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]

When my daughter was younger I would spend a lot of time trying to come up with activities she could do in the car on long road trips and things to entertain her when we were waiting at restaurants and things that didn’t involve screens.

But it turns out there are a lot of great activities you can do with just a piece of paper and a pen.

What Do We Do All Day has a great collection of pen and paper games, including some that can be done with just one person, though they’re all more fun if you have at least two.

There are some classics on here like hangman and dots and boxes, but there are also quite a few I hadn’t heard of before.

I don’t want to spoil the whole list for you because you should definitely click over there and look around, but I will share about the one that you see pictured above.

This game is called Bridges, and you start by making the big random shape and the dividing it into a bunch of sections (the post says 30-50 sections is ideal but I think this one is smaller than that).

Each player gets their own color marker and you take turns drawing bridges from one space to another, crossing a third. Once there’s a bridge, no other bridges can start, end or cross in those spaces. Keep going until no more bridges can be built, and the person who makes the last bridge wins.

Check out the post over at What We Do All Day for more great ideas for no or almost-no prep games you can play with your kids or that kids can play together. I’d love to know if you have a favorite paper and pen game, whether it’s on this list or a different one.

[Photo: What We Do All Day]

Have you read?

Leave a Reply