School is in Session!
First thing’s first, a little back to school fun is in order. Check out this funny video: Baby Got Class – A back to school parody, from the Holderness Family youtube channel! It looks like going back to school can be a cause for singing and dancing after all!
Summer vacation is coming to an end for all students! With the busy “back-to-school” season upon us, we would like offer a “Back to School” check-list, as well as some tips and tricks that can help get your little ones back into their routine to ensure another successful school year.
balafant back-to-school checklist!
- Knapsacks! (Try SoYoung’s Grade School Knapsack or Toddler Knapsack)
- Lunchbags! (Perhaps the SoYoung Mini Cooler or Fluf Lunch Bag?)
- Funky, eco-friendly re-usable sandwich bags (Made by Fluf – check them out here!)
- Super bright, super fun Crocodile Creek icepacks to keep lunches fresh!
- Snack containers! (Check out boon’s caterpillar snack stack, or something simple like the OXO tot snack disks)
- Drinking bottles to keep hydrated, such as the Crocodile Creek bottle!
- Super cool Djeco water-colour pencil crayons to add fun to every art class
- And of course, a good, old-fashioned playground ball for everyone’s favourite class – recess!
In addition to some of these old favourites & essentials – we are very excited to welcome a whole new line of back-to-school must-haves from Sugarbooger to balafant boutik!
From their compact-sized kiddie playbacks, to their divided suction plates (perfect for bringing to daycare or pre-school), Sugarbooger offers all kinds of unique back-to-school must-haves, and we are very happy to be carrying them this school season!
Now that you have all of your school supply essentials covered, we have some tips to help get your little ones excited to start, or go back to school!
Have a back-to-school countdown!
Everything is more exciting when you get to mark the days off on a calendar until the big day arrives. Increase your children’s anticipation by putting up a poster that counts down how many days left to go until school begins. To make it more fun, you can create individual numbers out of poster-board to stick to your “DAYS UNTIL SCHOOL” poster, and your little ones can help attach the new number at the beginning of each day. This will even have them thinking about counting, and get their minds working early.
Use a colour-coded calendar.
This can be especially helpful with little ones who are going to school for the first time. It can be confusing for children to go to school some days and be home on others. You and your little ones can colour in a calendar with specific colours that identify which days are school days and which are not. This can be an activity you do with them, and the colours can help them to remember their routine with ease.
Start the school routine early!
If you start getting the children into their school routine a few weeks before summer ends, they will be adjusted and happy by the time school begins. Have them going to bed at the same time they would on a school night, and plan morning activities outside of the house like going to the park, or the grocery store, so that they are used to leaving the house every morning. Be sure to also give them small tasks that they can perform independently, as they will have to do some things on their own in the classroom. You can begin small, like asking them to set their clothes out for the next morning, and work up to tasks more relevant to school, like having them put their school supplies away in their backpack every night or clean up their own toys after playtimes.
The initial change in routine as summer comes to an end can always be a little bumpy – but if you find ways to make it exciting and involve your children in the process, the idea of going back to school can become a lot less daunting. We hope that these few ideas and essentials for the school year will help to prepare your family for the end of this summer and ensure your little ones have a fun and enriching year in the classroom! Happy back-to-school!