Preparing for your preschool's back to school event

I am so not ready to accept that summer is almost over, but here we are.

As you start preparing for the school year, like creating your parent handbook and decorating your classrooms, don’t forget about your back to school night (or day) - or, you may also refer to it as your “meet the teachers” event.

Here are some practical tips and some activity ideas you can use to make your event welcoming for the children and the families.

After all, this event sets the stage for the parent-teacher partnership and family engagement. You should definitely take advantage of this time to show families how important community engagement and collaboration is at your center.

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Back to school night ideas for preschool

Here are some topics, conversations and activities to cover over the course of the event.

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Sign-up sheets

First of all, it should be easy for families to find their way into your childcare center or preschool. One of your staff members should be at the front welcoming the families in, and asking them to sign-in. Then, they can direct the families where to go next.

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Welcome

After the families have come and signed-in, and they have been directed to the correct classroom, it is time to officially welcome everyone and acknowledge the start of another school year.

Here you can talk a bit about your mission, your values, curriculum or other aspects that set your community apart, and what you are most excited about for this upcoming school year - as a center as a whole, or/and also to your classroom specifically.

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Children’s activities

A great way to ensure quality conversations with the families is to have activities planned for the children.

You could start with an activity that the children can do together with the families. Maybe sing a song, or have some activities out like puzzles. Families love to see examples of activities and get a glimpse of how their children will be spending their days.

Then, give time for some child-led play. This is a great way for the children to begin exploring their new classroom and becoming more familiar with the environment they will spend a lot of their time in moving forward. It also allows families to observe how their children are exploring and interacting with the new environment.

You can either allow child-led play to continue, or maybe you could have some specific activities like arts and crafts or a water table. At this time, a teacher or a qualified-adult should supervise the children, so that the families and teacher can step away for a bit.

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Emphasize teacher-parent partnerships

Your back-to-school event is a great time to emphasize how much you value collaboration with families.

When parents or primary caregivers are engaged and involved in their child’s learning and time at the childcare center, it supports holistic development. It bridges the gap between the preschool environment with their teacher and the home environment with their family. Instead of being separate, it becomes a continuous environment, with one supporting the other.

Since it is the beginning of the school year, this is also the best time to manage expectations. For example, how do you feel about conversations during drop-off and pick-up? Let them know if you have any guidelines that foster the classroom environment that you strive to maintain. Do you love parents staying a while? Can parents come inside of the room? If parents have questions beyond today’s logistics, when and where do you prefer they connect with you on those?

Make parents feel comfortable by providing clear boundaries and setting understandable expectations, so that there is no room for misunderstanding. This will create the foundation for incredible relationships with your families.

Talk about parent-teacher conferences, or other similar parent-teacher touchbase points throughout the upcoming school year. This will provide parents with helpful context on how often to expect to receive 1:1 progress reports on your child’s development.

Of course, you should always remind parents that they should always feel comfortable asking questions or communicating with teachers and staff, even if not during a pre-planned touchbase.

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Community enrichment

Of course, the most important part of this back to school event is for families to meet who their child(ren) will be spending the majority of their time with, when they are away from home.

Teachers can prepare a little “get to know me” sheet, or this is a great time to do some fun activities to start to make the classroom feel like theirs, or to get to know the families a bit better!

Mention some upcoming community events, or ways that families can be more involved. Provide any takeaway material listing those upcoming events or key dates as well, to encourage engagement! (Or, remind them that all those details can easily be found in their childcare app. But, more on that below!)

Also, allow your families time to interact, exchange contact info as they see fit, and get to know one another. Parent-to-parent connections will further strengthen the bond they have to the general school community.

This is also a great segue into your childcare management software (like Famly).

How to prepare for your back to school event

It is important for teachers to know that their classrooms do not have to be completely done and ready. But, of course, there are some things that need to be done to make it a fun, informative and engaging event.

It’s really helpful to break it down into separate to-do lists:

1. To buy: crayons, stickers, paper, goodie bags, stapler, etc. This depends largely on what activities you have planned.
2. To set up: Is one of the activities an arts and crafts project? Do you need to print out an activity? Do you need to make room on the wall for anything to be hung up, like a classroom bulletin board?
3. To make: Do you need to make goodie bags? A meet the teacher sheet? You classroom activity calendar? A printout of a typical day in your classroom? Maybe you want to make individual bags for parents to use for their child’s extra set of clothing? Name tags for personal cubbies or coat hangers?
4. Follow up: Is there anything you need to follow up with after the back to school event? Do families need to return a form?

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Back to school activity ideas for children and families

• Bring in a photo of their family:

‍Children-led or children-made classroom decoration can really help children feel more comfortable, and feel like the classroom space is their own. Bringing a family photo, or a photo that makes them smile, is a great way to start right off the bat.
*Remember this means you need to inform the families before the back to school event.‍

• Scavenger hunt:

‍This is a fun way to get the children familiar with their new classroom. You can include everything from classroom pets, to plants, to pencil sharpeners, their personal coat hanger and more!

• Meet the teacher activities:

You could make a presentation, or you could play 20 questions, or you could simply pass out a printed “get to know me” page.
*Make sure to include your preferred methods of contact ‍

• Create a croc

Crocs are not only some of the most comfortable shoes, but they now are also some of the most personalized shoes with all the shoe charms you can add. Ask the kids to draw what charms they would add to their croc. You can have the family members do their own too!

• ‍Here’s the scoop

Who doesn’t love ice cream?! This is a fun way to get to know the children in the classroom. You could even bring some ice cream sandwiches as a treat!

• Meet your classmates and their families Bingo

Find out some fun facts about each child or their family and make a bingo sheet. Then, have families walk around, talk with each other and find out which fact belongs to which family. The first to get 5 in a row - or bingo - wins!
*Remember this means you need to inform the families before the back to school event.‍

• Book swap

Have each child bring one of their favorite books. Then, have children swap with each other. This may seem a bit chaotic, but it also encourages parent communication, as they will need to plan together when to swap back. Or, it can entice you to plan another event in a month’s time where everyone has to bring and return the book.