Make your very own 'Schultüte'!

Have you heard of a Schultüte? I hadn't either, until recently! But now, it is definitely something I will be doing with Arlo to celebrate his first day of school.

Schultüte is a German tradition dating back from the 18th century. It is the act of giving children a gift on their first day of school. It is typically made by rolling a large piece of card (such as the big ones you see at Hobbycraft or similar) into a cone shape and filling it with things like school supplies, flashcards, things to play with after school and sweets to support their first few weeks of school life.

What would you put in your child's schultüte? Drop a comment below and let me know!

Hug Button

If you haven't heard of the hug button before, it was a cute idea that went viral a few years ago to support children on their first day of school.

The idea is to draw a heart on both your and your child's hand (or sew a heart into their clothing) so your little one can touch it and get a virtual hug from you.

Before school, you will draw the hearts on your hand and press them together to 'charge' them with all the hugging energy they need to get through the day. Then, when they are feeling insecure about something throughout the day, they can press their heart and get their very own virtual hug.

It is such a cute idea and a great way for children to feel connected to home through the school day.

Fidget Doll

Many children like to have a small fidget doll with them in their pocket to provide them with comfort throughout the day. It could be a small piece of material sewn into their pocket from their favourite comforter, a tiny peg doll or whatever brings your child joy.

Disclaimer: It might be a good idea to check with the school before using this one, though. There would be nothing worse than having their comfort toy taken away from them if this kind of thing is not allowed!

Special Breakfast

No one wants to spend the first morning of school racing around like a headless chicken! Instead, why not get up a little bit earlier to have a special breakfast together and really set everyone's day off on a positive note.

You could have beautiful coloured pancakes, a full continental spread or even order in food to be delivered right to your door.

Whatever you choose, you will be sure to reduce stress as everyone spends extra time sitting together to enjoy a meal before the start of their big day!

Chain Links There are a few ways to use this one. You could create a chain of paper links (like the paper chains you make at Christmas) with enough links to count down the days before your first day, cutting off a link each day until none are left for the first day of school.

For some children, however, this might add to their anxiety as the days get closer. Another option, would be to make a string with 5 links of one colour, 5 of another and so on to mark all of the weeks in the first term (typically 7, so a total of 35 links).

Each morning, they can cut a link from the chain which will show them how many days are left of that week (all the same colour) and how many left until their first holiday (the entire chain).

It is a physical reminder to help your child see their routine.

There you have it! 5 different ways to celebrate the morning of your friends first day at school! How are you feeling about the first day back? Leave me a comment or let me know on social media!