No matter what grade your child is entering, the first day of school is a big deal. If your friends are like ours, your social media channels will be full of first day of school photos. We have put together some idea to document the first day of school in new and unique ways to make you stand out from the crowd! Depending on what grade your child is in, you can begin taking the same first day of school photo every year. Whether it be on your front lawn beside a big tree, on your front steps, or standing in front of the school, it’s fun to see the same photo every year in the same place!
DIY frames
Each year in my house, I engage in a little DIY by making photo frames for back to school. While he has clearly grown from year to year, I like the idea of a special photo that states what class he’s are going into. I also like that the frame is the same size each year, so it gives you an idea of how much they have grown. This year, I will be making a new kindergarten one for Jonah and Addison will get to use the pre-nursery sign.
To create this frame, I used a simple wood frame, scrapbooking paper, and wood letters, but there are so many ways to customize these frames to make them your own. You can make them out of Bristol board, bulletin borders from a teacher resource store, and even construction paper. The possibilities are endless!
Chalk it up
Pick up some chalk and go wild! Write your child’s grade on the sidewalk or your driveway and encourage them to help to make it a special and memorable tradition, which will make it more exciting for them when you take their picture. They can look back at it and remember the experience and creating their back to school photo backdrop with you! If you have a chalkboard at home, write some school days information down on a chalkboard and take a picture of your child sitting next to it. Include them in the fun by having them write their name or grade themselves… it will be fun to see how their handwriting changes over the years.
Plan ahead to go custom
Bio Boards are the perfect way document any milestone. At Addison’s baby naming, I displayed a bio board From Baby Bio Boards with all of her birth information including her weight, length, and time of birth. This year, I am using them to document her first day back to school! Bio Boards are completely customizable you so you can include any information you want to make their first day of school photos special. Make them fun by adding in what they want to be when they grow up or what their favorite song is. The more specific, the more fun they will be to look at years from now!
A special side for each kid
If you were part of our #SavvySassySchoolDays Twitter Party, then you know how much we love the Little Partners Tri-Side Learn and Play Art Center. Not only do we love it for playtime, but it inspired us to create some fun first day of school pictures. With three different sides, you can create multiple photo backgrounds for multiple kids — use a different side of the easel for each photo — paint a sign with your child, write it on the chalk board, or use magnetic letters it spell it out. Your child can grow with the easel and each side can be adjusted individually so children of different heights can use it at the same time. And, the best part? You can use it year after year to announce their return to school!
Say it with a pop!
Keep it simple yet fun with a balloon for first day of school pictures. This idea is especially great for your littlest ones, since holding a balloon in their hand will keep them distracted long enough to get a few photographs before they are over it and ready to move on. Add letters or numbers to a helium-filled balloon is quite easy… just make sure you blow up the balloon first!
Make the memories last
Once you’ve taken all of the photos you desire to document that first day of school, what do you do with them? Do you post one on social media and then upload the rest to your computer? That’s typically the routine around here! They sit on my computer until they make it into a photo book months later (if I’m lucky).
This year, I made back-to-school cards with Mpix and sent them to all of our family and friends. Not only do they have a picture of my kids on them, but you can add in all of the additional information such as their school, grade, and teachers name. With so many options to choose from, I found myself creating cards for both of my kids both together and separately as well as one with my daughter and her best friend! Mpix offers cards for all occasions, as well as photobooks and photo gifts, making it easy to make use of all of your pictures!
