The back-to-school season has arrived! Many public schools, private schools, and colleges are welcoming students back for in-person classes this school year, meaning traditional schoolroom teaching will soon be back in full swing. But after the coronavirus pandemic struck, school supplies were largely set aside thanks to the convenience of learning from home. While some kids enjoyed the homeschooling lifestyle, many others wanted to be back with their friends in a classroom setting.

Looking for some fun ideas to capitalize on your children’s excitement? Here are five back to school ideas to make their experience one to remember!

Can’t even remember where you put those old notebooks, pencils, and bookmarks when quarantine started? Back to school shopping in 2021 could be the biggest spree America has seen in recent years! Many moms and dads are starting their kids off fresh with new supplies this fall to create the best learning experience possible. With the high demand, many companies are seeking ways to better personalize school gear to fit every child’s needs and interests.
But that isn’t to say the shopping experience should only be for the adults—after all, your kids will be the ones scribbling in their notepads and sharping their pencils! Involving your children in the buying decisions will help them become more invested in their choices, and by extension more enthusiastic in their learning. A lot of kids lost control over their education lives last year just like many of us who faced uncertainty. By keeping them engaged in the back to school preparations, life just might begin to return to normal for them.
So be sure to take the kids when you pick out their favorite super-hero lunch boxes and water bottles. Make it a special family event, even!

With school in, the class schedule is an important part of your child’s education. How else will your kids know when to look forward to recess or lunch? Adults make frequent use of calendars and planners to keep track of their appointments, meetings, and chores; why not make a fun planning wall with the kids? School crafts can be done at home too!

Some easy DIY materials include post-it notes, construction paper, printable charts, or even the grid paper that adults use. Get creative with how you organize them on a wall or bulletin board to create a calendar of your kids’ class routine, including the times they get dropped off and picked up. Making good use of colorful pens, markers, pencils, and crayons can turn an otherwise mundane schedule into a fun chart your kids can check every day!

When you’ve finished the wall, don’t forget to take a picture for your kids to take with them to school. It’s never too early to begin developing time management skills, and your children will love being able to look at something they created to keep on track.

The fastest way to douse a child’s educational excitement is to offer them the same drab school lunches every day of the week. Why not shake things up—and get your kids involved at the same time?

Instead of packing the same sandwich for the entire year, try picking a different food theme for each day of the week and preparing something special to match it. No need for expensive gourmet meals here; even a few different ingredients in the salad or a unique packaged meal can keep your kid excited about lunch every day. Don’t be the parent who makes the meals which get traded away in the cafeteria!

Create the meal plan with your child’s input to make sure they enjoy whatever you intend to give them. Then lay out a schedule for the different foods or themes they can expect throughout each week during school time. Taco Tuesday sounds like a better idea already!

This project goes great in conjunction with the planning wall discussed above. Try adding the weekly lunch plan to your child’s calendar!

What better way to prepare for your child’s first day back in school than by throwing a party for them the day before? Education is important, and marking it with a time of celebration is sure to encourage your kids that it’s something worth pursuing. The party can take on the form of a family outing, a special homecooked dinner, or even a full-blown fiesta with music, ice cream, and cake!

A back to school bash can also provide some great time to discuss the first day of school with your kids, such as going over safety rules, expectations, and when to wake up. When these conversations are framed under a positive environment, your children are more likely to take them seriously and keep them in mind as they navigate their classes the next day.

But the creativity doesn’t have to stop at the celebrations: have your kiddos help you bake yummy batches of cookies, decorate their backpacks and lunchboxes with stickers, and organize their supplies to prepare them with all the school essentials they’ll need the next day. An event like this can be easily transformed into both a learning experience and quality family time. Make the most of it!

The first week of school is important—even more so when in-person classes have been running on-and-off for a year and a half! It’s vital to keep your children’s safety in mind amidst all the excitement, planning, and shopping. COVID-19 and other diseases thrive in public kids settings where bacteria can easily hitch a ride throughout the entire building. Children are also prone to touching surfaces and making contact with their peers, offering an invitation for dangerous illnesses to flourish.

Aside from reminding your kids about important health precautions such as keeping their hands to themselves and maintaining social distancing whenever possible from day one to the last day of school, the best way to defend your kids’ immune systems is to pack a bottle of pocket-sized hand sanitizer for them to use whenever they need to. A quality brand such as Muse Health’s Fragrance-Free Hand Sanitizer makes use of restorative oils to prevent their hands from drying out if they use too much. Instruct your kids on when to sanitize, and they’ll fare much better in the new school year while jotting down notes, participating in school activities, and meeting new friends.