6 Back to School Ideas

I feel like everyone else is just getting started with gearing up for heading back to school, but we started last week so I thought I would share some tips and tricks I learned while prepping my Code Man for Kindergarten!

1. Read Books about school! I searched for some books about Kindergarten (I am sure there are wonderful books for every grade level!), and rather than buying them all, I checked them all out at my local library.  It was fun to read through these books and get the questions flowing BEFORE the big day! One of my favorite books, which we actually own and read the day of, is The Kissing Hand. Cutest book eva and I highly recommend it… it will make you cry! I was also able to try out a brand new book, Princess Cupcake Jones Won’t Go to School, which is another great book about how resistant this little girl was to go to school until she got there and then realized how much fun it was going to be! We love reading books at our house and this was one way to help with the transition of a new school year. 
2. Take them to the school for tours, to meet the teachers, and play on the playground! We went on two tours of the school, visiting his classroom, gym, music, art and library rooms, meeting teachers and just exploring. I also made sure to take him to the school playground through the summer and talking about where the buses would pull up so his surroundings would not be totally new on day one. We also looked at a picture of his teacher before  we got to meet her at Parent/Teacher night and talked about things he would be experiencing for weeks leading up to the first day. 
3. Make it FUN! I have blogged in the past about how the Back to School Fairy visits our house and it just seems to get everyone excited on the big day! Other things we have tried is making a special breakfast that day, splurging on a favorite dinner place and ice cream after the first day, letting them pick out a new outfit, back pack or school supplies. All of these things just make them feel special and keep things positive! 
4. Document the day in pictures! Everyone has a different way to document the start of the school year whether it be with a chalkboard, a cool sign etc. I found these adorable printables that I have used since Cody started preschool and all I have to do is print them off and you all know mama likes it easy! They are super cute and I can look back one day and actually remember what grade he was going into that year! 
5. Gear up for when they get home- Get the DIRT! I had to find out how the day went from the other moms at preschool. I would ask Cody how was your day and he would say “good”. That was about all I got! I found these free printables, After School Questions, and thought this would be a great way to get the conversation started! This was one of the things our Back to School Fairy brought and Cody just went crazy for it. As soon as he got off the bus he wanted to go inside to pick questions from the jar! We ended up going through every question and I got the full scoop on his first day! It was AWESOME! I highly recommend these! 
6. Anyone up for 20 Questions?! Love these and you can do these at the beginning of each school year and add it to their memory book. How fun would this be to look back on in 20 years?! 

So there ya have it. Hope this helps make your child (and your!) transition to a new school year as seamless and easy as possible! Good Luck mamas and have a GREAT year!