I think it’s important to have "something" to take home on the first day. It gives the parents something to start with when they ask the child "What did you do today?"....and it’s fun, which means the kids want to come back tomorrow! I developed this "art" project (I use that term loosely in this case, but I’m usually a very open-ended art kind of teacher) and wrote the poem so that the children would have something to take home on that special day, and so that the parents would have some kind of memento of their child’s first day of kindergarten.

 

I buy the puzzles at a craft store (Hobby Lobby). They are usually in the rubber stamp section. They are about 4"x 6".

To make the handprints, I use Lakeshore’s Giant Washable Stamp Pads to put the handprints on. They wash up really easily, and dry really quickly so the kids can take them home that same day.