I love back to school time and creating memories that will last forever!
Back to school is the perfect time to start making those memories. Every year, I have a tradition in my classroom of taking every student's photo on the first day of school. My first year was a simple photo taken against the wall. Not too exciting. I wanted the photos to be more fun and creative. The photos are used as part of an end of the year gift that I give each student. I like to change it up each year. Most of my ideas are my twist on ideas I have seen from other blogs or pinterest.
I am including some of my ideas and how I made each of them in case you would like to implement them into your classroom or at home with your own student/students.
This is a quick and easy prop to use in the photos. I have a Cricut Machine and simply cut the number 2 out on black cardstock and used a white chalk marker to write the "year" and "Grade". You could also print a number out, if you do not have use of a Cricut or Silhouette Machine.  |
This is a photo of my son when he was in 2nd grade. I got his photo taken as well. Hence no smile face needed to cover his sweet face. He's in 7th grade now.
This is another fairly easy photo prop to make, I took an old frame I had at home and took the glass out. I made sure it was a frame that was light enough that students could hold up easily. Then, I spray painted it black, so it would blend into the backdrop. Again, I used my Cricut machine to cut out letters and flower die cuts. Glue dots helped secure the letters down to the frame.
One of my favorite purchases was a black photo backdrop which came with a stand. I initially bought the backdrop for my daughter's wedding reception. It was a great purchase, as I have used it over and over since then. I definitely got my money use from it. It has been used for several different purposes in the classroom. I purchased the backdrop off Ebay for around $50. They range from $30 and $100.
Option 4 is another inexpensive prop for the first day of school. I bought a small dowel from Hobby Lobby and cut the rest out on my Cricut Machine. You could easily cut out your shape on cardstock and add lettering or write with a white marker. This was definitely under $5. I again used my trusted black backdrop.
Hobby Lobby carries a chalkboard paper roll for bulletin boards. I took my stand that came with the backdrop and draped the paper over the top bar. I added the lettering (made on the Cricut) and glued it onto the paper. The font was a chalkboard font. I decided not to write the year on the paper, so I could reuse the backdrop again. This is my favorite back to school photo taken thus far! I used this in my classroom last year. Total spend on this was under $10. I used my Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon to purchase the paper.
I like to take the class photo in front of my back to school bulletin board. We take a smiling photo and we usually take a silly photo. The first day of school can be hard for some students. This makes it a little less stressful. I had a student teacher last year and thought it was important to include her in all our classroom photos as she was definitely part of our classroom family.
I hope you found some photo ideas that will help your first day be memorable too! I love making the first day of school special and capturing it in a photo.
*** Here's an update to my newest photo prop for back to school 2017. I have a hollywood bulletin board which I will use for the photo background and the students will hold a movie clapper in front of them.
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