Back to School Traditions

I have posted about our back-to-school traditions previously, but thought I would share some specifics of what we did for 2020-2021.

Several years ago, I read a magazine article detailing a German tradition called Schultüte. Students are given a paper cone filled with little presents for going back to school.

I loved this idea so much I started doing it with our kids. The first year we only had The Girlio in school, and I actually made a paper cone and everything.

After that first year, I went to wrapping and hiding the gifts around the house, and the kids love searching for them. It’s pretty fun.

For gifts, I always have the kids pick out a “fancy” (some type of fun design) pencil. We used to get ones that had their grade on them from our local school supply store. But they only had ones for elementary school, so when The Girlio got to middle school, I just let them start picking out any fancy pencil they wanted.

Then, I usually include small school supplies we need for the year. Some years it’s art supplies like oil pastels, markers, etc. This year everyone needed a new ruler, and regular scissors. We’ve outgrown the kid scissors. 🙂

Finally, I include books and/or educational games. This year, The Girlio got a few books from The Good and the Beautiful library.

She also got a copy of The Action Bible.

The Boy got more books from his two favorite book series.

The Little Guy got a few early readers, and a game.

Now you might say “Wow, you spent a lot of money on this,” but I actually spent very little. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a good deal/sale. The books from The Good and the Beautiful were on sale for $1.99. I bought books used on Ebay or kidsbooks.com. I found the Daniel Tiger book at the Dollar Tree. Even the game was majorly discounted on Amazon due to damaged packaging. Also, I include money in my home school budget for this exact purpose.

And yes, I could just provide these things at the beginning of the year, but it’s so much more fun getting special presents, don’t you think? 🙂

So, the kids find and open these presents the night before school starts.

We also usually watch a movie and have a special meal. This year we had one of my kids’ favorite meals which is “homemade Culvers.” This is just grilled cheese, fries, and pink lemonade. We don’t go to Culvers too much anymore as The Boy can’t eat things there, but at home I can make his food gluten and dairy free and he gets to enjoy this meal.

This year we also spent time playing the Phase Ten card game-something we have really been enjoying as a family lately.

I love having this night of family fun before school starts back up again. It is a wonderful opportunity to spend time together and have a great time. I always look forward to it, and so do the kids.

So there you have it-our back-to-school traditions for the night before school!