Updated for 2025
The first day of school. Kids often have mixed feelings about this important day, and this year, especially, emotions are likely to be all over the map. Just because kids aren’t returning to the classroom in the traditional way, doesn’t mean there isn’t cause to celebrate.
A new school year is a big deal. Full of new opportunities and new challenges. Make the first day fun and special and memorable. Here are 15 fun, creative ways to celebrate the first day of school.
How to Make the First Day of School Special
1. Enjoy a Manicure/Pedicure Date
School is a special place, and the first day of school is a special occasion, so a manicure may be called for. Whether you head to a salon or have your own mini-spa day at home, a manicure or pedicure can be a relaxing treat!
2. Start the Year with a Book
For younger kids, you can find a large assortment of sweet, back-to-school titles. A few favorites include If You Take a Mouse to School, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, and First Grade, Here I Come! Many independent bookstores are open for shopping and curbside pickup. Contact them to get some recommendations and support a local independent business.
3. Decorate with Balloons
Nothing says “celebration” quite like balloons. Get the house ready while the kids are sleeping. You may opt to tie balloons onto the back of your child’s desk chair, around each doorknob, or limit the balloons to one room of the house.
4. Make a Wish
Start the morning with a candle in your child’s breakfast. A new school year is a sign that your child is older, just like a birthday celebration. So, start the day with a muffin, waffle, or fruit cup with a lit candle and an enthusiastic, “Make a wish!”.
5. Take a “First-Day” Photo
If your child is a willing participant, take a yearly photo in his or her first-day-of-school clothes. If a yearly photo is one of your usual family traditions, then you’re already way ahead of the game. Whether or not your child is going to campus, a photo can be a great way to have a visual catalog of each school year. Continuing with the tradition sends the message that every school year is important.
6. Send a Special Lunch
Make their favorite sandwich, send along a few special snack treats, or go a little bit overboard. Add a handwritten note letting your child know how much you miss them, or maybe telling a joke! Jazz it up to make it fun.
7. Make a Time Capsule
It doesn’t have to be fancy. An empty paper towel roll works wonderfully. Create a simple questionnaire for your child (depending on your child’s age, they can answer and you can record their answers). Ask children to list their favorites — book, song, color, movie, television show, and class subject. Ask them to write down a hope for the school year.
On the back of the paper, have kids trace their handprints. Roll the paper up, put it inside the paper towel roll, and wrap the roll in tissue paper (like a giant Tootsie Roll). Then you can all open the time capsules at the end of the school year. Children will be amazed to see how their answers have both changed and stayed the same — and how much their hands have grown!
8. Paint Your Children’s Feet
Younger children, especially, will enjoy this activity. Set up a painting area (outside may be best, or else inside with newspapers protecting the floor), and be sure to mix some hand soap into the paint (the paint will wipe off much easier that way, from both skin and clothes).
Paint your child’s right foot onto a white sheet of paper and leave space for your child to write (or dictate to you) one way that he or she will make sure to start the school year off on the “right foot.” For example, “I will read each night at home. I will always remember to write my name on my papers. I will ask a question when I’m confused.”
9. Plan a Special After-School Treat
You can either take your child out for a special after-school treat, or if you prefer, you can certainly have one at home. Think fun and festive, serve something you wouldn’t normally have for an after-school snack. A few suggestions — build your own sundaes or build your own smoothies. Or get them from your favorite local spot.
10. Estimate with Smarties
Fill a clear container with a number of Smarties candies. Ask your child to estimate how many packages of Smarties are in the container. (For younger children, talk about the idea of making a “reasonable guess.”) Count them out and compare the actual number of candies to the estimates (try to get other people to participate — siblings, grandparents over FaceTime, etc.) Then, don’t forget to give your smartie a roll of Smarties to enjoy!
11. Celebrate With Dinner
Plan a special family dinner for the first night of school. Use your fancy dishes and linen napkins. Or, make it a pizza night. And don’t forget about dessert!
12. Give an Unexpected Present
Let your child wake up on the morning of the first day of school to find a gift, wrapped and waiting at the breakfast table. Even better if it’s school-supply-related — think special lead pencils, a new sketchbook, or dry-erase markers in a whole rainbow of colors.
13. Update Their Look
Back-to-school photos can be important to parents and grandparents, but also just as important to kids once they reach a certain age and want to look their best. Consider celebrating the start of a new school year by treating your child to a trip to your favorite hair salon, whether that entails just a trim, a whole new cut, or something more drastic like color or a perm.
14. Recap the Day
Another great way to make your child’s first day of school extra special is to simply let them tell you how the day went once they get home. Have them tell you all the details over an after-school snack or dinner — or later, after everyone has finished eating, if your house can be chaotic at mealtime. Spending one-on-one time with them and making them the center of attention lets them know you value them and what they have to say.
15. Decorate Their Notebook
A fun way to make your child feel appreciated and loved both the first day and all year long is to decorate their spiral notebook with stickers, drawings, or quotes. It can also be a fun activity to do together a few days before school starts.
MomsLA is your source for Things to do with Kids in Los Angeles
Wendy Kennar is a mother, writer, and former teacher who has lived her entire life in the same Los Angeles zip code. You can read more from Wendy at her website WendyKennar.com where she writes about books, boys, and bodies (living with an invisible disability).
