Helping & Healing

Sparkle Stories Back to School Guide Printable

With school starting again, we've rounded up all of our best back-to-school content in one place. We’ve gathered some of our best stories along with helpful guides on how to use them for parents and teachers. You’ll also find some of our favorite back-to-school projects, recipes, and crafts.

Back-to-School Challenges

Heading back to school is a transitional time for little ones — not to mention parents. This is true for homeschoolers as well as traditional schoolers. Routine changes can be both fun and challenging, particularly for sensitive kids. Going back to school means adjusting our rhythms which often have a unique and more free-flowing cadence in the summer. We’ve gathered some of our best resources to help make the transition more seamless. Our back to school guide includes four stories (with helpful guides for parents on how to use them), fun recipes for easy lunch ideas, and some of our best tips for a little fun and creativity to help you breathe and settle in to your new routines.

These stories, projects, and printables are designed to support children and families in ways that are enriching, developmentally appropriate, and FUN!

Download the free printable Back-to-School Guide here.

Read more about what we’ve included below!

Back-to-School Story Guides

In these story guides, you’ll find insight into each story with suggestions for practical applications to support children as they head to school. Before you offer a story to a child, read the short points enclosed, so you understand what the story is conveying. Then invite your child to listen to the stories freely, without explanation or introduction. If a particular story seems uniquely relevant and meaningful to your child, and they ask to listen to it a second, or even third, time, definitely allow for that! For children, hearing the same words over and over can be reassuring and soothing. It can also help deepen the pedagogical and therapeutic gifts within the narrative.

Back-to-School Projects

In this season of back-to-school, we are all looking for ways to encourage our children as they settle into their new routines. That's why we've gathered some of our best crafts and projects to support families during this transitional time and offer a little sparkly fun. The best part? Each project is connected to a Sparkle Story! Use these as a way to help children remember the confidence, curiosity, and excitement they experienced through the characters in the stories.

Back-to-School Recipes

Summer vacation is almost over and the buzz of new things is in the air. Stores have stocked their school supply sections. There are pencils and notebooks, erasers and crayons. But if you are like me, you want to make sure that your little ones have something good to eat midday to fuel all that learning they are doing. Here at Sparkle we've got lots of ideas for healthy meals and snacks. I've picked a few for you to try out. They are far from your typical PB&J. I know food allergies can be a concern for many schools, so I've picked some that are nut- and dairy-free. Many of them are gluten-free as well or can be made that way.