Free Printable Back to School Bookmarks for Kids

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The best way to make reading a good book even better is to create your own creative bookmark to go with it. These simple back to school bookmarks for kids are the perfect thing. This school bookmark set features four different bookmarks, from a school bus to a pencil to a stack of books and a school house, make one or make all four!

Teachers, wouldn’t using these as a welcome gift be such a fun way to start the first day of school? Whether you teacher 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade or even middle school, wouldn’t it be great to encourage a love of reading right off the bat in this new year?

Use it to welcome your new class of students. Or send it home as a school gift to start the year, along with the school reading list. Use it as a gift for parents from their student at open house. It’s also a great low mess activity for when students have completed independent work. Give the full page or cut them apart ahead of time.

Of course, these FREE PRINTABLES for kids are super fun, but they’re more than that. They’re an opportunity to improve pencil (or crayon) grasp, fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills, visual motor integration and so much more!

Save these Free Printable Bookmarks for later. Pin them to your favorite Pinterest board…

Whether you use this printable with your kids at home, in the library, at school, or really…anywhere, we know that your child is going to love exploring their creative side with these free activities.

You might also want to pair these printable bookmarks with some other fun back to school crafts, like this apple craft, this popsicle stick school bus craft or this road to school craft.

How to Make These DIY Bookmarks

SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG

Scissors
Markers or crayons
Yarn (optional)
Hole punch (optional)
Printable school bookmarks

To keep things simple, we stick to the same master list of basic craft supplies for every single craft that you see on this site. Once your bag’s filled, you’re all set. No extra prep needed, no running to the store at the last minute or not making a craft at all because you didn’t have what you needed on hand.

Step 1: Print

Download and print the school bookmarks you see here. Printing onto heavy white cardstock is best. Regular printer paper is too light weight to work effectively.

Step 2: Color

Use markers or crayons to make your bookmarks full color. Add any other details you would like, such as words on the bottom of the bookmark, stickers, stamping, glitter or anything that you would like. These unique designs leave lots of room for creativity.

For the stack of books bookmark, write on the subject areas you’ll be studying this year.

Step 3: Cut

Optional: If you really want these bookmarks to be durable, laminate them or cover them in packing tape.

Now, cut out the bookmarks that you’ve colored and decorated.

Step 4: Use

Put your DIY bookmarks to good use and get to reading your favorite book.

Step 5 (optional): Add a tassel to your free bookmarks

If you really want to keep these bookmarks to use over and over again, laminate them or cover them in packing tape. Then add a fun yarn tassel. Use your hole punch to make a hole to attach the DIY tassel.

Learn how to make a tassle with this simple video

Make It a Teacher Gift

For a personalized teacher gift, pair your new bookmark with a mug and a gift certificate to the local bookstore. This would make the perfect teacher apprecriation gift.

Amp Up the Fun with these Ideas for Using This Free Coloring Activity

Coloring with crayons or markers is a fun and simple activity that is portable and good on so many levels. But there’s nothing that says you need to stick with just crayons when playing with these free printable bookmarks.

Start with coloring these school bookmarks and then add things from your craft bag (we stick to the same 27 items for every craft on this site so that once you fill your bag, you are all set to make anything you find here…yay!

Get the master list to fill your bag so that you can craft along too.) Put pieces of tissue paper on areas that you want to texture. Or add washi tape for some interesting patterns. Get out the paints. Maybe you want to add fluff with cotton balls.

Save these School Printables for later. Pin them to your favorite Pinterest board…

Tips for Improving Fine Motor Skills

I know that when coloring with little ones, there are all kinds of special crayons out there that you can buy, but don’t bother. Instead, just break your regular crayons in half. Trust me. I know that it’s nice to have beautiful new crayons, but they are better tools for promoting fine motor skills when broken. Take it from an occupational therapist with years of experience. This makes it almost impossible for children to grasp the crayon with a fisted grasp and instead to use fingertips, moving toward a mature grasp for better writing when the time comes.

I have used loads of coloring activities over the years in my occupational therapy sessions to promote a mature grasp. Gently encourage your child to use fingertips to hold the crayon, but then let them use their own creativity to color the picture, even going outside of the lines if they haven’t yet mastered staying inside the lines.

How to Improve Core Strength with Coloring

This next little tip will not only help improve your child’s core strength, but it will also improve should and wrist stability. It’s super simple. Just tape the color page onto the wall and color on the vertical surface. Another position you can try is to have your child lay on their back under a table with the coloring page taped to the bottom of the table. Then they will just reach up to color the page.

One last position to try is to sit at a table but turn your child’s seat sideways so that their back is not supported. This will force them to engage those core muscles in order to sit up straight.

More Tips for Using Coloring Activities for Kids

We’re always telling kids that they need to stay inside the lines when coloring, but the truth is that little ones aren’t necessarily developmentally ready for that. Generally speaking, kids should begin coloring inside the lines by about ages 5 to 6. If your child is in that age range and still scribbling like crazy, try this…

Before having your child color on the page, go around some of the main borders of the picture with a bead of Elmer’s glue (let it dry overnight) or hot glue. This way there is a tactile border in addition to the visual border to follow.

For even more ways to maximize the experience of coloring with your kids and using this resource as a developmental tool, check out this article from Ready Hands for Kindergarten.

Save these Free Printable Bookmarks for later. Pin them to your favorite Pinterest board…