Elementary activity to send home before school starts?

I teach 2nd grade. When I send my Welcome Letter and Supply List to my new students I use to send them
"The Back To School Times" as an activity to do and then to bring in for the first day of school. Over the years I have found that more and more of the parents are completing it rahter than the kids, which is clearly stated in my letter.

I'm looking for something new to send home. Any ideas or suggestions? I've done the "Me Bags" before. I want something different. I guess I'm just bored too! Time for change!! TIA!!

Re: Elementary activity to send home before school starts?

When I was a student teacher my cooperating teacher sent homeaI cut out of a sailboat (I think) and the kids were suppsed to write about what they expected of 3rd grade...Bulletin Board was "Sailing into 3rd Grade"

I think she sent home or we did this the first day but there was a cut out of shorts and on this the kids wrote about what they did over the summer and the bulletin board for that was "Summer Shorts"

Re: Elementary activity to send home before school starts?

We have an open house the week before school starts and I give all of the kids a puzzle person and they have to decorate it to look like them. They bring it back on the first day of school and we try to guess which puzzle person belongs to who, then they all connect together and I hang them up with a sign that says "We fit together"

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