First Day of School Traditions Your Children Will Love

The first day of school hits everyone differently — excited, nervous, maybe a little teary (mom included). Here are 11 simple traditions, from a special breakfast to a lunchbox note, that make the morning feel a little less scary and a lot more special. Traditions for the First Day of School Your Children Will Love and are manageable for mom to do. Seven things you can do to make the first day of school special.

Brinley on the first day of Kindergarten

The first day of school is a day full of emotions. Everyone in the house feels excited, anxious, nervous, and sad, all at the same time — sometimes all before 8 a.m.! As moms, we can’t erase those nerves, but we can soften them with a few simple traditions that turn “first day jitters” into “first day, here we come!”

The traditions below aren’t elaborate. They’re doable on a school-morning timeline, and they’re the kind of thing your kids will still be asking for well into middle school.

Post Contents

Read a Back to School Book
Have a Special Breakfast
New Outfit
Back to School Photo
Walk or Drive Them to School
Put a Surprise Note in Lunchbox or Backpack
First Day of School Interview
More Traditions to Try
How to Make These Traditions Stick
FAQ: First Day of School Traditions
Other Posts on Back to School

Read a Back to School Book

The night before the first day of school, we always read a back to school book. I have done The Kissing Hand for years because I always have someone going away on some level for the first time — a new grade, a new school, a new teacher. There is something so calming about ending the night with a story that says “this is normal, and you’re going to be great.”

If you want more options, I have a full list of great books for back to school here.

Traditions for the First Day of School Your Children Will Love and are manageable for mom to do. Seven things you can do to make the first day of school special.

Have a Special Breakfast

Children love fun food, and the first day of school is the perfect excuse for a big breakfast. I don’t have time to make a huge breakfast every morning (or rather, that isn’t where I choose to spend my mornings), so a big spread on the first day feels like a real event. My son definitely appreciates the food gesture more than my daughters do — that’s just his love language.

Something extra exciting is any kind of pancake with whipped cream. Here is a great recipe for overnight waffles that I make any time my kids have a big event the next day and need physical or mental stamina. The batter comes together the night before, so you aren’t adding cooking time to a morning that’s already stacked with first-day extras.

New Outfit

This is a time-honored tradition for good reason. Have a special outfit ready for the first day of school — one your child isn’t allowed to wear until that morning arrives. Not being allowed to touch it yet is half the magic; it gives kids something to look forward to instead of something to dread.

This is especially true for my daughters. A fun lead-up activity is to go shopping for the outfit together and have a little fashion show at home when you get back. Set the outfit out the night before too. It creates excitement and gives your child something small and tangible to focus on other than nerves.

Back to School Photo

Ah, the obligatory first day of school photo. This can be done on a whole spectrum of effort levels. You can go elaborate with a backdrop and props, or you can simply take a photo by the front door. In my early parenting days, 98% of moms did the simple version. Then Pinterest was invented, the other 2% shared their fancy ideas with us, and suddenly we all felt the pull to jump on that train.

I go for simple. A few days before the first day, I search for an already-made sign to hold up and print it off. Do not wait to print it the morning of. I have made that mistake, and it adds exponentially to the stress of an already busy morning! Inevitably the computer freezes, the printer goes offline, or you run out of ink at the worst possible moment. I’ve also seen moms use felt boards for last-day-of-school photos, which works just as well for first-day photos if you want something reusable.

If you want a more elaborate idea, a quick Pinterest search will turn up more cute and creative options than you’ll ever need.

>>>Read: Back to School Morning Routine Ideas for Kids (by Age Group)

Walk or Drive Them to School

I love walking my kids to school on the first day. It’s a chance to sneak in as many photos as possible along the way (or take them openly, if your child is cool with that). If your child normally rides the bus, the first day is a great one to drive or walk them yourself instead — it gives you a few extra minutes together before you hand them off to the school year.

Put a Surprise Note in Lunchbox or Backpack

Children love words of affirmation, and the first day can be a lonely one at times. Your child is figuring out where they fit, getting to know a new teacher, and sizing up at least a few new classmates, all at once. A note from home, tucked somewhere they’ll find it at a random moment in the day, is a small touch of love that says: you are valued, you are loved, and you have a solid foundation to come back to. Sometimes that’s exactly what a kid needs to take a deep breath and find a little more courage.

First Day of School Interview

A fun tradition is to record the same set of facts about your child every year. Favorite color? Favorite TV show? What do they want to be when they grow up? You can do this on the first day of school, the last day, at New Year’s, or on a birthday — whatever anchor point works for your family. Looking back at how the answers change (and how hilariously some of them don’t) becomes one of the best parts of the tradition over time.

More Traditions to Try

If you’re looking to add even more to your first-day lineup, here are a few reader favorites that pair well with the traditions above:

Countdown chain. A few weeks before school starts, make a paper chain with one link for each remaining day of summer. Tearing off a link each morning gives younger kids a concrete way to understand “how many days until school,” which can head off some of the anxious “is it today?” questions.

Classroom door or driveway send-off. Some families do a quick cheer, a special handshake, or a “you’ve got this” chant right before the car door closes or the classroom door opens. It only takes ten seconds, but it turns the actual moment of separation into something upbeat instead of something dreaded.

First-day treat waiting after school. A favorite snack or a few minutes of one-on-one time when they walk back through the door gives your child something to look forward to after the school day too, not just before it.

Back-to-school family dinner. Some families make the first-day dinner a bit special — favorite meal, favorite dessert, or everyone sharing their “best part of the day” around the table. It bookends the day with connection instead of letting it end in exhaustion.

How to Make These Traditions Stick

You don’t need all eleven of these. In fact, trying to do all of them is a fast way to burn yourself out before 8 a.m. Pick two or three that fit your family’s personality and your morning bandwidth, and repeat them every year. The magic of a tradition isn’t the size of the gesture — it’s the predictability. Kids remember “we always do this,” even when the “this” is as simple as pancakes or a sticky note in a lunchbox.

If mornings tend to run tight in your house already, it can help to build these traditions into a back to school morning routine you set up ahead of time, rather than trying to improvise them on the day itself.

FAQ: First Day of School Traditions

What is a good first day of school tradition for a nervous kid? A note in the lunchbox or backpack tends to help nervous kids the most, since it gives them something reassuring to find in the middle of the day, not just at drop-off. Reading a book like The Kissing Hand the night before also helps normalize the nerves ahead of time.

How do I make first day of school photos less stressful? Print your sign a few days ahead of time, not the morning of. Keep the setup simple — a doorway, a yard, or a felt board sign works just as well as an elaborate backdrop, and it means one less thing competing for your attention on an already busy morning.

What if my child doesn’t want a big first day tradition? That’s completely fine. Traditions should feel like comfort, not pressure. Some kids do better with something quiet and private, like a favorite breakfast, rather than photos or fanfare. Let your child’s personality guide which traditions you keep.