First Day of School Crowns for Preschool and Kindergarten {Free Printable}

Inside: Free printable first day of school crowns and tips on helping children learn to recognize their names.

I’m a little late posting this – I know some of you have already had your first day of school. But if you’re still getting ready for the beginning of the new school year I have a treat for you today!

(And if you’ve already gone back to school this year you can always save it for next year – the spot with the school year printed is editable.)

Printable First Day of School Crowns

As the school year starts, it can be tough for kids to transition to a classroom environment – especially this year. It’s not just about getting used to the schedule and making friends; it’s also about feeling like you belong.

Here’s one way that teachers can help students feel like they’re part of a community on their very first day. Send everyone home with a fun crown with their classmates’ names on the back.

What an easy way for students to feel like royalty (and part of a royal family) on their first day of school!

You can show your students the back of the hat where all the names are listed – and help each child find his or her own name on classmates’ crowns.

Teaching your little ones their classmates’ names is a fun first step towards building friendships and fostering social-emotional development, too. You might also like to play a first-day game like Friend Bingo or read aloud one of these Picture Books about Friendship.

Plus, if you send children home wearing these crowns you’ll be encouraging and helping families talk to their children about their day and their classmates.

Preparation

Once you’ve downloaded your copy of these crowns (see at the bottom of this section), you’ll want to personalize them!

1. Open the PDF file in Adobe Reader. (Make sure you’re actually in Adobe and not your browser or in Preview mode on a Mac.)
2. Start by typing the first student’s name on the front of the crown.
3. Then, type the school year and your name or school name. (You’ll only have to type this once)

4. Next, type all your other students’ names in the section that will be the back of the crown. I entered blank lines between each name to get the spacing the way I liked it.

5. Print your first crown. Be sure to select “current page” so that you don’t print the extra pages in the file.
6. Next, swap out the first student’s name with the next one on the list. In other words, you will type the new name at the top and then in the bottom section replace it with the name you have just printed.
7. Continue until you have printed a first day of school crown for each student.

Instructions

Have children color their papers before you cut them out. Then, cut along the solid lines and tape, staple, or glue stick it together.

Alternatively, some teachers like to use sentence strips to make a crown base. Then, they glue the printable crown to that.

Download the Crowns

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Teaching Preschoolers to Recognize their Own Names

Especially if you teach preschool, you may have some children who can’t yet recognize their own names in print.

For those sweet little ones, you can start by teaching them the first letter of their names. Then, you can show them what their whole name looks like. You can start by showing it to them on their new crown, on the back of their friends’ crowns, and on things like their backpack and cubby label.

If they need a little extra practice, you might like the Name Books for sale in my store. Children can practice finding the first letter in their name, and look for their name on every page. They can also color and trace their name.

As a next step, you might also like my editable Name Tracing Worksheets. They allow you to type in any student’s name. Then, students trace their own names and color the initial sound pictures for “their” letter. They can also practice tracing their own name and reading the sentences.

Before long, they’ll be pros at recognizing and even writing their names, and start to show readiness to learn more letters of the alphabet.