Our Favorite Back-to-School Tradition

Stanley Schoolhouse, Chain O'Lakes State Park

Do you have back-to-school traditions? We have only one, and we just started it a few years ago. But it's become a fun way to kick off a new school year, no matter what age the student.

We borrowed this tradition from German families who send their students off to classes the first day with...

Schultüten!

A "Schultüte" is a "school cone" filled with candies and school supplies. I then add a card with some scripture carefully chosen for each recipient. These are passages I'll be praying through for each one during this year, so I also add those verses to my set of prayer cards. And yes, I do make cones even for my college kids! (When I hitched a ride with one older child this year, I noticed that he'd kept his verse card in his car all year.) This year we'll have more in college than at home, with two at Purdue and one at I.U. 

Here are directions for making your own schultuten.  Poster board makes nice cones, and you can decorate anyway you wish. A trip to the dollar store can help you fill your cones inexpensively.

You can read more about our Schultüte tradition here and here.