First Day of School Photo Ideas

How adorable is this school-inspired set?!

We all associate school with apples. Position an apple on the student desk or have your child hold it. You are the photographer and your child will be their candid self. Use whatever you have. Tie a ribbon around some books. Get creative with globes. Showcase fun vintage school items. There is no right or wrong ideas here! Decide upon a vision and have fun with it. Regardless of which props you choose to feature, photos obtained within this set will definitely be ones to keep for years to come! Save your props and recreate this scene annually. How fun will it be to look back and see how much your child has grown each year?! When they outgrow the desk have them sit or stand beside it. For added fun on a future trip down memory lane, have them try to squeeze into the seat while bearing their weight on their legs to avoid breakage!

TIP: You can find a cheap desk at your local thrift store or barn sale. Call ahead to see if they have what you are looking for. Small businesses will usually be willing to call you when they obtain what you are looking for! Think local. Shop local.

Head to your local craft store and simply purchase an 8X10 photo frame, one piece of scrapbook paper, a sheet of vellum (printer sized), and a dry erase marker.

TIP: Allow your child to choose the frame and scrapbook paper since this is for their special photoshoot!

Simply print the phrases you see above on the vellum and have your child hold this at the beginning of each school year. For additional memories, rather than printing your child’s name, leave a blank and allow them to write it on the frame each year to see how their handwriting develops over the years!

Showcase the grade they are entering and any facts pertaining to them. Get creative. You know what your child likes. Let them write their own name and draw a picture if they would like to. This is a great way to compare their creativity and handwriting skills from year to year!

Remember other family members in your first day of school photo ideas! Parents, grandparents, siblings, and even pets should be in at least one of your shots.

Sadly, one day, all you will have are memories and photos of certain loved ones. This is a great opportunity to include all family members in on the excitement. Do your loved ones live far away? Invite them for a stay right before school starts. If this is not possible, FaceTime them on the first day of school and screenshot their reaction to your child’s outfit (or any part of the conversation). You will be glad you did!

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At some point we have to face it. Our babies will go off to school one day. Make sure to have someone capture tender moments between you and your baby on their very first day of preschool or kindergarten!

Yes, it is important to take a photo with your child every year but the absolute first day of school deserves to be showcased in an extra special way. Some great first day of school photo ideas for this include a shot of you two walking up to the school or bus, sharing a secret, embracing one another in a hug, and a goodbye kiss.

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Take the exact photo on the first day of school and the last! Your child will love to see how they have changed in one short year. An easy way to make every aspect of each photo the same is to have them wear the exact same outfit. You can either have them wear the outfit from the first day or buy the next size up to allow for growth. You will want to plan ahead for this one and purchase both outfits at the same time to avoid items being sold out.

TIP: Although cute, the popular tee shirt featuring your child’s graduation year could lead to upset and disappointment. Students are retained for many reasons, including too many absences resulting from a serious illness. Avoid unnecessary stress and possible embarrassment of having to change the year on the shirt by avoiding this idea altogether.

Ideally, you want to capture their initial excitement. However, allowing your child to express their true emotions on the first day of school will show them that their feelings are validated and important to you. Their older self will enjoy seeing the rawness within the photo.

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If allowed, tie your child’s school into their first day of school photo ideas. You may have to take these particular photos before the school year begins when security is not as enforced. Take a picture of the school sign. If able to, capture your child walking down the hallway or at their locker. Bonus points are automatically added for taking a picture of your student with their teacher!

Take a sweet photo of your child right before you wake them up on their first day of school. There is just something so innocent about a sleeping child. This photo idea is a great memory to have. Imagine looking back at yourself sleeping on the first day of each school year. Many fun stories will be told from these photos for years to come!

This one is exclusively for the parents! So many first day of school photo ideas are focused directly on capturing the student, as they should be. Here, parents can look back and remember their exact perspective of their student leaving them. The sendoff photo captures the last image parents have in their minds of their child transitioning into the new school year.