make sure I can keep up with them each year) and frugal, so these first day of school activities will be both of those things.

Since we homeschool, these ideas for the first day of school will work for public, private, and homeschooler. Perfect!

First Day of School Activities

Breakfast for Dinner

The night before school starts, have a breakfast feast! You don’t want to spend your first morning of school rushed, so this is a perfect way to sit down and have time to enjoy the breakfast foods you would have made.

Some ideas:

• A pancake bar with assorted toppings (fruits, chocolate chips, nuts etc). Pancakes could even be shaped into the number of each child’s grade.
• Cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs
• Breakfast Casserole and Fruit
• French Toast
• Yogurt bar

Afternoon Cookies

Make up a batch of  your favorite cookies to celebrate the completion of day 1! You really can’t get much easier than that. Making the dough a day or two before and sticking it in the fridge makes the process even simpler. If you want dairy and gluten free, try these peanut butter cookies or these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are also yummy!

Pictures

You knew this was going to make the list. 🙂 Find a chalkboard, or small dry erase board, or printable and and find a place to take a picture. For printables, check out this one or this one that’s customizable.

Questionnaire

If it’s hard for you to keep up with remembering to do these on birthdays or over the busy holidays, make them a part of your first day of school traditions! Here are a few that I found and liked – this one and this one are great all about me printables. I also really liked this interview worksheet.

Fun Breakfast

I know we already talked about doing breakfast for dinner the night before so come up with a super simple idea for the actual breakfast. Jessica Fisher does a slab apple pie for breakfast every year. If you are like our family, you don’t buy packaged foods – so a box of granola bars or cereal could be a fun treat. Or a box of donuts. Or leftovers from the night before. 😉

Measuring Chart

This is another one of those things I never seem to remember to do. Line up your children and see how much they grew in the past year. I’m loving this removable one I found on Amazon! Don’t want to leave it out all the time, no problem.

Kids Choose Dinner

Let the kids pick dinner for the night. If you think they’ll blow the budget, give them a dollar amount if they are older or help guide them if they are little.

Saturday Fun

The Saturday before school starts, pack up and have a little more summer fun. Try the beach, pool, or hiking and make an afternoon or even day out of it.

Write a Note

Write each of your kids a note for their first day and stick it in their lunch, inside a school book, or in the front of their notebook.

Homeschool Bonus First Day of School Ideas:

Two more ideas that will probably only work for the homeschoolers out there:

PJ Day

Celebrate by letting your kids do school in their PJs. My kids would think that’s the coolest! I know there’s the stereotype that homeschoolers stay in the pajamas, but that’s not how it works in my house so it would be a fun (and looked forward to) treat.

Picnic Lunch

Whether you go to the park or simply to the backyard, make lunch a little special by turning it into a picnic. If your kids already completed their work, it will be a celebration. If they are still in the thick of it, it will be a fun and needed mental break.

What are your favorite first day of school activities?