I have decided to share my favorite back to school theme – DOGS!  The editable classroom decor and fun first week of school activities are designed to save you prep time during the hectic first weeks of school and create a welcoming environment for your new students.

Editable Dog Name Tags and Desk Nameplates

Name tags and labels are always the first things I prepare once I get my class list.

Young students love finding and seeing their names when they enter their new classroom.

Now that I have these editable templates it doesn’t take long at all to create adorable tags for my students and the best part is I have them to use year after year. No more trying to find them online or in a store and worrying about how many packs I will need – I can print as many as I need whenever I need them.

Personally I like to hand write the names but you can choose to enter student names in the template and print them out.

These cute name tags and name plates have a variety of uses in the classroom.  You can use the tags as name tags, cubby tags, game pieces, labels for centers, etc.  The larger deskplates can be used as name plates for desks, locker tags, center signs, etc.

Classroom Labels (editable)

Labeling areas in the room, objects, and places in the classroom all help young students with literacy skills.

I like my labels to coordinate with my classroom theme which is why I created these dog-themed editable labels. Now whenever I need a new label, I just enter the text and print!

Alphabet, Number, Colors, & Shapes Posters

Alphabet ,number, color, & shape posters have been an important part of my classroom for as long as I can remember.  I never used to have a set that coordinated with my classroom theme – until now!

Sound Wall Cards & Headings

I wanted my sound wall to reflect the rest of the classroom, so I made the headings and sound cards dog-themed. The cards go from speech to print and have mouth pictures to help students with articulation. I use them during instruction and small groups to help build solid phoneme-grapheme correspondence.

Welcome Bulletin Board – No Bones About It! We’re Going to Have a Good Year!

Having a cute welcome display that features students’ names not only creates a nice classroom environment but also makes students feel like they belong.  Students love seeing their names displayed and it helps with name recognition skills as well.

Simply print out the dog and bone patterns (names can be typed or hand-written, bones are editable) and hang the student bones around the dog with the title “No Bones About It! We’re Going to Have a Good Year!”.   I have placed this display on my door and on my front bulletin board.

Class Birthdays Display

I love highlighting students’ birthdays throughout the year! Students really enjoy looking to see which classmates have birthdays in the same month as them and which birthdays are coming up next.

Welcome Pennant (editable)

I also have a welcome pennant that hangs above my parent board at the front of the room.

The letters on each pennant are editable so you can use them to spell whatever you need for your classroom.  You can use them for headers, across the front of your desk, as bulletin board headings, etc.

Editable Dog Welcome Letter, Postcards, & Student Gift

My students always love receiving welcome to my class letters.  It helps make them feel more at ease on the first day of school.

These cute welcome letters come in color and black and white (can be printed on colored paper) and have the text I have used with my students and they are also completely editable (all the text can be easily changed to fit your needs).

I’ve also included editable postcards that can also be used to welcome new students or as parent notes or reminders.

Another thing that I’ve found which eases first day or meet the teacher jitters is giving students a little treat bag either on the first day of school and / or at Open House/Meet the Teacher Night.

These are very simple and inexpensive to create.  Simply fill a baggie with Scooby Doo Graham Cracker Sticks (they resemble dog bones) and attach one of the included tags or attach a tag to small snack bags of the Scooby Doo Graham Cracker Sticks.  There are 3 tags from which to choose: an editable tag that you can add student names and/or your name and 2 different tags that can be left plain or names can be handwritten or signed.

Meet the Teacher Templates (Editable)

A great way for students to get to know you is to create a Meet the Teacher letter or poster. It helps them understand who you are on a personal level and also begins building relationships with them.

I also like it to match our dog theme, so I made an editable one that can be changed out from year to year.

Dog Themed Editable Templates

These additional editable templates can be used throughout the year for Open House or classroom PowerPoint presentations, newsletters, class posters or signs, notes to parents, etc. so that everything is dog-themed. Simply pick a template and add your custom text or images.

First Day of School Awards

It’s also nice to give students a “paws”itive note or award at the end of their first day.  Print these adorable student awards for your students to show them that it was a “dog gone good” first day.  They come in both color and black and white and the name field is editable, names can be typed or handwritten.

Dog Themed Calendar and Weather Display

Taking time each morning to do the calendar and weather has so many benefits. It’s such an important part of our morning meeting that I wanted it to match our dog theme.

The calendar pieces will help your students:

• Develop understanding of time concepts (days of the week, months, seasons, yesterday, today, tomorrow)
• Reinforce math skills (counting, number recognition, patterns, ordinal numbers)
• Build oral language & listening skills
• Build classroom community (discussing birthdays, special events, shared experiences)

The weather poster helps students:

• observe and describe weather conditions
• practice daily observation and data collection by checking the weather each morning
• understand how weather changes with the seasons
• speak in complete sentences: “The weather today is partly cloudy and windy.”

“Paws”itively Great Classroom Helpers Display

Classroom jobs have the benefit of giving students responsibilities as well as a sense of ownership of the classroom.

You can easily create an eye-catching classroom helpers display with the included title, 16 pre-made classroom job headers (calendar helper, weather reporter, technology helper, class messenger, door holder, flag holder, lights helper, line leader, lunch helper, paper helper, library helper, plant helper, class pet helper, table washer, chair stacker, snack helper), editable headers that can be customized for your class jobs, paw prints in 7 different colors for students’ names (name field is editable, student names can be typed or hand written).  Display on a wall or bulletin board near your morning meeting or circle time area and rotate the paws daily.

Top Dog of the Week (Student of the Week)

Get to know your students and help students get to know one another with this Top Dog of the Week display.  The parent letter (editable) and student response form (editable) are included as well as the title, 6 pre-made headers (My favorite food, My favorite color, I like to, My family, My favorite toy, My birthday), and editable headers that can be customized to fit your needs and used for student responses.

Bookmarks and Book Area Sign

An important part of the classroom is the book area. I like to make it as comfy and inviting as possible. I place a number of stuffed dogs as well as pillows in the book area.  Young students love to cuddle up and read to the dogs!

I entitle the area “Sniffing Out a Good Book” and hang this picture:

I also place these dog themed bookmarks in a basket in the book area – the students love them!

The bookmarks in the back to school pack are editable so that you can customize the sayings if you wish.

First Day of School/First Week of School Activities

Planning for the first week of school will not be as “ruff” because you will receive a variety of activities as well as a craftivity and student-made dog classroom display. I always like having our activities coordinate with our classroom theme.

– Class rules activity – includes printable paw prints in 6 different colors

– Getting to know you rhyming and creative writing activity – includes printable page

– Doggy, Doggy Where’s Your Bone? name game with printable bone

– Sniff It Out Scavenger Hunt activity with printable page – you can edit the text and pictures to fit your classroom

– Where, Oh Where Has Our Little Dog Gone? activity and printable page for introducing students to other staff members in your school

– Additional suggestions and ideas for your classroom

– Classroom display and craftivity with printable patterns

If you would like the above dog classroom decor as well as the back to school activities for your new “pack” of students CLICK HERE. 

What other educators have said about this Dog Class Decor:

“Great quality. Made it easy to have a dog themed classroom.” – Alicia C.

“I absolutely love this! I have a dog themed classroom this year and your ideas for first day of school are awesome. So cute!!” – Kelee P.

“This is just what I needed! So many great ideas, and I love that the packet is editable. The dogs are adorable and fit into my classroom theme perfectly. Thank you!” – Buyer

“Thanks for such a wonderful pack! Will save me SOOO much time and everything is adorable and helpful!” – Lisa D.

“I absolutely love this resource! I have used almost everything in it!! Love the colors and how perfect it is for everyday use!” – Cheryl G.

“Awesome resource! It has everything!” – Shelley T.

“So cute!!!! I love this pack and all the great ideas you provide. Thank you so much!” – Diane K.

“Everyone loved my dog theme classroom!” – Becky W.

“I love this bundle! It has the best items and WELL WORTH the price! The dogs are the absolute cutest! It fits perfectly with my Pre-K dog themed classroom.” – Buyer

“Perfect for my dog theme classroom. Easy to print/prep for the school year.” – Charissa N.

“This is a great selection of dog-themed materials. Being able to edit the cards just adds to the value.” – Kathleen B.

You may also like:

Back to School, Open House, Meet the Teacher Student Gift Tags

Pin it for later!