It’s a whole new year with a whole new lot of promises. It also signifies the beginning of a whole new exciting chapter of your child’s life. What better way to immortalise this than a free first day of school printable?
Whether it’s starting childcare, preschool, big school or even a new school year, we know it’s a pretty big deal. And we know you’d want to capture that moment.
It’s why we created a set of FREE “First day of school” printable signs for you to print to use as a prop on that special first day of school for 2025.
Scroll down to find your first day of school printable signs, which come in both landscape or portrait formats.
How to take the perfect first day of school photo
Here are some ways to take the perfect first day of school photo so it becomes a treasured memory.
1. Plan ahead
Consider if you would like to use the photos as comparison shots in later years or to do a progression video of the years that passed. These types of photo series work really well when there is at least one point of consistency, so choose a prop, pose or location that can be easily recreated every year.
2. Choose appropriate equipment and background
You don’t need a professional camera these days to get that perfect shot. However, if you’re using your phone camera, changing it to the “portrait” made will often give you the best results. Check that you have adequate lighting, but not in the glaring sun (no-one likes squinting). Being under the shade of a tree works well, but watch out for dappled lighting which will cast weird shadows. If indoors, standing near a window works well.
3. Practise makes perfect
Yes, we recognise it can be challenging getting a child to either pose or smile properly at a camera. Minimise the angst by doing some practise runs with your child before the big day. On the day, crack jokes, encouraged them to have a little play (without ruining their pristine school uniform) or even get them to take some photos of you first to loosen their nerves.
4. Include these shots
Here are a few shots you should be aiming for:
- Close-up, from waist up (kneel down to get to their level).
- Full body (still kneeling)
- Full body, posing with something (tree as background, in front of the school, etc.)
Remember to get them to hold up their first day of school printable too!
Download your first day of school printable
