20 First Week Of School Crafts | Fun & Easy Ideas for Kids
The first week of school is the perfect time for children to settle into a new classroom, meet classmates, and express their creativity. Simple first week of school crafts can make those early days more enjoyable while helping students learn names, classroom routines, and new surroundings.
From personalized name projects to collaborative artwork, these ideas work for preschool, kindergarten, elementary classrooms, and family activities at home.
20 First Week Of School Crafts | Fun & Easy Ideas for Kids:
1. All About Me Self-Portrait
Give each child a large sheet of paper and ask them to draw themselves. They can include their hairstyle, favorite clothes, shoes, and favorite colors.
Teachers can add a few simple facts underneath the finished portrait.
Materials: Paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils.
Classroom idea: Display the portraits together to create an “All About Us” gallery.
2. First Week Handprint Tree
Create a large classroom tree with branches drawn on paper. Each child adds a colorful handprint as a leaf or flower.
Write each student’s name beside their handprint.
Materials: Large paper, washable paint, markers.
Why it’s special: It creates a visual representation of the new classroom community.
3. Personalized Pencil Craft
Cut large pencil shapes from cardstock and let students decorate them with patterns, stickers, or drawings.
Write each child’s name across their pencil and display all of them together.
Materials: Cardstock, crayons, stickers, glue.
4. Classroom Friendship Chain
Give each child a paper strip to decorate with their name, favorite color, or small drawing.
Connect all the strips into one long paper chain and hang it around the classroom.
Message idea: “We Are Better Together.”
5. My School Backpack Craft
Create a paper backpack for each child. Add a front pocket, straps, and a name label.
Children can draw or glue pictures of things they like to bring to school.
Learning prompt: Ask students what three things they would put in their imaginary backpack.
6. First Week Apple Craft
Cut large apple shapes from red, green, and yellow paper.
Students can decorate the apples with their names, patterns, stickers, or fingerprints.
Classroom display: Place the apples on a large paper tree.
7. Classroom Rules Handprint
Create a large handprint for each student and write one positive classroom behavior on it.
Examples include “Be Kind,” “Listen,” “Share,” and “Help Others.”
Materials: Construction paper, markers, glue.
Why it works: It introduces classroom expectations in a creative and positive way.
8. School Bus Name Craft
Make a large paper school bus and place each student’s name inside a window.
Children can decorate their own bus with crayons, paper shapes, and stickers.
Fun addition: Create one long road across the classroom wall and place all the buses along it.
9. First Week Memory Book
Create a simple mini-book with several pages.
Include prompts such as “My Name,” “My Favorite Color,” “My Favorite School Activity,” and “Something I Want to Learn.”
Children can draw pictures or write short answers on each page.
Materials: Paper, stapler, crayons, markers.
10. Classroom Rainbow
Create a large rainbow using strips of colorful paper.
Each student decorates one section with their name, favorite color, or a small drawing. Assemble the pieces into one classroom rainbow.
Message idea: “Our Class Shines Together.”
11. Name Letter Collage
Write each child’s name in large letters on cardstock.
Students can fill the letters with tissue paper, stickers, magazine pieces, fingerprints, or colorful patterns.
Learning benefit: It gives children repeated exposure to the letters in their own names.
12. First Week School Crown
Create simple paper crowns with messages such as “I Love School,” “Ready to Learn,” or “First Week Superstar.”
Students can decorate the crowns with stars, apples, pencils, and stickers.
Best for: Preschool and kindergarten classrooms.
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13. My Favorite Thing at School
Ask students to draw their favorite part of the classroom or school.
They might draw the playground, books, teacher, art table, friends, or lunch area.
Write their explanation underneath the drawing.
Why it’s useful: It gives teachers insight into what students are enjoying during their first week.
14. Classroom Flower Garden
Create a large garden scene with paper flowers.
Give each student a flower to decorate with their name and favorite color. Arrange all the flowers together to create a classroom garden.
Materials: Construction paper, glue, crayons, markers.
Message: “Watch Us Grow!”
15. First Week Feelings Craft
Create paper faces showing different emotions such as happy, excited, nervous, proud, or curious.
Students can choose the face that best represents how they feel about school.
Learning connection: This activity encourages children to recognize and talk about emotions.
16. School Supply Collage
Provide large paper shapes of pencils, books, crayons, rulers, scissors, and backpacks.
Students can arrange them into a classroom scene or glue them into a colorful collage.
Materials: Construction paper, glue, crayons.
17. “What I Want to Learn” Light Bulb
Cut a large light bulb from yellow cardstock.
Children draw or write something they want to learn during the school year inside the bulb.
Decorate the outside with stars and colorful patterns.
Display idea: Create a wall full of student light bulbs.
18. Classroom Quilt
Give every student a square piece of paper.
Each child decorates their square with their name, favorite color, family, hobbies, or a simple self-portrait. Put all the squares together to create a paper classroom quilt.
Why it’s meaningful: Every student’s individuality becomes part of one shared artwork.
19. First Week Photo Frame
Create a personalized photo frame decorated with school-themed shapes.
Add the child’s first-week photograph once it is printed or available digitally.
Decoration ideas: Apples, pencils, books, stars, backpacks, and colorful dots.
20. Our First Week Mural
Create one large collaborative mural where every child contributes something from their first week.
Students can draw their classmates, classroom, playground, favorite activity, school supplies, or anything they enjoyed.
Write “Our First Week of School” across the top.
Materials: Large paper, crayons, markers, washable paint, glue, construction paper.
Easy Crafts for the First Week
During the first week, choose crafts that don’t require complicated instructions. Children are still learning classroom routines, so simple activities such as coloring, gluing, painting, and decorating are often ideal.
Prepare supplies in advance and provide clear examples without requiring every child to copy the same design. Giving students creative freedom can help them feel more comfortable in a new environment.
Turn Crafts Into Classroom Activities
First-week crafts can also help teachers learn more about their students. Ask children about their favorite colors, hobbies, foods, books, animals, or things they hope to learn.
Use their answers in personalized crafts such as name collages, self-portraits, classroom flowers, or paper quilt squares.
Collaborative projects are especially useful because they encourage students to work beside one another while creating something for their shared classroom.
FAQs About First Week of School Crafts
What are easy first week of school crafts?
Name collages, paper pencils, apple crafts, self-portraits, school buses, friendship chains, and simple classroom murals are easy choices for the first few days.
What crafts are best for preschoolers?
Handprint trees, paper plate apples, crowns, simple collages, school buses, and colorful shape crafts are excellent for younger children.
How can first-week crafts help children?
Craft activities can encourage creativity, fine-motor practice, communication, social interaction, and familiarity with classroom routines.
Should first-week crafts be individual or collaborative?
Both are useful. Individual projects help children express themselves, while collaborative crafts such as murals, quilts, and friendship chains help build classroom community.
What can teachers do with first-week artwork?
Display the artwork on classroom walls, bulletin boards, doors, or hallway galleries. You can also send special keepsakes home with families.
How can I make first-week crafts educational?
Practice names, letters, colors, shapes, counting, emotions, and classroom vocabulary while students create their artwork.
Final Thoughts
These 20 first week of school crafts can help turn the beginning of a new school year into a welcoming and creative experience. From self-portraits and name collages to classroom quilts and collaborative murals, each project gives children an opportunity to express themselves and connect with their new environment.
Keep the activities simple, encourage individual creativity, and celebrate every finished project. The artwork created during the first week can become both meaningful classroom decoration and a lasting reminder of the beginning of a new school year.
