8 Back to School Family Traditions

Plan a special dinner the night before. Whether your child picks where he/she wants to go out to eat or chooses what he/she would like for dinner that night. Make the meal special either way. Sit down as a family and talk about the upcoming day. If you want to go all out, there are some really cute table decoration ideas to celebrate the start of school.

Complete a back to school interview. This would be fun to do as a family at the dinner table. There are lots of printables out there for your child to complete. Most have just a few simple questions for your child to answer. Stash the answers away in a safe place and complete the same form at the end of the year. It will be sweet to see how your child’s answers change over the years. Since AG is younger and can’t tell me what she wants to be when she grows up, I will be letting her color on a piece of paper. At the end of the year I’ll give her the same blank piece of paper and let her go to town again. I can’t wait to see how her artwork changed over a year. I plan to do this each year and make a scrapbook of the artwork/ interviews that I will give her on her graduation day.

Pick out a back to school outfit. This is something I looked forward to as a kid. We didn’t have uniforms at school. My mom let me pick up some new clothes for back to school and I always wore my favorite one on the first day. If your child’s school does have uniforms, let your child pick out a new hair bow, shoes, leggings, etc.  It doesn’t have to be something expensive. Just something new to start the new year off with and make your child feel extra special on that first day.

Read a back to school book before bed. I plan on gifting AG a back to school book each year on the night before school. I will write a special note in the cover of the book to document the occasion. I know she’ll love and look forward to unwrapping a book to read the night before school. Here are some back to school books: Biscuit goes to school, If you take a mouse to school, The night before preschool, Maisy goes to preschool, & Curious George’s first day of school.

Back to school breakfast. This doesn’t have to be anything big. It can be a simple pancake, waffle or donut with a candle in it. Or it can be your child’s favorite breakfast. You can go all out with the back to school decor or keep it simple. The key to this meal is taking time to sit down as a family if possible to enjoy breakfast before the big day. Even if that means you have to wake up extra early to get everything else ready for the day.

Take a picture. There are loads of First Day Of…. printables on Pinterest. You can find a bunch on my back to school pinterest board, found below. Take a picture of your child as he/she leaves for school holding the printable sign. This picture would be perfect to add to the scrapbook with your child’s interview at the beginning of the year. Plan on taking a Last Day of… picture as well to see how much your child has grown over the year. Again, another item to add to the scrapbook.

Send a note to school in your child’s lunch or snack. Again, there are some adorable free printables out there. Simply print one, leave a sweet note for your child to let him/her know they’re in your thoughts. While you’re at it, you can do this for your spouse as well =-)

Have a special treat ready when your child gets home. Have your child’s favorite snack waiting for when he/she gets out of school or go out for ice cream. Just take time to sit down together and talk all about your child’s first day.