10 Creative Back to School Crafts for Preschoolers Toddlers to Start the Year 🎉

You don’t need much to get the little ones excited for the school year. I put this list together because I wanted practical ideas for Back to School Crafts for Preschoolers Toddlers that were easy for kids but still looked great.

If you’re managing little hands and limited time, these crafts use simple items like paint and paper to create memorable projects that look cute and help them feel ready for the classroom.

1. Handprint Apple Keepsake 🍎

This is a personal favorite because it makes such a lovely memory. You use their little handprints to form the leaves for a paper apple shape, capturing how tiny they were when school started. It’s perfect for a keepsake book.

How to Make This 📝

1. Start by painting your child’s hand with green or brown paint.
2. Carefully stamp it multiple times at the top of a sheet of white paper to create a bushy tree top or leaf cluster shape.
3. Cut out an apple shape from red or green construction paper and glue it below the handprints.
4. Write the child’s name and school year in the corner.
5. All you need is paint (green, brown, red), construction paper, scissors, a marker, and a sheet of white cardstock.

2. Fork Painting Sunflower Garden 🌻

This style is lowkey genius for this age group. Instead of precise painting, they use a plastic fork to make texture and petals. It’s less frustrating for them and looks so good, resembling a field of back-to-school sunflowers.

Style Guide 🎨

1. Find a few green pipe cleaners for stems and leaves.
2. Use dark brown paint to stamp their fingerprints into circles on the paper for the flower center.
3. Let them dip plastic forks into yellow paint and stamp around the brown circle to make petals.
4. You can easily buy plastic forks, yellow and brown paint, pipe cleaners, and paper at most stores.

3. Paper Plate School Bus Craft 🚌

I didn’t expect a paper plate to turn out this cute. It’s a very simple setup where you cut the plate, and they handle the painting. They’ll love adding pre-cut black paper wheels and windows to finish their own little bus.

How to Make This 📝

1. Cut a white paper plate in half for each child.
2. They can then paint it bright yellow.
3. While it dries, cut out small squares of black paper for windows and two small circles for wheels.
4. Once the paint is dry, help them glue the windows and wheels onto the flat edge of the bus.
5. Materials needed are paper plates, yellow paint, black construction paper, glue, and scissors.

4. Fingerprint Alphabet Apple 🍎

When you want the craft to be subtle but still personal, this is a great option. Instead of a large piece, you create an apple shape out of fingerprint dots, incorporating letters of the alphabet on simple paper shapes below it.

Style Guide 🎨

1. Draw or print an apple outline with a simple stem and leaf.
2. Provide ink pads or safe finger paint for them to create an apple shape with dots.
3. Add cut-out paper shapes like little apples or blocks and write letters in them below the main shape.
4. Shop now for an ink pad set (red, green, brown), cardstock, markers, and alphabet stickers.

5. Letter ‘S’ Snake Craft 🐍

We’ve all made variations of this, but it works so well. Cut the letter ‘S’ out of cardboard and let them cover it in colorful things to make a snake. It reinforces the shape of the letter in a really visual way.

How to Make This 📝

1. Draw and cut out a large letter ‘S’ from sturdy cardboard or thick paper.
2. They can use crumpled colorful paper, glitter (with supervision!), and even pipe cleaners to decorate the body.
3. Glue on two googly eyes and a little red paper tongue at the top to complete the snake.
4. You just need cardboard, colored construction paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glue, and scissors.

6. Counting Bus Shapes Craft 🚌

This works beautifully if you want to practice counting shapes. They assemble a simple bus from pre-cut rectangles and circles, then glue on the corresponding number of pre-cut figures or objects for practice.

Style Guide 🎨

1. Cut various rectangles of yellow paper, squares of black, and smaller circles of black.
2. Let them count out the pieces and glue them to build their bus.
3. You can use little paper figures for ‘passengers’ to match a counting goal.
4. You can buy pre-cut shapes or a paper shape punch for this to make it even simpler.

7. Cotton Ball Cloudy Sky ☁️

For rentals where you don’t want a full painting mess, this one uses minimal wet materials. All they need are cotton balls and glue to create a beautiful cloudy sky, perfect for the “back to school” weather change.

How to Make This 📝

1. Use light blue cardstock for the background paper.
2. Show them how to gently pull cotton balls to make them fluffier and larger.
3. They can add glue in cloud shapes and press the cotton balls down to build their cloudy scene.
4. All you need is blue cardstock, cotton balls, glue sticks, and optionally, colorful markers.

8. My First School Backpack Paper Craft 🎒

I love this setup because you pre-cut a basic backpack shape and they add whatever they want. It’s like their first piece of ‘school gear’. Let them glue on paper shapes for patches or even small drawings they did.

Style Guide 🎨

1. Cut out a simple backpack shape from blue construction paper.
2. Pre-cut smaller shapes like triangles, stars, and circles from varied paper for decoration.
3. They can practice gluing by adding these “patches” or their own drawings onto the main backpack cutout.
4. Materials are blue construction paper, multi-colored paper, glue sticks, markers, and scissors.

9. Colorful Name Puzzle 🧩

Most puzzle ideas are too complex, but this one is incredibly simple. You cut their name into blocks and they practice arranging it back together, making it a great learning and shape matching activity to start the year.

How to Make This 📝

1. Write their name in large, clear block letters on a thick piece of colored paper or cardstock.
2. Cut the paper into vertical strips, separating each letter.
3. Let them use their fingers to move the letter pieces around and practice putting their name back in order.
4. Materials needed are thick colored paper, markers, and scissors.

10. Handprint Bus Driver Portrait 🚌

This last idea really feels specific and special. You combine a simple shape craft with their own features, letting them make a small bus shape that they get to ‘drive’ as the handprint. It’s adorable and highly personal.

Style Guide 🎨

1. Start with a small yellow paper shape for the bus.
2. Stamp their little handprint with face paint colors to make a portrait as the ‘driver’.
3. Once the handprint dries, they can draw simple details like eyes and a smile to complete their picture.
4. Materials include yellow paper, finger paints (various colors), black markers, paper, and scissors.

I hope this list gives you a few ideas for starting the school year with easy, creative activities that they will love and that look wonderful.

Let me know which one you try first or if you have any other favorites to share. Pin this to your Pinterest account for later inspiration when you need simple crafts to do with your preschoolers and toddlers. 📌