Every year, I line our kids up in the yard and snap a picture.   Their first day… and every year, I think about how much they have changed when I look at the picture and compare it to the year before.

Back to school traditions are so much fun and back to school prepping seems to start as soon as school lets out, doesn’t it?   From buying what you need before starting Kindergarten to planning their favorite outfit.  Special thanks to Target for sending out some great back to school goodies for our kids! 

1-  Take a picture of ALL of your kids this year.
We always take pictures of just the “back to school kid” but remember to take pictures of all of the kids so you can see their growth.  This was taken years ago… Allie was crying because her brothers were leaving for the day and she was going to miss them.

2- Get your homework station ready.
Mickey built this great homework station for the kids last year.  He bought the desktop for about $10 and built it into the wall himself.  We use it EVERY day (during the school year & in the summer).

3- Go “Back to school shopping” !
The kids love running to the store, finding their teacher’s name and buying what is on the list.  I usually add something extra, too.   Beau picked out these tool pens.  (How perfect for him, right?!)

4-  Back to school party
These crayon cupcakes are adorable!   I love them for a little back to school party.
We’ve even adapted them to muffins – Our kids LOVE muffins!   Last year I started a tradition of making them a muffin with a cream cheese frosting (more cream cheese than actual frosting. lol!) and a crayon in the middle.  They thought it was so funny and laughed at the table that morning, which is another great way to start the day.   You can find their favorite peanut butter banana muffin recipe here.

5- Pancake Breakfast
This special pancake breakfast is perfect!  Our kids love pancakes, so just make the grade (number or K for Kindergarten) out of pancake mix!  The kids will LOVE it!

6- Get them ready with a back to school binder. 
It has everything that you will need for the school year and each child will have their own.

7.  Back to school Snack Mix.
This is adorable and I love the poem that goes with it!   Just make a little bag of trail mix with some cereal, pretzels, and marshmallows (mini).  Tie them with a pretty ribbon and attach this poem.  Give it to your kids after dinner as a special “pre-first day” snack:

8. Chalk Favorites:
My friend Jodi at Meaningful Mama had an adorable idea to have her daughter lay beside a chalk-ruler.
She wrote what she wanted to be, her favorite food, her favorite show, her favorite activity and she picked out her first day of school outfit for the picture.  What a great idea!

9. This first day of school printable  is so sweet.
I love how you place her picture beside the things listed.  The printable is free, too.  The printable asks for your child’s name, the date, the grade, the school, teacher and his/her goals for the year.  If it were me, I would take the picture from #8 and place it right here.   Now I would have the child’s “school” info and “personal” info.   Fun!

10.  Get these “Art Work” binders ready for when they bring home art work, school work, grades, etc…
I have mine organized and I have a special way that I figure out what gets sent to family members, what gets put into the binder and what gets recycled.   This has been such a time saver for me!   You can read about it here:

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