Back to School Countdown Craft

My three boys and I are having a fantastic summer, but it won’t be long before they are heading back to school. In keeping with family tradition, we will be marking the occasion with a special countdown. In the past, we have used jars of candies and balloons with activities inside, but this year we crafted this adorable school-bus chain. 

Isn't it cute? We have seven chain links, and each day leading up to the first day of school, we will rip one off and do the activity written on the inside of the link. 

This year, our activities are:

• Have a bath with glow sticks or bubbles.
• Watch a movie with popcorn.
• Pick out something at the dollar store.
• Read an extra story at bedtime.
• Stay up 15 minutes later than normal.
• Have pancakes for supper.

Want to make your own school bus countdown chain?

You'll need:

• brown and yellow card stock
• scissors
• double-sided tape or glue
• a photo
• crayons
• stapler
• ribbon for hanging

Directions:

1. Draw a school bus onto a piece of yellow cardstock and cut it out. Decorate the bus with crayons.
 

2. Cut a picture so that the faces of the children become the windows of the bus, and cut two circles for wheels. Secure with tape or glue.

3. Write a special activity on each link.

4. Create a paper chain by adding links to the bus. Start by cutting a slit for the first link, loop subsequent links together, and staple in place.

That’s it! I am not looking forward to the end of summer and sending my boys back to school, but it will be a lot of fun doing all these activities on the week leading up to their first day.