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.

12 Back to School Scrapbook Layouts Ideas [Scrap Booking]

10 Budget Friendly Back to School Jewelry Ideas [Jewelry Making]

21 Back to School Breakfast Ideas [Edible Crafts]

20 great Back to School DIYs [Recycled Crafts]

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

Leave a Reply