There’s a particular morning every year when the light starts to feel a little different — softer, slower, with the smallest hint of gold tucked into the corners. The mornings are still warm. The afternoons still stretch long. But something in the air whispers that we are easing toward fall.
And around our kitchen table, that whisper means one thing. Back-to-school crafts are about to make a quiet, sticky, glorious mess of every flat surface we own.
If you have little ones (or not-so-little ones) in your house, this season is one of those sweet little doorways into a new rhythm. Sharpened pencils. Fresh notebooks. Smaller hands learning bigger things. And one of my very favorite ways to mark it all with our tiny humans is to slow down and make something together.
So today I’m sharing ten simple, joyful back to school crafts that have lived on our kitchen table at some point, sweet friend.
why we make crafts in this season
Back-to-school season around here is a strange and beautiful mix of feelings. There’s the excitement of fresh starts. There’s the small ache of summer ending. And in the middle of all of it, there are little ones with big feelings, looking up at us to make sense of the shift.
Crafting together gives us a soft place to land in the middle of that change. It pulls everyone close to the table. It slows the day down. And it lets the children put their feelings into something they can hold — a paper pencil with their name on it, a little construction-paper apple stuck to the fridge.
I think there’s something quietly faithful about ushering our children into a new season this way. We’ve been making things by hand through the long, lazy days of summer activities for the kids, and it feels right to carry that gentle rhythm straight into autumn with us.
what to gather before you start
You really don’t need much to make every craft on this list. A small basket on the kitchen counter will hold the whole kit, and most of what you need is probably tucked away in a drawer already.
- Gather some construction paper in cheerful colors — red, yellow, brown, black.
- A few empty toilet paper rolls (we always seem to have a basket of these going).
- White school glue or a glue stick.
- Safety scissors for little hands.
- A handful of markers or crayons.
- Googly eyes if you’ve got them, but a few drawn-on dots work just as well.
For a few of these, you’ll want yarn or string, a hole punch, and any scraps of felt or fabric left over from sewing projects. That’s truly it. Now to the good part.
10 fun back to school crafts kids will love
These fun back-to-school crafts are simple, creative, and perfect for getting kids excited for the new school year.
1. toilet paper roll pencil
This was the first back-to-school craft my eldest ever made, and it still makes him grin. Wrap an empty cardboard tube in yellow construction paper, glue a pink eraser circle on one end, and tape a sharp little gray-and-tan paper cone on the other.
The whole thing looks like an oversized pencil ready for the first day of school. We always write a child’s name down the side in black marker. If you have a basket of empty tubes already (and goodness, we always do), there are so many other lovely toilet paper roll crafts for kids to dip into next.
2. apple craft
An apple feels like the truest little symbol of the season. Cut a fat apple shape from red construction paper, glue on a small brown stem and a green leaf, and you’re already most of the way there.
We like to press a thumbprint of brown paint somewhere on the apple for a tiny seed. If you’ve got a real apple tree out back, or you’re picking from a neighbor’s, this pairs so beautifully with a slow afternoon of making things from the garden.
3. school bus craft
A yellow school bus is one of those crafts that comes together in about ten minutes flat. Cut a long rectangle from yellow paper, round the corners a little, and add black wheels, square windows, and a small red stop sign on the side.
Drawing tiny faces peeking out of each window gives the bus a happy, lived-in feel. Don’t worry if the faces lean a little crooked — that’s part of the charm.
4. crayon craft
Cut a tall rectangle from construction paper in any color you love. Top it with a small triangle in black or gray for the tip, and add a black band near the top for the label. Write the color name across the band if your little ones are working on their letters.
A whole little family of paper crayons taped across a window looks like a row of bright, friendly soldiers cheering on the new school year. For another splash of color along the same lines, our rainbow crafts for kids are a sweet pairing.
5. backpack craft
Cut a backpack-shaped piece from sturdy paper or thin cardboard, then layer a smaller pocket on the front with a paper-strip handle and two paper straps. We love adding little details — a name tag, a tiny zipper drawn in marker, a paper water bottle peeking out of a side pocket.
For a fun finishing touch, glue a couple of small buttons on for embellishment. If you’ve got a jar of mismatched ones on the shelf, there are plenty of other clever ways to use up spare buttons hiding in there too.
6. book craft
Fold a few sheets of paper in half, tuck them inside a folded piece of construction paper for the cover, and staple along the spine. Just like that, your little one has made a real book.
The blank pages inside are an invitation — for drawings, for short stories, for inventions only a small mind could dream up. The finished book finds a sweet home in the basket by the reading chair, right alongside the well-loved picture books.
7. first day of school craft
This one is more keepsake than craft. Cut a large paper sign — a chalkboard shape works beautifully — and let your child fill it in with their name, age, what they want to be when they grow up, and how they’re feeling about the new school year.
Snap a picture of them holding it on the first morning, and tuck the sign itself into a memory box. The first day brings up a lot of big feelings, and a craft like this gives them somewhere gentle to land — much like our little collection of emotions crafts for exploring big feelings.
8. mini paper backpack
This is the slightly fancier cousin of the backpack craft above. Fold a piece of paper into a small pouch with a flap that folds down — a brown paper bag works wonders — and add little paper straps so your child can carry it around.
The straps are extra sweet when you use twisted pipe cleaners instead of paper. While you’ve got the bag out, you might enjoy a few more ideas from our simple pipe cleaner crafts. The mini backpack is just big enough to hold tiny treasures — a folded note, a pebble, a small toy.
9. monster bookmarks
These are the silliest, most beloved bookmarks in our house. Cut a square of construction paper, fold it diagonally into a little triangle pocket that slips over the corner of a page, then give it googly eyes, paper teeth, and any number of wild ears or horns.
Each monster ends up with its own personality, and most little ones love giving theirs a name. They have a way of becoming faithful page-keepers for months on end.
10. diy pencil case
Take a small cardboard box (a clean pasta box, trimmed down, is perfect) or a sturdy paper pouch, and let your little one decorate it however they like. Markers, stickers, scraps of patterned paper, hand-drawn flowers — anything goes.
It becomes the perfect home for their toilet paper roll pencil, their paper crayons, and any small treasures they want to keep close. Functional, handmade, and made entirely with their own ideas.
making it a little tradition
One of the gentlest gifts we can give our children is a rhythm they can count on. The same crafts on the kitchen table every August. The same red apple on the fridge. The same little chalkboard sign with their grin behind it.
I find myself coming back to that old verse — Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) Sometimes training looks like big, important things. And sometimes it looks like sitting at the kitchen table with paper scraps everywhere and helping a little one cut out a yellow school bus.
Both, I think, are holy. If you’d like to add a quiet faith moment to your craft afternoon, our adorable prayer crafts for kids are a sweet way to begin or end the time together.
gentle tips for crafting with little ones
A handful of small things I’ve learned, mostly the slow way, from many sticky-fingered afternoons:
- Cut the shapes ahead of time for the smallest hands. It saves tears and lets them dive straight into the gluing, which is the fun part anyway.
- Put down an old sheet or a stretch of brown paper under everything. It catches the mess and tucks away the cleanup in one easy motion.
- Let go of how it’s supposed to look. A school bus with seven wheels and a purple roof is exactly right when a three-year-old made it.
- Keep the snacks close. A small bowl of apple slices on the table makes the whole thing feel like a little celebration.
And take a photo. You won’t regret it. The crafts themselves fade, but the picture of a small face peeking around a paper apple — that one stays.
pull out the paper and start something sweet today
So here’s my gentle nudge, sweet friend — pick the one craft on this list that made you smile, gather your little ones around the kitchen table this week, and just begin. The crooked scissor cuts and the smudgy glue spots are part of the beauty of it.
I’d truly love to know which back to school craft you’re trying first. Leave a comment down below and tell me — I read every single one, and there’s little that makes me happier than picturing another little family making something together at their own kitchen table.
With love, and a paper apple already taped to my fridge,
Betty
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what age are these back to school crafts best for?
Most of these crafts are wonderful for ages three through about ten. The little ones will need a bit more help with cutting, and the bigger ones will want to add their own creative twists. With a few small adjustments, every craft on this list can stretch to fit the children gathered around your table.
what supplies do i need for back to school crafts?
Truly, very little. Construction paper, school glue or a glue stick, safety scissors, markers or crayons, and a few empty cardboard tubes will carry you through almost every craft on the list. Googly eyes, yarn, and scrap felt are sweet extras but not at all required.
how long do these crafts take to make?
Most of them fit comfortably inside a single afternoon — somewhere between fifteen minutes and an hour, depending on how much detail your little ones want to add. The toilet paper roll pencil and the apple craft come together quickly, while the first day of school sign and the diy pencil case might stretch a little longer.
can i use these crafts as classroom activities?
Absolutely. Every one of these works beautifully in a classroom, a homeschool co-op, or a Sunday school setting. The supplies are inexpensive, the steps are simple, and the finished crafts make a sweet little display along the wall or the windowsill.
what is the easiest back to school craft for toddlers?
I’d start with the apple craft or the crayon craft. Both have just two or three pieces, plenty of room for messy gluing, and forgive crooked little cuts. Pre-cut the shapes for your toddler, and let them do the joyful work of sticking everything down.
