Starting school
School cone, motivators, and first reading ideas for a successful start to school.
The first day of school is one of the biggest milestones for kids, and for us parents, it's a special moment filled with pride and a touch of nostalgia. Between the school cone, the new backpack, and the excitement of the first day in a new class, there’s a lot of anticipation but also some nerves. Here you’ll find ideas to make this transition beautiful and a little easier.
It's not so much about the perfectly designed school cone, but rather the little rituals that surround it. A memory photo, a handmade good luck charm for the school bag, or a shared conversation about the excitement often take away more pressure than any expensive gift.
This collection is still growing, but you can already find ideas for school cones, little motivators, and rituals for the first day of school. For each idea with instructions, you can click your way there, and in between, you'll find some tips to try out without any extra guidance.
The first day of school: Rituals for more excitement than nerves
A few simple, well-prepared rituals can lighten the excitement before the first day of school. None of them require much effort, but each one creates lasting memories.
Imaginary Journey to School
This short imaginary journey takes you through the entire experience of the first day of school: waking up, packing your backpack, the way to school, the new classroom, and the first break with new friends. Since everything has already been imagined, the real first day often feels less unfamiliar. All you need is a quiet moment to listen.
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Magic Heart for the First Day of School
A red heart drawn with a felt-tip pen on your palm makes for a simple yet powerful good luck charm for an exciting first day of school. Whenever uncertainty arises, a glance at the heart helps you remember the support from home.
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Crafting Encouragement Stones
Flat stones collected outdoors are washed, dried, and painted with acrylic markers, featuring positive words, cheerful images, or patterns. Optionally, they can be made weatherproof with a clear coat. Once stored away, these encouraging stones can be brought out whenever a little motivation boost is needed, whether it's on the first day of school or during another exciting moment.
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Encouragement Cards for Your School Pencil Case
Little encouragement cards for pencil cases are a subtle support for kids who feel insecure at school or hesitate to speak up. Tucked away in their pencil case, they are ready to grab in seconds; often just a glance is enough to remind them of their own strength.
View instructions →A memory photo in front of the school
Whether it's with a school cone at the front door or together in front of the school gate, a photo from the first day of school is simply a must for many families. It becomes even more special when it's taken in the same spot every year, creating a unique little story through the years.
A special breakfast on the first day of school
On this special morning, why not treat your child to their favorite breakfast or a little extra like a heart-shaped pancake? With full bellies, the exciting first day of school feels much more relaxed.
Crafting and filling the school cone
The school cone is the ultimate symbol of starting school. Whether handmade or in an edible version, here are some ideas for decoration and content.
Mini Backpack from a Paper Bag
A sturdy paper bag without handles gets a colorful paper lid and two narrow straps, adorned with a bow and the name of the schoolchild. Filled with trail mix, pens, or a little note, it turns into a mini school backpack that makes a lovely gift for a child's first day of school.
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Magical Ice Cream Cones
The edge of an ice cream cone is dipped in powdered sugar glaze and sprinkled with colorful toppings. When filled with fruit or small treats, it becomes an edible little school cone. Perfect for the start of school or just as a special sweet treat in between.
View instructions →What fits well in the school cone
In addition to sweets, it's great to include useful items as well: colorful pens, a small book, an animal-shaped eraser, or a voucher for a fun outing together. This way, the schoolchild will not only enjoy the moment but will also have something to look forward to for a longer time.
Learning to read: Fun games for letters and words
Starting school also brings the big adventure of learning to read. These games make letters and first words come alive, all without worksheets.
Learning to Read
As a letter detective, you can search for objects that start with a specific letter, organize a little reading rally, or follow along with your finger while reading aloud. This collection of small reading exercises can be mixed and matched in any way you like. Since every child has their own reading pace, the focus here is on the joy of exploring letters and words, rather than speed.
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Jumping Letters
With sidewalk chalk, the letters of the alphabet are drawn like little islands on the pavement. Each island is touched and its sound is pronounced out loud. A sought-after word is then hopped from letter to letter, with each jump bringing the treasure, the completed word, closer.
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Molding Letters
Soft, kneaded play dough is used to shape individual letters, like the first letter of your name or even whole words made up of several formed letters. It's a hands-on, calming way to practice letters, keeping your fingers just as busy as your mind.
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Coloring Salt and Tracing Letters
Colored salt is spread evenly on a tray, and you can trace letters in it with your finger, almost like writing in the sand. The calm, repetitive tracing combines fine motor skills training with memorizing letter shapes, all without the feeling of filling out a worksheet.
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Digging for Letters
Write letters or words on paper, bury them in a baking dish filled with sand or salt, and then uncover them with a brush just like in a real excavation. Each uncovered letter is celebrated as a little find, a small adventure for patient hands.
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Letter Treasure Hunt
Hide individual letters around the house, under the pillow, behind the curtain, in the fridge, and each letter that is found is called out loud. In a more challenging version, the letters found at the end form a secret word, making letter recognition a fun and easy practice.
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Detective Magnifying Glass
Blue-tinted water is placed over a secret message written with a pen. A pressed-down jar displaces the color right at that spot, making the letters underneath visible. It's a little physics trick that turns decoding a message into a real detective experiment.
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ABC Lightning Reading Game
One player points to a letter in the alphabet, and the other tries to say the corresponding sound as quickly as possible. For similar letters like b and d, a little trick with fists can help. You can use a stopwatch to measure your time for the whole alphabet and try to beat your record with each round.
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Create a Reading Aid
From a strip of sturdy cardboard, you can create a frame with an elongated window that only shows one line of text at a time while reading. It's a DIY reading aid that helps prevent slipping to the wrong line, a simple tool for a small, reusable craft project.
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Practicing Reading with a Glass Stone
A small, transparent glass stone is held like a magnifying glass over the letters in a book until they appear clearly enlarged. The unusual view through the glass stone draws attention to each individual letter and turns reading practice into a little optical experiment.
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Letter Hunt
In old newspapers or magazines, you search for a specific word or a single letter and mark it. The winner is the one who finds the most instances. It's a calm reading game for a rainy afternoon that also trains attention to detail in a fun way.
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Play Dough Word Formation and Learning Words Practice
Colorful play dough can be rolled into thin snakes that can be shaped into current learning words from school, letter by letter. Since molding with your hands is much more direct than just copying, tricky words often stick better.
View instructions →Noch mehr Inspiration?
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Do you have a lovely idea about starting school that we haven't included yet? This collection will continue to grow over time. In the meantime, feel free to explore more craft ideas and inspiration in our categories or in the free Grubenfuchs app. We wish your child a wonderful first day of school.