Fun Back-to-School Craft For the First Day of School – Bus Flap Book

Are you headed back to your first days of school?  Do you have students tell about themselves, review the rules, and acclimate them to the classroom?  I developed this Back-to-School Craft – Bus Flap Book to do just that while incorporating a bit of downtime for students at the end of the day.

Why Use a Craft at the Beginning of the School Year?

Beginning the school year with a craft project is an excellent way to provide students with an opportunity to relax in their new classroom and get to know each other. Craft projects not only give students a chance to use their creativity and express themselves but also foster team-building skills and collaboration as they work together on the activity.

Additionally, completing a craft project can help build relationships between students, which is essential for creating a safe and welcoming learning environment. By engaging in crafts at the beginning of the school year, teachers are able to set the stage for successful learning in the months ahead.

Back-to-School Craft Overview

In this fun craftivity are four sections or flaps:

• All About Me
• My First Day
• A Good Classmate
• Class Rules

Each section has sentence starters and space to brainstorm ideas and write.  There are even extra blank pages for the final two sections so that students can extend their thinking and add more details.

What is Include in Each Section of this Back to School Craft?

The All About Me section can be completed individually, or for older students, in an interview format, where two students interview each other and report about the other student.

My First Day is the perfect section to do on the first day of school.  It has students reflect on how they feel, their teacher, their room, and friends, and what they are excited to learn.  Like the All About Me section, this section is scaffolded with sentence starters.

For A Good Classmate, I suggest building an anchor chart with students ahead of time to brainstorm the attributes of a good classmate.  Students can choose four of the most important attributes and write those attributes around the student clipart.  The picture comes with both a girl and a boy and there are additional writing pages included, to extend the writing.

Class Rules comes with three and four rule options as well as additional pages.  You can use the additional page to have students tell which rule they will focus on during the first month, tell which rule they will have the most trouble keeping, or have students create their own new class rule.

When students are finished with the back to school craft, simply assemble the pages following the lines on the bus, staple them on the left side, and color them.

How do I purchase the Back-to-School Craft?

You can purchase the Back-to-School Bus Craftivity on my website or on Teachers Pay Teachers.  You can also purchase a bundle of Monthly Themed Craftivities.  This back to school craft is designed for second and third-grade students but can be extended in either direction, depending on the class of students.

Video of the Back to School Craft

Here is a time-lapse video of me creating the craftivity.

Are you interested in more Craft Activities for your Classroom?

I have additional craft activities and flap book projects available for other months during the year:

• Fall Leaves – Mistakes are How We Learn
• Halloween – The Real Me
• New Year Goal Setting Flap Book
• Valentine’s Day Flap Book
• St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock
• Look How I Have Grown Spring Craftivity
• Summer Bucket List

Each one is not only tailored to the holiday or season but is also meant to dig deeper and help students be mindful of who they are as a person.

Looking for some more Back-to-School Resources?