Starting Kindergarten - Barrington,IL

We do something special for each child on their first day of any grade called a "Schultute" [shool-toot-tah], a german tradition. It's basically a paper cone that you stick little gifts and school supplies in. Each year my kids, lucky as they are, get things like lip balm, hand sanitzer, and a packet of tissues for their backpacks. They also get a special "study snack" of their favorite candy.
We also take photos of these, all in front of the front door. I'm just waiting until they tell me how totally uncool their schultute's are...

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Hello,
Just to add to Karrie's answer, here are some examples of the Schultuete. I was proud as heck, when I got that on my first school day:-)

http://www.kreativnase.de/

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I colored aposter and surprised her in the morning with it hanging on the back door. I also cut out hearts and wrote little things on them like I love you etc...

I read her all the items and then hid the hearts in her bag so she would find them at school

Each year our back to school photos include a sign that the child holds up with the date, grade, teacher on it. In years to come, it will be a nice way to see the gradual maturity. Another idea I like is having the child wear a particular garment in each annual photo such as one of Dad's shirts to see the progression and growth of the child from year to year.

You might want to check current or old editions of Parent Mag, Family Fun magazine etc for ideas.

I saw something in Family Fun magazine that looked fun, even though I haven't tried it myself. The day before (or the Friday before) the first morning of school, have some friends or neighbors over for potluck breakfast at the time school would start. It helps get everyone up on time and used to the schedule, and it helps shy kids get back into the school mode. Have fun!

familyfun.go.com always has great ideas about celebrating events. Check them out for snacks, games and great craft ideas. I just checked the web site and they have a section on gearing up for school. Have fun and happy memory making!

Our tradition sounds a little lame next to everyone else's...but we have a first and last day of school trip to the ice cream shop. We started it when our girls were in preschool. Now they are in 3rd and first grade and still look forward to it. We tried getting the cul de sac together for morning donuts but for us it fell flat altho the next street over morning donut fest works great.

Make sure you take a picture on the first day , somewhere with a nice background. Take the picture every year in the same place so you can see how much they have changed and grown over the years!

1st day of kindergarten we took a photo of each kid standing in front of the garage door. Also make a note of what is exciting / scary etc to go with the picture. Put them away each year in the same place so you can find them. It will be fun to look thru them later when the children are older.
sherry