4 Back-To-School Traditions that Grand Rapids Should Adopt

It is back to school time!

The weather is getting chilly. The kids are losing their minds because they are losing their full days of fun.

Growing up, I would dread the first day but my teachers found a way to make it fun. One of my teachers would make a class handshake so every time we enter the classroom, we would commence the serious act of our class handshake.

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To make things a little more fun for the kids who are dreading the first day, here are a few traditions that can be started.

Make a Summer Scrapbook

I think this would be a cute idea or a nice icebreaker for the kids on the first day. Teachers can make a summer scrapbook of what the kids did for the summer. You can have the children's parents supply their children with a picture of one fun thing that they did this summer. Once all of them are collected, you can add all of the pictures to a scrapbook with a description of what they did.

100 High Fives

In Kalamazoo, the 100 High Fives tradition happens every year. The Mother of Hope asks 100 men in the Kalamazoo community to visit the schools for the first day. The men greet each student with high fives. The purpose of this tradition is so the students to see their role models and are inspired to achieve great things.

Back to School Fairy

This tradition is focused on the parents rather than the school administration. Very similar to the tooth fairy, the back-to-school fairy is set to drop off unique school supplies. If you want, you can also add an encouraging note for the first day. Whenever I found a note from my mom in my lunch box or somewhere tucked into my bag, it would usually make my day, especially with the first day jitters.

Back to School Fashion Show

Now, if your child has a uniform, this may not work as well as it could. However, my school always had a back-to-school fashion show. You know it is back to school time when your parents would take you back to school shopping. Being dragged around the mall for school clothes was one of the few exciting things about going to school.

Why not show off what my momma bought me?

Let the kids show off their personalities with their clothes for a fun way to start the year.