getting ready for back to school

 

 

 

These are some of the activities that we did last week to prepare for our first day of school, which was today!!

 

We did an alphabet search.  The children took these magnets and first put them in alphabetical order.  Then they had to search the yard and house to find one or more items that started with that letter and place it in front of it. A for acorn, B for bubbles, C for chalk and so on.

 

 

 

Finding things that the kids will eat for snack and lunch can sometimes be a challenge, so I had the children go through our local grocery store fliers and cut out the healthy foods they would like me to buy for their lunch.  This was a great activity because we talked about what was healthy and what would be considered a sometimes treat.

 

 

 

I saw the idea to make chalkboard placemats on Pinterest.  I went to the local dollar store and couldn't find any placemats so I grabbed some chopping boards, 2 for $1, and had the children paint them on one side with some chalkboard paint.  We used them at our back to school dinner last night!  The kids had fun decorating them while I was making dinner.

 

And finally, we read "The Kissing Hand" and made some kissing hand cookies. I tucked them into their lunchboxes this morning.

I hope that everyone is having a smooth transition back to school and that you might try one or more of these activities. Getting kids excited about school will make the transition back much easier.  My son's kindergarten teacher sent him a letter, that we got a day or two before the first day, with some "Jitter Glitter" and the most adorable poem. The directions were to put it under his pillow before the first day of school and it would help him get rid of any jitters he might be having about school.  It worked like a charm!
I am in the middle of baking some chocolate chip cookies right now because I think that nothing beats warm cookies and milk after a long day of school, especially when its the first day.  I will share more about our dinner and the first day soon!