Make Back-to-School Charms to Help Kids Get Themselves Ready

My daughter is carrying a backpack regularly for the first time this year, and I find myself constantly asking her if she has all the things she needs (which admittedly isn’t much; she’s only in second grade).

If you have a lot of kids or a lot of things to keep track of, these DIY backpack zipper charms from Lemon Lime Adventures by way of Imagination Soup would be a great way to help kids to keep track of what they need to pack from day to day.

Using Shrinky Dink paper, kids can write and/or draw the different things they need to keep in their bag, then make them into little charms they can hang from the zipper pull. For younger kids, adults can draw the pictures. Or grab Dayna’s book, from which this activity is excerpted, where you’ll find charms you can trace.

Do you have any tips for keeping kids and their backpacks organized? I’d love to hear them!

[Photo: Imagination Soup.]

Next Plan Idea:

Felt Zipper Pulls for Back to School

Whether you have snow where you live or are on the wrong side of the world for that, these snow glob crafts for kids are a lot of fun to put together at home or in the classroom.

If you want to keep it super basic, you can download some snow globe coloring pages from Monday Mandala and have kids drawn in their own images (or color in what is there for the ones that are already filled). This could be a fun way to play with different media, having kids paint in one, draw in another, or use crayons in one, colored pencils in another, etc.

Or you can add your kid (or a classroom full of kids) to snowglobes with this craft from Twitchetts. It’s easy to make and fun for kids to help with, too.

You can also make snow globes with paper plates pretty easily, and there are lots of different options out there that should give you some ideas. This one from In the Playroom uses blue glittery pompoms as the snow and has a snowman in the background (though you can use whatever you want).

Mas and Pas uses a clear plate on top of a regular plate to make its snow globe, and Daydream into Reality just uses a paper plate to make the snow globe shape but there’s no snow involved. Their template includes different images you can put in the snow globe, or draw your own.

If you want to make a snow globe without the watery (so potentially less mess) you can make a waterless snow globe out of a plastic cup with this tutorial from The Pragmatic Parent. It uses tiny foam balls as the snow. Tidy Mom’s version uses a real glass jar and fake snow to flurry around.

And if you’re OK with using liquids in your snow globe, which will allow the snow to flutter like in a real snow globe, check out this version from 123 Homeschool 4 Me, which uses water and baby oil.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply