Whether this is your student’s first year in school or a fun return to preschool or kindergarten in the Fall, our Back to School Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarten are going to build excitement for the new year and help ease the transition back into longer, busier days. 

The first weeks of school is a new routine all over again after a summer enjoying pool days, beach visits, lazy afternoons, and sunshine without the pressures of learning. As children transition back into this new routine, it’s important to help them make that return to structure with as little angst as possible. A few well thought out activities to celebrate the return to formal learning can make it seem like an exciting adventure and balance the frustrations and exhaustion that the first week of school often brings. These first day of school activities are age-appropriate, fun, and engaging for preschool and kindergarten students and help set you up for a successful year without making it feel like a school environment. 

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How To Organize Your Back to School Activities for Preschoolers

I encourage you to pick one or two or a few of these activities and stop short of trying to cram everything into your first days of school. Here are the steps to enjoying a fabulous first week of preschool and setting yourself up for a great year.

1. Pick fun back-to-school activities that resonate with your family and your child’s personality.
2. Make a shopping list of everything you will need for that first week. 
3. Get everything you need gathered and ready, 
4. Plan what day you will do each activity so you have a basic agenda in your head. You don’t have to stick to that, but having a basic idea of the flow of the week will ensure you get more done on your list! 

Back-To-School Activities for Art

Art can be a wonderful, relaxing, low-stress, and easy way to ease the transition back to formal learning. These back to school crafts are going to inspire creativity, fun memories, and beautiful decorations for your home and classroom. These are perfect for some first day activities too!

Agamograph Activity from Easy Peasy

Easy Pencil Craft from Schooltime Snippets

Fun Hands-On Back-to-School Activities for Preschoolers 

Sometimes it’s just fun to explore fun activities that at first glance don’t have much intrinsic educational value. However, all of these beginning of the year activities build fine motor skills, problem-solving, creativity, imagination, and more.

Basic Skills in a Back-To-School Theme

Start introducing basic skills necessary for preschool success with these fun printable packs for the beginning of the school year. Try these first week of school activities when your little one is well-rested and ready for some seat work. These school theme activities are a great way to bridge the gap of summer play and school time.

All About Me Activity from Natural Beach Living

Back-To-School Activities for Preschoolers in Math

Math can cause stress if pushed too hard and too fast, but low-key introductions to math concepts in preschool can go a long way in preventing math anxiety. Try these simple activities and ideas to start building math into your daily routine in a creative way.

Back-To-School Gnomes Counting Book. Our fun counting book features adorable gnomes with school supplies and cuteness to celebrate all things counting and numbers. Your child will learn to count to twenty, recognize numbers and number words to twenty, practice one-to-one correspondence, complete ten-square activities, and more! 

Or Try These Back-To-School Math Activities from Jennifer Findley

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Back-To-School Snacks for Preschoolers

One or two of these fun treats will make an ordinary week something to talk about to everyone your preschooler sees! Something about thematic treats makes ordinary days special. Try adding in a favorite food or two as well.

School Supplies Cupcakes from Natural Beach Living.

B-T-S Popcorn Treat Boxes. It doesn’t get any easier than this!

Fun Snack Mix from Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons

String Cheese Pencils from Arts Crackers

Back-To-School Fun Gifts and Supplies

Getting your children a few really amazing supplies always cheers them up and puts them in the mood for a little seat work. Several items on this simple school supply list are as functional as they are cute. Triangle grips and larger grip sizes are both perfect for little hands. 

Triangular Crayons. Perfect for working on a good pincer grip.

Adorable Gel Pens with Toppers. These super cute gel pens have a huge variety of toppers kids will love. You’ll be able to find something for everyone in this set! Not very practical for preschool, but they love them anyway.

Super Sweet Animal Erasers. These are more fun than they are practical, but we all need some of those things in our life! 

Pencils perfectly sized for little hands.

Cute Popping Fidget Toys in Pastel Colors. These popping toys are a huge trend right now and are perfect for fidgeting.

Triangle Colored Pencils. These are building muscle tone and fine motor skills every time your child draws or colors.

Fidget Toy Variety Pack. If your child struggles to sit still while you read books out loud or lessons, fidget toys are the answer and actually help kids focus.

Kids Scissors in great colors.

Loop Scissors. These make it super easy for kids who aren’t quite ready for the kid’s scissors yet to still cut and paste and build fine motor skills.

Preschool Paint Brushes. The perfect size for little hands. Perfect for Artistic Back to School Activities for Preschoolers.

One final note: Every homeschool teacher mom needs these adorable teacher gnomes!

Enter the Back to Homeschool Giveaway Below

No matter if you’re a year-round homeschooler or you’re gearing up for another homeschool year, and you’re probably busy making curriculum decisions, planning lessons, and preparing for the upcoming months.

Whether you’re homeschooling one child or several, curriculum costs can add up quickly. Each year I have joined forces with several other homeschool bloggers to bless and help homeschool families ease a little of the financial burden as they purchase supplies and curriculum for their own homeschool. This year is our 13th Annual Back to Homeschool Giveaway!

This year, three (3) homeschool families will each win a $200 gift card to the homeschool curriculum company of their choice. Whether your family uses Masterbooks, Gather Round, Notgrass, My Father’s World, Rainbow Resource, or another favorite publisher, you get to decide where to use your prize.

The giveaway runs July 15 through July 24, so be sure to enter before it closes.

Simply complete the entries in the SweepWidget form below. Every participating blogger has helped make this giveaway possible, and each completed entry gives you another opportunity to win.

We hope this giveaway is a blessing to your family and helps make your homeschool year a little more affordable.

Giveaway Rules

Giveaway ends July 24, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET. Three winners will each receive a $200 gift card to the homeschool curriculum company of their choice. Winners will be selected and notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating homeschool bloggers. Please review the official Terms & Conditions before entering.

Having trouble entering?

If your entry is flagged as spam or SweepWidget won’t allow you to continue, please review the troubleshooting guide here:

https://sweepwidget.com/docs/contestant-faq

If you’re still unable to enter, please email Sarah at sarah@myjoyfilledlife.com with the email address you’re trying to use for the giveaway. She’ll add your email to the safe list so you can proceed with your entry. 

We apologize for any inconvenience. These safeguards help prevent fraudulent entries and keep the giveaway fair for everyone.