This year my oldest son, William, started first grade. I love back to school. I get so excited to get the school supply list in the mail. William and I make a date out of getting his school supplies. We leave his brother and sister at home and make it really special. We go out to lunch and make a big deal about it. I love back to school traditions. I make a big fancy dinner, and we celebrate like it is a holiday.
A few weeks ago, I was flipping through a magazine and found an article about back to school traditions from around the world. I loved reading about how other countries treat a new school year. Germany has a particular tradition that I wanted to do with my own first grader and his class. In Germany, first grade is the “official” start of school, unlike how it is in the US, we consider it to be Kindergarten. On the first day of first grade, German parents give their new first grader a Schultute, or a paper cone filled with treats for the new year. The story goes that a magical tree grows in front of every teacher’s house and the tree blooms with treat-filled cones for each child in the class. When the Schultute are fully grown the children pick one off and head to school. How sweet is that?
I decided that I would continue this tradition with all of my children when they head to first grade. The Schultute were easy to make and a great way to start the school year.
You need:
1 square piece of heavy paper (I used leftover scrapbook paper)
stapler
scissors
Fold a piece of square paper corner to corner. I made a template since I was cutting out 20 of these.
Cut a curved line about 4 inches from the top corner.
Gently fold the paper to resemble an ice cream cone. Staple the top to secure.
Put another staple in the middle to close the sides. You could also use tape.
In a perfect world, they bottom would match up perfectly and be a perfect cone. I wanted to be sure that nothing would fall out, so I folded up the bottom up a bit and stapled it again. I would rather have a happy 1st grader with an imperfect cone that gets everything that their friends do, than one with a missing pencil.
Fill with school supplies and treats. I could not include a baked treat in my Schultute so me being the way I am, I baked up a batch of very American apple cookies to celebrate the first day of school. You can find my favorite sugar cookie recipe here.
These were a huge hit with the new first graders. And his teacher. Happy New School Year. I hope that it is filled with lots of learning and happy memories.
What sort of back to school traditions do you have? Please share in the comments section.
Bree Hester
Bree is a food blogger and photographer based out of Carmichael, CA. She lives with her husband and 3 children. Her blog, Baked Bree, is a recipe blog for the home cook who wants to eat well and laugh often.
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