Are you looking to make the start of a new school year a little extra special for your kids? Consider adopting one or more of these first day of school traditions that you can repeat year after year.
The first day of school is a big day! It should be celebrated! But don’t worry, moms, this doesn’t have to cause extra stress at an already stressful time. There are plenty of first day of school traditions that aren’t over-the-top, expensive, or time-consuming. They can just be little things that mark the occasion and get the kids excited for another year of school.
Ready to figure out what your options are for first day of school traditions?
First Day of School Traditions
Cake
Start the first day of school traditions the night before the big day by throwing a little end of summer party. Now, I’m not suggesting that you throw a huge bash and keep everyone up past their bedtime. A simple family party with a cake and maybe a fun meal is plenty.
Decorate
I think it’s so fun when parents decorate the house for special occasions like birthdays, big milestones, and the first day of school. This is not the type of mom I am, but I can dream, right? If you’re a mom who likes to decorate, the first day of school is a wonderful time to stretch those decorating muscles. I think it would be so fun to wake up on the first day of school to a whole bunch of decorations to make going back to school fun. Hang up a back-to-school banner, blow up balloons – make it super festive!
Breakfast
If you have a little extra time to spare in the morning, make a special breakfast as your first day of school tradition. I don’t know about you, but I often throw some freezer waffles with peanut butter or an egg bite I have in the fridge at my kids in the morning on school days. It’s nutritious and it gets the job done, but breakfast isn’t usually exciting in my house during the week. Make an exception for the first day of school by whipping up a memorable breakfast. Cinnamon rolls, homemade pancakes, or breakfast sandwiches make for great first day of school traditions. If you can’t swing making breakfast from scratch on the first day of school, every kid I know would be happy to have store-bought donuts for breakfast to mark the start of a new year!
Dance
You’re probably going to have a hard time getting your kids up for school on the first day. Even if they’ve been going to camps all summer, they’ve likely had much more relaxed mornings for the last few months. The morning routine of the school year will come as a shock. And not a good one. Ease them in by cranking up the music and dancing your way through the morning routine on the first day of school.
The music you choose is up to you. My husband likes to start with “Welcome to the Jungle,” my neighbor prefers “I Like to Move It,” and my son has a weird obsession with “Cotton Eye Joe.” You could even curate a playlist of school-related songs like “ABC,” “School Days,” and “Back to School Again” if you really want to stay on theme.
Pictures
If you choose only one of these first day of school traditions, I beg you to choose this one. Take your kids’ pictures before they head out the door. If you have a sign that you like to fill out, great! If not, you can either write the date and their grade on a piece of paper or skip the signage entirely. Just take a picture. You’ll be so happy you did when the kids are grown and you have these special memories to look back on and smile.
Card
If your kids are old enough to read, I really like the idea of slipping a card into their backpack on the first day of school. Write your kid a note about how excited you are to see what they learn and how they grow this year. These can also be memory box worthy mementos of a childhood.
Lunch
Lunch presents a great opportunity for first day of school traditions. Just because they aren’t with you when they eat lunch on the first day of school doesn’t mean you can’t turn lunch into a tradition.
Special lunch
I try hard to make nice lunches that the kids want to eat at school, but I often default to the same few lunch ideas that I just repeat over and over throughout the year. The idea behind this is that if it ain’t broke, there’s no reason to fix it. It might be nice to skip those tried and true, easy lunch options on the first day and opt for a special lunch instead. Something like pizza would always be a welcome surprise in a lunchbox!
Note
At the very least, I love the idea of slipping a little note in your kid’s lunchbox on the first day of school. The first day of school can be taxing, so having a little touchstone to mom in the lunchbox can help make it a little easier to get through the day!
Ice cream
I take any opportunity to go get ice cream, and the first day of school sounds like as good of an excuse as any! I know many people who count a trip to the ice cream parlor after school among their first day of school traditions. It’s a popular first day of school tradition because it’s a good first day of school tradition. Don’t feel like you need to reinvent the wheel – take the kids to get ice cream after school on the first day!
Height
When you do finally get your kid home from school after the first day, I love the idea of capping off the day by measuring his height. Find a place in your house that you don’t mind getting marked up (closet door frame, garage, etc.) and mark each child’s height with a pencil and label it with name and grade. It’s a fun way to have a tangible reminder that they’re growing up!
Dinner
When my son started Kindergarten last year, we went out to dinner as a family to celebrate. Luckily, my husband’s schedule should allow us to do it again this year. And you know that doing something two years in a row means it’s a tradition! It might not always be possible to go out to dinner on the first day of school for lots of reasons, but while we can, I want to sit together as a family, eat a fun meal, and cheers to a good school year!
Other posts
Looking for other back-to-school content? I’ve got more where this came from!
So, have you decided on the first day of school traditions you want to adopt? Share them down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!