It’s In The Bag!
There are pro’s and con’s about giving students a treat bag on the first day of school.
I LOVE making up little surprises for my students.
They are 4 or 5 and I think if I have a little something waiting for them on their desk it makes school especially fun for them.
When I taught other grades I did treat bags. My students could read the note, so they understood the symbolism behind some of the things I tucked in their bags.
The adorable treat bag pictured above was designed by Amanda. Her back-to-school snack consists of: Captain Crunch Treasures, Vanilla Yogurt Dipped Raisins and M&M's. Click on the link to visit her blog.
I used to make up a Reading Survival Kit as well as a Writing First Aid Kit and tucked the Baggies in my 1st , 2nd & 3rd grader’s desks at different times during the beginning of the year. They were thrilled. I ordered some of the things in the reading kit from Fun Express.
Click on the links to view/print them.
I also made a very simple treat bag, with just a few things in it and tucked a brief message in the Baggie for them to read on their first day of school.
Click on the link to view/print my first day of school treat bag.
I also found a cute Lucky Charms treat bag online that many teachers were doing. There were several different notes so I revamped one and made it my own.
For a sweet and easy treat, simply fill a small Baggie with the cereal, fold my note and attach it to the outside of the bag.
Click on the link to view/print the Lucky Charms treat bag.
When I started teaching Y5’s I opted to do a treasure box for open house instead, because the first day is rather hectic when I’m all by myself with as many as 19 four-year-olds, who may want to rip open a treat bag, even when I instruct them to take it to their locker to open at home.
I’ve had inquiries about treat bags, so I wanted to write a blog article and give you some ideas. I did a little research and found a plethora of Google listings for treat bags.
I compiled an alphabetical list of goodies teachers have tucked in their bags, as well as the symbolism behind them.
Click on the link to view/print the treat bag list and then pick and choose what you’d like to include and design your own treat bag.
Some teachers fill a large cup with goodies, some tuck their treats in Ziploc Baggies, and others use colored lunch bags.
Then there are those crafty teachers who design extra special bags.
One creative person made cute busses and hot-glued white buttons on the black wheels. (Adorable!)
So if you've got the time to be crafty... Click on the link to check out her bus treat bag YouTube video.
Because I like to tuck notes and special treats into several of my teacher friend's mailboxes, I made up a little treat bag for them as well.
Click on the link to view/print the teacher treat bag note.
Be sure and check back tomorrow for my quick and easy owl treat bags made from a lunch bag, as well as some other quick and easy ideas to make that first day special!
If you have one to share, I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com
