Back To Homeschool First Day Ideas: 25+ Fun Ways to Enjoy With Your Kids

Wondering how to make your Back to Homeschool first day fun?

There are so many cool ways to take your back to homeschool fun to the next level.

Get awesome ideas, suggested resources, and free printables to create a special 1st day of homeschool for your family to treasure 🙂

Make Your Back to Homeschool First Day FUN!

Are you getting ready for your back to homeschool?

I love to get ready for a fun start to a new year of homeschooling with my five boys. Over the years, I've discovered that homeschool fun activities are the easiest ways to make the most of this special time. Here's our growing list of homeschool first day fun ideas 🙂

These activities are as low cost as possible. They're also feasible for large homeschool families with a variety of ages and stages. (Not all ideas may be appropriate for babies and toddlers but you can let them observe and benefit from the experience!)

Back to homeschool is such an exciting time! It's a great time to establish a good routine in your homeschool.

Previewing curricula and resources for the year is essential for helping your kids and yourself know what to expect. Also, laying down the ground rules and expectations is vital to a successful homeschooling experience.

You can, however, make back to homeschool time fun!

 

Tips for Enjoying Homeschool First Day Fun

If your kids aren't thrilled with flipping through their new books, it's okay!

It can be overwhelming to see an entire textbook, workbook, or online program.

Or perhaps you have a child or two who have lost their joy for learning?

Again, it's okay!  You're a homeschooler! You have the power and flexibility to tap into their interests and excite their learning once more!  You have the opportunity to create a fun homeschool first day to get the momentum started.

Reminder:  You know your kids (and yourself!) best.

Read through these 1st Day of Homeschool Ideas.

Pick one or two for your first day based on your kids' (and your own) personalities and interests.

>>>  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ALL OF THESE IDEAS IN ONE DAY!! <<<

Take it slow and maybe start your homeschool year off with half-days the first week. At the very least, make sure to include some fun. (Especially if you're starting your first day of Kindergarten homeschool!)

Or, spread these ideas out over your whole first week of homeschooling!

25 Fun First Day of Homeschool Ideas

Presented in no particular order, I offer you these fun first day of homeschool ideas to get your school year started off right:

1. Special Breakfast

Do your kids have a favorite breakfast menu? Surprise them with it! Or try something new that you have always wanted to!

Food is a common way to connect and create special memories. You can get your kids involved in preparing your morning meal on your first day of homeschool (and beyond).

Or plan a special surprise. Find a recipe or two to prepare the night before and have ready to go. (My boys love this overnight coffee cake paired with this hashbrown egg bake.)

 

2. "Food" or "Drink" Bar for First Day of Homeschool

Set up a fun food or drink bar! Start your day with a breakfast food bar or take a break for a snack or lunch food bar.

For breakfast, you could make a pancake, waffle, french toast, bagel, muffins, eggs, cereal, and/or donut bar. Yogurt parfait bars can be yummy any time of day. For lunch, create a salad, sandwich, pasta, and/or pizza bar.

And, of course, an ice cream sundae bar is always a special treat!

3. Special Snacks

Make or buy snacks that you know your kids love. Having a treat to look forward to and refuel with is always helpful, especially on your first day.

Talk with your kids about snacks they would like or give them a surprise. Enlist your troop's help to prepare your snacks.

4. Balloons & Streamers

Set up your school area with balloons and streamers the night before the first day of homeschool.

Better yet, have your kids help you decorate! They can design posters and place cards to add a special touch.

5. School Supplies Treasure Hunt

Go on a Back to Homeschool Scavenger Hunt!

Hide your kids' school supplies and give them clues (or a map!) to find.

School supplies can be new or old. I love to find frugal homeschool supplies at Dollar Tree.

Finding these treasures can excite students of all ages. (For bonus fun, have your kids hide YOUR school supplies. Super fun!)

6. Secret Handshakes

Have you ever created secret handshakes with kids? If not, I highly encourage you to do so!

Work as a homeschool to create and learn your special handshake. Practice throughout your homeschool year.

7. All About Me

Select age-appropriate ways for each of your kids to tell you all about themselves. This activity is a great way for your kids to share special facts about themselves, as well as to preserve memories.

A few fun ideas include having your kids interview each other (and you!), creating self-portraits (or portraits of each other), and video recordings of their testimonials. You can also do the traditional "All About Me" posters and worksheets. Rock Your Homeschool has these FREE first day of homeschool printables!

And these first day of school signs are great ways to capture the moment!

8. Fun Themes

Brainstorm with your kids about themes for your homeschool year. You can have fun picking out a homeschool theme song (or two!).

Select a homeschool color or two. Create a homeschool crest or symbol. Also, decide upon fun theme days to include in your homeschool year. These types of fun days give everyone something special to look forward to.

9. Team Building Activities

Whether you have one child or eleven, you can work on team building activities.

Relay races, Pictionary (or a similar game like our free Harry Potter-Inspired Drawing game), and tug o' war are fun ways to connect and help build collaboration.

Lego challenges, laser tag, and Nerf battles are other fun ways to build cooperation among family members.

10. Brain Breaks

Make sure to take brain breaks during your homeschool day.

Homeschooling is flexible so we have the opportunity to pause between lessons and recharge with our kids.

Oh, and moms can have brain breaks, too!

11. Water Fun

Weather permitting, head outside, and have some water fun! Make water balloons and have a mega water balloon battle. You can find a wide variety of frugal water play toys at Dollar Tree.

Get out some squirt guns and have a competition aiming at homemade targets. Use motorized toys like Lil' Fishys for the water table, pool, or bath fun.

12. Homeschool Vision Board

Design a homeschool vision board with your kids. A fantastic way to create and work on homeschool goals with visual reminders!

I love using this activity with all of my boys as a spark for back to homeschool conversation starters about what we all dream of doing in our upcoming homeschool year.

13. Picnic-indoor or outdoor!

Who doesn't love a picnic? You can do this activity inside or out.

Bring along your new school books-or not-and enjoy each other's company. Talk about your upcoming homeschool year as you enjoy tasty treats (and maybe a poem or read aloud!).

14. Poetry Teatime

Oh, how we love Poetry Teatime! If you're curious about how we plan our homeschool teatimes, I shared this Teatime Planner as a free download.

For more fabulous ways to enjoy poetry teatime in your homeschool, check out our guide to Enjoying a Relaxed Poetry Teatime with Kids and Poetry Teatime~Holiday Edition.

 

15. Face Paint

Face Paint is such a special way to connect and express ourselves. Have some fun by talking about different shapes or themes that you could paint your faces.

You can use face painting as a trust-building exercise, building communication skills, and just pure fun!

Oh, and take some fun first day of school pictures with your creative faces!

16. Shadow Puppets

Use your hands or small objects to have fun figuring out ways to make different shadows for a creative show.

Give clues and allow time for each other to interpret. If you want to include a bit of writing, jot down responses and describe ways that you configured your hands to create such magnificent shadows.

17. Playdough Fun

Playdough is a fabulous way to add fun for all ages to your back-to-homeschool first day.

You can jazz it up with glitter, extracts (like peppermint or lemon), or essential oils (lavender is calming, peppermint can energize).

Also, these free Star Wars playdough cards that might get your sci-fi fans excited! Use playdough on a brain break or as a fun treat at the end of the day.

18. Obstacle Course-indoor or outdoor!

Work with your kids to design an obstacle course. We have fun with these activities all year 🙂

Indoors, use pillows, stuffed animals, and toys to create an obstacle course for all to complete.

Outdoors, use cones, toys, chairs, or natural landmarks like trees or rocks to have fun.

19. Handprint Art

Use paint or a large stamp pad to record your children's handprints. If desired, turn those handprints into works of art!

Hang in a special area for all to enjoy. For extra fun, record their handprints at the end of the year and compare sizes.

20. Thumbprint Art

Again, take paint or a stamp pad and record your children's thumbprints (or fingerprints). Turn into fun creatures, faces, or other designs.

A great way to include all prints into one special keepsake is to draw a tree as a base and assign each child a color. Decorate your "family tree" with all the different colors and hang up to enjoy.

21. Homeschool Freebies

Enjoy a few free back to homeschool freebies!

Try these free back to homeschool conversation starters - that can also be used as writing prompts

Oh, and this free back to homeschool bingo game is super fun, too!

22. Mad Libs

These activities are such great ways to have learning fun in your homeschool. Create your own Mad Libs or use purchased ones.

Here are some free Harry Potter-Inspired Mad Libs and Dr. Seuss-Inspired Mad Libs your kids may love! Either way, get ready for a whole lot of giggles!

23. Back to Homeschool Games

Declare a game day! You can select educational games-or not.

My friend, Mary of Not Before 7, recommends these card games and math games. These games look like such fun and a great way to start your homeschool year.

Here's a free printable Back to Homeschool bingo game that's been a huge hit with my boys.

24. Learning Apps

Why not surprise your kids with some great learning apps?

My younger boys love Learn With Homer for reading. A new fun app can make learning exciting and something to look forward to.

25. Dance Party

My #1 favorite activity in our homeschool is a dance party! You can plan out an epic dance party with a playlist of favorite tunes.

If you have a karaoke machine (this is the one I have), bring out that bad boy and dance party it up! Such a super fun way to burn off energy, have fun, and celebrate your homeschool!

BONUS: Your younger kids will have fun with this free first day of homeschool printables. Great way to get your kids talking about the upcoming homeschool year and create a special keepsake 🙂

For more back to homeschool fun with your kids, check out our other free printable resources:

Free Back to Homeschool Scavenger Hunt

Free Back to Homeschool Conversation Starters

Hurray for Making Your First Day of Homeschool Rock!

I've gathered these ideas over the past 10+ years as a homeschooling mom of 5 boys. It's so nice to have something fun to look forward to enjoying with your kids.

What other fun homeschool ideas would you add to this list to make the first day of homeschool special? Please share your suggestions in the comments area below.

It's so helpful for homeschoolers to share their creative ideas with each other!

Keep the Homeschool First Day Fun Going!

And don't stop the homeschool fun after your special celebration! Make fun a priority as you create a relaxed learning environment for your kids to thrive. Check out these homeschool fun resources to get you started:

Important Benefits of Homeschool Fun

5 Secrets of Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Every Day!

100+ Easy Homeschool Fun Activities

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