Five Years of Back to Homeschool Ideas
Today I’m sharing a roundup of our first day of homeschool over the past five years. I like to decorate the house, plan a yummy breakfast, and set out the kid’s new curriculum. I also have all our new supplies out + some sort of a little extra surprise gift(s) for all the kids. This year we’ll be continuing on with this tradition and I’ll share the details it in a few weeks.
2025
Last year I went with a more vintage school theme for our first day of school and it was so fun!
Decor Details:
ABC Plates + Apple Plates - I am obsessed with this combo and used it two years in row. This year I just tucked a 12x12 chalkboard piece of paper under the plates and it made for a cute cheap placemat.
First Day of Homeschool 2025-2026 Easel: This is the cutest easel and I just made a quick chalk themed sign in Canva, but you could also use a chalk marker.
Brain Game Puzzle: I used this as part of my decor, but it was brand new so of course this was super fun for the kids.
Mini Easels & Chalkboard Frames: Again, I just made a few quick signs on Canva and glued them on these chalkboards (I’d recommend taping though).
Supplies/Gifts:
Over the years we’ve done some kind of big or special gift the kids can usually share, but this year I just did a combination of a bunch of smaller things and individual gifts. Here are a few of the highlights:
The Big Book of Nature Art: I LOVE these books and this was definitely a hit!
Mini Composition Notebooks: This was one of the most popular items last year on my Amazon page. They’re adorable.
Sketch Art Kit: I got this for my son and he still uses it all the time a year later. It’s held up great!
Don’t Let the Pigeon Color This Book: My 6 year old just loved all things Pigeon (and Piggie & Gerald) so he absolutely loved this and loved the stickers in the back!
Guess in 10 Space Themed: We have a few Guess in 10 games and they’re great educational games that we all enjoy!
Water Color Paints: We switched over to these water color paints last year and love them! They’re still in great shape and we’ll definitely be getting another year out of them.
Fidget Spinners: These were a HUGE hit for both of my boys.
Crayola Mini Magnatiles: Aren’t these the cutest?! And, the mini magnatiles make crayons!
Additional Supplies & Details: Back to Homeschool 2025
2024
This year our first day looked super cute and I love how it all turned out. We had a terrible first day though - which was my fault because I totally over scheduled us and will never make that mistake again.
Decor Details:
Back to Homeschool Banner - The one I used is no longer available, but I’ve linked another similar one.
Supplies/Gifts:
Pencil Cases: I filled these with basic supplies: pencils, sharpie, highlighter, markers, glue stick, a mini ruler, and a compass.
Whiteboard Folders: We still use these all the time for daily check lists and to work out math problems or copy work.
Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo with filament & component kids: We splurged with our homeschool funds and surprised the kids with this 3D printer. Two years later and my three oldest kids navigate it really well and print on it all the time.
Additional Supplies & Details: Back to Homeschool 2024
2023
This was probably my very favorite kick-off because we started the year with a color unit study theme and it was just a lot of fun to have a relaxed fun art unit our first few weeks of school. The Rainbow Color University is no longer available, but here is another cute Color Theory Unit Study that looks fun.
Decor Details: I had our traditional apple plates with a mix of a few things paint supplies and printables I just quickly made and printed. I snagged the ruler napkin ring from A Girl & A Glue Gun’s free Back to School Table Setting Printables.
Supplies/Gifts:
Camel-bak Hydration Packs (see our 2023 additional details below for what I filled these with)
Additional Supplies & Details: Back to Homeschool 2023
2022
This was such a fun year and I think the kids probably remember this year the very most since we got our Yoto players this year and they still love using them.
Decor Details: Again, with our apple plates I used A Girl & A Glue Gun’s free Back to School Table Setting Printables.This year I did cute mini back to school baskets for each of the kids and decorated them with the cutest school themed ribbon.
Supplies/Gifts:
Mini Yoto Players (check out my One Year Review of the Yoto Mini Player post if you need a discount code & more details)
Tiny Polka Dot & Proof Games
Additional Supplies & Details: Back to Homeschool 2022
2021
I was SO excited to do a back to homeschool breakfast this year! I feel like this is what really kicked off our tradition! And, again, I used A Girl & A Glue Gun’s free Back to School Table Setting Printables.
Supplies/Gifts:
Prisma Colored Pencils and these cheaper ones for my preschooler
Notebooks (we still use these notebooks for all our notebooking and art work and love them)
Additional Supplies & Details: Back to Homeschool 2021
This really is my favorite time of the year! Let me know if you guys have any questions on any of the details and I am happy to help! Happy homeschooling!
Round Up Summary: