11 Family-Friendly Back-to-School Activities
Ready or not, the back-to-school season is officially almost here. Every family has its own back-to-school traditions – perhaps you have them too. But still, most parents believe it’s a real torture to get their kids ready for school. The back-to-school season isn’t all about shopping and learning, it’s about spending some quality family time too. Check out 11 back-to-school family activities and give some of them a try today.
1 Arrange a catwalk show
Let your children choose the clothes for the first day in school on their own. Give them a range of two-three possible outfits and let them make their final decision. They’ll feel you trust them and believe they can make a reasonable choice themselves. Spend a few hours together picking, trying on and showing – it sounds like a real catwalk show.
2 Have fun
School is coming but you can still have fun to say good bye to summer. Do what your children love most of all together. It may be anything from going to the cinema, going to the sea/riverside, attending an amusement park to just walking in the park. Talk with them, eat tasty food, laugh and just relax in a cozy family atmosphere.
3 Take photos
The first day of school usually means taking photos so this activity isn`t unique itself. However, you can add some creativity to it and make those pictures a bit different. Include amusing hats or glasses and ask children to make faces. You’ll take fresh juicy pictures to send your relatives and share all over Instagram. You may also invite other children to this photo shoot and take some collective pictures too. Those photos will always remind you and your little ones about these wonderful times.
4 Take an interview
Well, it`s actually 2015 now so why to take photos when you can make a movie? All those smartphones will do this task for you. Interview your kids about their first day of school. Ask them to introduce themselves and their teachers, what feelings and expectations they have, and what they like and dislike about this year. Then do it again when they come home from school and take care to save those video files properly to avoid losing them.
Read also – 10 Ways to De-Stress the Beginning of the New School Year
5 Lead a back-to-school journal
Ask your children if they want to lead a back-to-school journal because it can let them go through those first days easier too. They may write down all the feelings and thoughts they have at the beginning of each school year and it`ll serve as their personal psychologist. When we have hard experiences, it`s better to spill out those emotions and children can do that via this journal. Allow them to keep it private if they want.
6 Use small notes
Surprise your children with various daily notes you put in their lunch boxes. Write down some inspiring quotes and draw small funny pictures to make their day better. Take photos of these notes before they get crushed with food and create an end-of-the-year book with those pictures. This family tradition will also cheer you up every single morning so your family`s life will become brighter.
7 Create a jar of wishes
Give small pieces of paper and a pen to each child every evening before going to bed and ask them to write down their name and their wish about a new school year on it. Fulfill a small jam jar with those notes and write down the date of the last day of school when you`ll open it up. This family tradition will let you see whether they make those wishes come true or not at the end of each educational year.
8 Write a letter
Your children may write a letter to their teacher, principal, after school leader or whoever able to make their first days more successful. Keeping in touch with that important person can relieve your children`s tension and cheer them up.
9 Satisfy those little stomachs
Food is a great way to celebrate any important event we have, isn`t it? Make your children`s first school day better by treating them to some special meals. Settle an annual festive breakfast or give them some delis lunch. You can also go to the restaurant right before school. Food is the best reminder of all good times we have and it can make any day better so find time to satisfy your children`s stomachs.
Read also – 8 Most Delicious Protein-Packed Snacks
10 Have a useful talk
Another back-to-school tradition to pay attention to is to have a useful talk with your children. Speak about the most important values of your family. Tell them that hard work makes our lives easier and knowledge is the strongest power in the world. Remind that the better they treat others, the better other people will treat them in return.
11 Give them your full attention
No matter what tradition from this list you choose, the main thing is to give your children a full attention of yours before their first school days. Take each of them to have a one-on-one walk in the park and discuss anything you want. Try to make them feel like they are not alone and you can always come to help but also make them sure that they can act their age to fix everything on their own.
Remember your back-to-school times? Try to figure out what would you like to hear from parents to cope with those worries. Inspire your children and let them feel that you`ll always be close because it`s highly important to know that there`s someone you can rely on in case of any trouble. The tradition you choose will make your children’s back-to-school season unforgettably awesome. Your children`s happiness is in your hands now, so make an all-out-effort and everything will be the way you want! What other back-to-school family activities do your children enjoy?
