Back to School Roundup: School Pictures, Shopping, Crafts, and more

Do you have back to school on the brain yet? We ended our summer break but many are just at the end of their summer vacation, so it is coming up quickly! I wish I had thought of some fun BTS crafts to do just before school started, but I didn’t. I came up with them after.

Instead, I decided to put a list of craft projects together for you to do with your kids before the first day of school. School is just around the corner and it’s time to start planning for a successful year. We know you want your kids to have the best year ever, I hope you love these back-to-school ideas that are sure to put everyone in a good mood! Here are a few ideas that will be fun for them and easy for you! 

Ideas for back-to-school pictures you and your kids will love

School is only a few weeks away and I don’t know about you, but I am ready for summer to be over. While we certainly have one more week of fun left in the season before it’s time to send our kiddos off again, we can still spend some quality family time together. What better way than with back-to-school photos?

Fun Picture Shoots for those Back to School Photos

1. Take a photo of your child with their teacher!
2. To get in the mood for back to school, have your child dress up in a school outfit and take some silly photos with your child!
3. Get outside and take some pictures. Have your young child pose for the camera while they play with their friends or dog!
4. Bring the whole family together to take photos at home or on your phone’s camera to document everyone’s day-to-day life.
5. Try doing a Retro theme. Head to your local thrift store and look for some retro pieces, like a pair of thick-rimmed glasses or an old camera. This is a fun idea that will have you looking twice as good in those senior pics!
6. What is your child’s favorite activity? Instead of your typical school photos do what you know your child loves to do. If they love hanging in a coffee shop take some pictures there. If your child loves sports, catch them in some surprise shots. Or maybe your child is into the academics, get them with their head down studying or in a mock trial scene. My senior absolutely loves painting, her true senior photo should be in a park sitting in a chair painting a photo.

Check out this blog post for more fun back-to-school photo ideas. To feel prepared and maybe a little organized, grab these free back-to-school meal plan printables from Bright and Busy Kids.

9 Back to School Books for Kids

Every year I get my kids a box to open the night before school starts, when they were younger it always included a Back to School book. Looking for cute back-to-school books to surprise your little one with? My favorite back to school kids books include:

• Frog and Toad All Year (Can never go wrong with a classic)
• Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall
• Mouse’s First Day of School by Herman Parish and Lynne Avril
• The Kissing Hand By Audrey Penn (this is one of my favorites)
• I’ll Miss You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt  
• Go to School by The Berenstain Bears
• Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes! By James Dean  and Eric Litwin
• The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing and Julie Durrell
• My Weird School Daze Series by Dan Gutman and Jim Paillot

Parenting Chaos has a list of 13 back to school books for kids entering preschool and kindergarten here.

TIP: Don’t forget that when you post on social media you should be very careful with the information you are putting out there about your child. Don’t include what school they go to, the bus #, teacher’s name, or even your home address. These are all things a stranger can use to kidnap your child.

Back to School Shopping

The start of a new school year can become quite expensive if you don’t plan ahead. I like to save money on back-to-school shopping by shopping online and using my Kohl’s cash that I earn for shopping there or I go find some deals at Walmart or Ross. They have tons of great sales all year long on clothing, shoes, accessories, and more. With Kohl’s cash, you can end up always having money to spend which is great when your child needs another pair of shoes for the 30th time that year. Okay, so that’s a little exaggerated…..or is it?

Another good place to get discounted back-to-school stuff is a thrift store, Goodwill or consignment shop. You will find books, clothes, furniture and much more all at a fraction of the price.

There are many ways to save on back-to-school shopping.

Lunch Box Jokes

With school starting back up sometimes your kids can feel lonely, especially at lunch if they haven’t made any friends. Wouldn’t it make them smile just a bit to open up their lunch that was made by you and inside is a note or a joke? Send the kiddos off to school with laughter (in their lunch box).

Examples: Why are principals friendly? Because they’re princi-PALS!

Which letter comes after A in the alphabet? All of them!

Grab this free lunch box jokes kid printable from Kelly’s Thoughts on Things.

Back to school crafts

Make a vibrant, happy crayon wreath using just a few supplies like crayons, wide ribbon, scissors, and hot glue. This could be an amazing gift for a teacher for their classroom door. See the full tutorial over at Dollar Crafter.  For those just entering school this year, this Back to school Countdown template would be great to use from TheSuburbanMom.

This quick and simple Back to School Mason Jars can be made with your kiddo’s help, it doesn’t take a long time, and most importantly the mess is minimal! Another fun gift idea would be making an apple keychain for the teacher.

Apple Craft for Kids because we all love these, especially teachers!

Another craft that teachers will appreciate this teacher gift box. It can be used as a desk organizer or a holder for all kinds of odds and ends. Filling it with supplies is the icing on the cake because we all know how much of their own money teachers spend on classroom supplies each year. Adding a gift card would be a nice touch, too.

The new school year is just around the corner and it’s time to start preparing. There are so many things you need to do before the first day of school: buy supplies, pack breakfast, get a haircut and make sure your kids have everything they need. Here are some easy back to school craft ideas that will get your kids excited for school in no time!

Don’t forget to decorate your backpack! My kids love for me to print their name out using a Cricut and then putting it on their bag. This is more for their lunch box though so they don’t get grabbed up by another kid. The kids love buying accessories to put on their bags.

Back to School Recipes

Looking for some sweet back to school treats? Try these adorable and equally yummy composition notebook cupcakes and notebook cookies.

Not quite a dessert, but still sweet and delicious, this banana split trail mix hits the spot any time of day. Want a banana split for breakfast as you’re walking out the door? Well, why not?

Back to school time means a lot of changes for families. From new clothes to new schedules, it can be tough to figure out everything you need. One thing we all need in the morning is good breakfast. Having a delicious breakfast on the brain? Banana chocolate French toast is where it’s at. No syrup is needed. Yum! You can prep french toast casserole to make sure there’s something good in the morning. The only thing you’ll need to do is bake it, cut it up, and serve.

School day mornings are so hectic. It’s a wonder anyone gets dressed and fed, and out the door on time. DIY freezer breakfast sandwiches are prepared ahead of time and taste just the same when you reheat them. Winning! Another idea I saw was baked eggs or egg breakfast mini sandwiches that you can week a few days ahead of time.

School Lunch Ideas

If you forget to make the freezer breakfast sandwiches, you can quickly make this toasted peanut butter and jelly in a jiffy… no pun intended. 😉 Course my kids always wanted the tortilla and peanut butter and banana rolled ones.

Want to be a supermom? Here are some Bento Box lunch ideas to make your kiddo’s lunches the talk of the cafeteria. There are so many cute bento box ideas in this post, my kids would love the Star Wars-inspired ideas or the adorable animal sandwich cut-outs.

Stock up on after-school snacks, as your kids will be hungry after school. My kids love apple fries! Apples are always a great healthy snack and apple fries give you the convenience of French fries without all the grease. So go ahead, indulge. 😉

Healthy after school snack ideas

– Dried fruit
– Homemade trail mixes (I love adding nuts, yogurt raisins, dried fruits and mini M&Ms)
– Low fat or fat-free yogurt cups
– Raw vegetables, such as carrots and celery sticks
– Fresh fruit cups topped with cool whip or drizzle honey over it.
– Crackers and cheese cubes (I buy the blocks and cube them up.)
– Granola bars
– Frozen grapes
– Plain popcorn (or throw in a few mini m&ms to give a little sweetness to it)
– cheese quesadillas (toss some cheese onto a tortilla and heat it up, either on the stove or microwave)

Your kids are back home from school but you still need to do five hundred thousand things before you can take a break. Who has time for cooking a full meal over the stove? Not me! I love these kid-friendly Instant Pot recipes from Easy Instant Recipes. They’ll save everyone tonight!

The preparations for the new school year are now in full swing. You have so many things to do just before the school year starts, including buying supplies, packing breakfast, shopping for a haircut, and making sure your child has all their needs covered. I hope these easy back to school craft ideas will get your kids excited for school! Wanting something sweet? Honestly, those adorable notebook cookies or cupcakes look like they would be the perfect after-school treat for my kids.