Back to School Craft Ideas

Back to school time is coming up fast, and doing school-related crafts with kids can be a way to talk about the coming school year and help them get ready for it.

If you’re trying to build excitement around the new year (or have a kid who is already counting down the days on their own) this cute school bus countdown from A Little Pinch of Perfect is a nice one to make. If your child doesn’t ride the bus you could use a school house, an apple or another symbol of school instead of the bus.

If there is a school bus in your school routine, this paper plate bus craft from The Purple Yarn is super cute and easy to make. Make it while talking about what riding on the bus is like or reminding kids what the morning and afternoon routine looks like.

Speaking of paper plate crafts, you can also make a paper plate apple like this one from I Heart Crafty Things. I like this one because of the worm, which can move up and down in the plate and makes it a little interactive.

My favorite back to school themed crafts are those that feature pencils and crayons. Maybe because I have always loved supplies! Make a Popsicle stick pencil with this tutorial from Crafty Morning, or make Popsicle stick pencil bookmarks like these from Crafts by Amanda.

Made to be a Momma has cute crayon bookmarks, which would be sweet to make for a classroom. I also like her Popsicle colored pencils craft.

If you’re decorating a classroom or art area, you might want to grab this crayon template from The Best Ideas for Kids. They were made to be a writing prompt for The Day the Crayons Quit but they would be cute on a bulletin board, too.

Make a super cute pencil paper bag puppet with this printable from Simply Everyday Mom.

Older kids might like to make their own pencil case out of duct tape. This one from Frugal Coupon Living is super simple because it uses a zip-top plastic bag as the base.

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I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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