Back to school crafts are one of the best ways to kick off a new school year. They help ease the kids into school routines, and they give teachers a chance to get to know their students better. I am a big fan of using back to school arts and crafts as a way to build classroom community and classroom relationships. But crafts don’t have to be intimidating! In fact, there are plenty of easy back to school crafts that your students will go wild for.
Read on for back to school crafts your students will love!
Jump to…
- Getting to Know You Crafts
- Rules and Routines Crafts
- Kindness Crafts
- Social Emotional Learning Crafts
- Back to School Arts and Crafts
Back to School Activities
Back to school season is an important time for teachers and our students. This is the time to lay the foundations of a great school year.
As teachers, we need to use these back to school weeks to build relationships, get our students excited about learning, and set expectations. There are lots of choices for great ways to do this! We can do this through games, children’s books, anchor charts, and…back to school arts and crafts!
If you’re looking for more great ideas to use with your students during back to school this year, read this post 21 Amazing Activities For the First Week of School.
Back to School Crafts
You can use back to school crafts in a variety of ways. Back to school crafts for kids don’t have to just be for fun decorations. Actually, we can use them purposefully in our back to school activities. For example, you might use crafts to:
- Learn or celebrate student names
- Set learning goals and get excited to learn
- Get to know each other and build friendships between students
- Learn about classroom routines and procedures
- Talk about feelings and emotions
- Establish classroom rules and expectations
Let’s dive into some examples so we can see these back to school crafts in action!
Back to School Craft Ideas
Here are 15 wonderful back to school craft ideas for you to use with your students this year. This list is organized into four categories: Getting to Know You, Rules and Routines, Kindness, and Social Emotional Learning. These are the most important things to be learning about at the beginning of the school year, so it’s a great place to start!
Getting to Know You Crafts
Building relationships is so important at the beginning of the school year! Here are some amazing back to school crafts for getting to know your students.
A Letter For My Teacher
This simple back to school craft is a great way to get to know your students! It gives the opportunity for students to tell you some things about themselves. (The template is in my TPT store right here.)
Heart Map
Get to know your students by having them create a heart map. Students color in their heart with the parts of their lives that are most important to them.
First Day Feelings
Normalizing everyone’s feelings is an important part of the first week of school. This back to school activity helps students process any nervousness they have and start to feel more comfortable in their new classroom. (You can get this template in my TPT store here.)
Name Bookmarks
Celebrate student names with these name bookmarks! My students loved decorating these during the first week of school – it made a great activity for early finishers or if you finish a lesson early. (This editable template is available in my TPT store here.)
Shooting Star Goals
Encourage your students to think about what they want to learn this year. Have the write down three things they want to learn, then create their shooting star.
Rules and Routines Crafts
Learning your classroom rules and routines doesn’t have to be boring! Help students process all this new learning with these hands-on arts and crafts projects. You can find more ideas for teaching rules and routines in my blog post 5 Must-Try Classroom Routine and Procedures Ideas.
Classroom Materials Flipbook
Setting expectations around care of classroom materials is so important at the beginning of the school year. This classroom materials flipbook helps students remember the right way to take care of their school belongings.
Classroom Rules Flower
Classroom rules – but make it arts and crafts! After teaching your classroom rules, have students write them down on each petal of this fun and colorful flower. These make a fun classroom decoration.
Listening Body Cut and Paste
Encourage students to explore what they need to have their best behavior during group lessons. This provides a great time to talk about what listening looks like for different students, and to set the expectations that work best for you and your classroom. (This template is available in my TPT store here.)
Class Promise
Creating a class promise is a great way for students to feel like part of their classroom community. Have students help you come up with your classroom rules. Then each student places their handprint around the chart to show that they will do their best to follow those rules. (You can get this class promise template for free right here!)
Kindness Crafts
I always start the school year off emphasizing kindness in the classroom. Here are some simple craft suggestions for integrating kindness into your classroom. Read this blog post for how to do a Week of Kindness with your students.
Friendly Notes To A Classmate
This is one of my favorite back to school crafts for spreading kindness in the classroom. Have a time when students can write notes to each other and deliver them anonymously. They’re bound to bring a smile to each student’s face! (You can get the template for these in my TPT store here.)
Wow Words Crown
Talk about qualities that you want to see in your students. Have them decorate these crowns to show that they all have these qualities within themselves! (You can get the template for these in my TPT store here.)
Kindness Chain
Every time you see your students being kind, add a link to the paper chain. See how long your chain can get! (You can get the template for this in my TPT store here.)
Bucket Filler
Teaching about bucket filling is one of my favorite ways to talk about kindness with my students. The book “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” explains acts of kindness in a clear and accessible way for children. (You can get the template for these in my TPT store here.)
Social Emotional Crafts
It’s never too early to start weaving social emotional learning into your school day. These types of activities help students feel safe and help them build important social skills right out of the gate. Here are some back to school crafts that will start this SEL work from the beginning of school!
Growth Mindset Craft
Teaching growth mindset is a great way to start off the new school year. This back to school craft helps teach students about fixed mindset versus growth mindset. (This craft template is part of the Growth Mindset Activities in my TPT store right here.)
Positive Affirmations
Self-love is becoming more and more important for young people to practice. This back to school craft helps students practice positive affirmations. (This craft template is part of the Self-Love Activities in my TPT store right here.)
Making New Friends
Making new friends at the start of a new school year can be challenging for many students. This is one of my favorite back to school crafts for friendship because it gives students concrete strategies they can try out to make some new friends. (This craft template is part of the Friendship Activities in my TPT store right here.)
Back to School Arts and Crafts
Are you as excited as me about using back to school crafts this year? These ideas are a great starting point, and of course there are lots more you can use!
If you need more inspiration, check out my Classroom Community Megabundle for more ideas.
Which back to school craft idea are you excited to try? Tell me in the comments! xoxo Laura
Resources For You:
Articles For You:
21 Amazing Ideas for Activities on the First Day of School
The Best Activities To Build Classroom Community To Try Now
5 Must-Try Classroom Routine and Procedures Ideas
11 Fantastic Week of Kindness Ideas To Try In Your Classroom
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