Free Printable First Day of School Signs

Back to school season is in full swing, and parents are using first day of school signs to celebrate. Read this article to see the best printable signs.

Free Printable First Day of School Signs

Back to school season is in full swing, and parents are pulling out all the stops to get their kids excited. A hearty breakfast, a first day of school photo, and custom lunch boxes help set the tone for a good year.

To make this day extra special, parents are creating a 2021 printable first day of school sign. These printable signs get tucked away in memory journals and proudly held while taking school portraits. Some signs are simple with large text displaying a name and grade level while others are fancy with vibrant colors, a sweet message, and a questionnaire for a personal touch.

In this article, I'm sharing several compelling first day of school signs you can download for free, and how to make a custom version. Let's get started!

Editable First Day of School Print

You can bring the classroom home with this chalkboard inspired print by Planes and Balloons. This print comes in black and white and can be filled in with handwriting or text.  

Source: Planes and Balloons 

Free Printable First Day of School Sign

This print is for those who need a fun sign with little to no editing. All you have to do is select a grade, print it out, and begin snapping pictures of your student!

Source: Hip2Save

First Day of School Printable Worksheet

Filling out a first day of school worksheet can be a yearly tradition while marking an exciting new chapter. Students fill out each space, then parents get to look back at their growth years down the line. I'm certain everything from their aspirations down to their handwriting will be different and fun to reflect on.

Source: Life is Sweeter by Design

First Day of School Sign

This wholesome back to school sign is great for younger students and features sweet illustrations and a place to paste a portrait. Print it out and have an activity day spent bringing it to life!

Source: Mindfulmazing

First Day of School Printable Interview

With this colorful interview sign, students can jot down what they're looking forward to this year.

Source: Giggles Galore

First Day of School Handprint Sign

If you're in a crafty mood, this is the sign to use! The center of the print has a hand tracing with fingers folded to resemble holding up a number. It's kid-friendly, easy to do, and there will be little to no mess to clean afterward.

Source: Fun Hand Print Art

Free Printable Back to School Watercolor Sign

Consider this stunning watercolor sign if you have students interested in art. The light blue watercolor banners would be a joy to fill in while answering each prompt.

Source: The Housewife Modern

How to Make a First Day of School Sign

If there's something missing from the above examples or you simply want the creative freedom to design your sign, keep reading! I'll show you how to make a printable first day of school sign from scratch. At the end of this tutorial, you can print, download, and share your sign with others.

  1. Open Kapwing Studio and resize the background
  2. Edit Background
  3. Export, download, and print

Step One: Open Kapwing Studio and Resize Background

Head over to Kapwing on your PC and click Start Editing, then click Start With a Blank Canvas. Change the background size to fit the dimensions of your printer paper. In this example, I clicked 4:5 for my output size.

Step Two: Edit Background

I stuck with a white canvas, but you can change the color of your background too. Choose from our palette on the right side of the Studio or enter a hex color code to use a different color.

To spruce up the background you can search for cute school themed illustrations with the Pixabay plugin or the image search tool. I went with Pixabay because these images are free to use and there's a large collection of art. I typed in "school illustration" and resized the picture I liked by dragging the corners. Banners, framers, borders and shapes are other elements you can add to the background.

You can click the text tool in the toolbar to add a title, name and anything else you want to include. Click Effect to add a drop shadow effect, and change the font, size, and color to something your child will like. If you're making an interview print, you can use a line in the Elements tab to create spaces for answers.

Step Three: Export, Download and Print

When your print is ready to make its debut, click Export Image, then Download to save it to your computer. If you notice a small watermark in the corner, create a free Kapwing account with an email address to remove it. All that's left is to print your first day of school sign!

Are you ready for back to school season? Let us know how you are preparing on Instagram and Twitter then subscribe to our YouTube channel for more tutorials.

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