I Can Pack My School Bag – School Readiness Activity Pack
Make preparing for school fun, positive and meaningful with the I Can Pack My School Bag Activity Pack – a collection of printable activities designed to accompany our I Can Pack My School Bag story.
Created especially for children preparing to start Reception or school, the activities explore some of the emotional and practical parts of school readiness through play, conversation, creativity and self-reflection.
Rather than focusing only on what children need to do before starting school, this pack helps them recognise everything they already bring with them, including kindness, bravery, confidence, curiosity, growing independence and a belief that ‘I CAN!’
What's Included?
The activity pack contains a varied collection of printable school transition resources, including:
- Pack the Bag Cut and Stick Activity: Revisit the things Mila packs in the story. Children can cut out and pack familiar school essentials alongside the invisible qualities Mila takes with her, including kindness, confidence, bravery, wonder and her ‘I CAN!’ heart.
- Positive Affirmation Cards: Simple, child-friendly affirmations including I am brave, I am kind, I am confident, I am ready for school, I can try my best, I can make new friends and more. Use them before school, during transition activities or as part of an EYFS classroom wellbeing routine.
- Let's Talk Cards: A collection of conversation starters designed to get children talking about school, friendship, confidence, curiosity, self-belief and the things they are looking forward to. Some revisit Mila's story, while others encourage children to think about their own experience of starting school.
- A Little Piece of My Heart: Printable hearts that can be tucked into a child's bag, pocket or lunchbox as a special connection to home. Parents and carers can add their own message or use the heart as a little reminder that they're still connected while apart.
- Mila's Emotions: A varied set of emotion cards featuring Mila expressing feelings including happy, worried, angry, sad, confident, brave, frustrated, scared, surprised, nervous, annoyed, bored, shy, tired, excited and proud. Use them for emotional check-ins, emotion recognition and conversations about the many different ways children might feel before and during school.
- Colouring & Activity Sheets: Children can colour Mila's ‘I CAN!’, ‘I Am Brave’ and ‘Ready for School’ pages before moving on to activities that encourage them to think about what they would pack, what makes them feel brave and all the wonderful things they can already do.
More Than a School Readiness Checklist
This pack isn't about testing whether a child is ‘ready’ or expecting them to master a list of skills before September. Instead, the activities create opportunities to talk, explore, practise and build confidence around the transition.
Children can think about:
- Their feelings about starting school
- What they are looking forward to
- What they can already do
- Asking adults for help
- Making new friends
- Trying when something feels difficult
- Kindness and belonging
- Confidence and bravery
- Curiosity and asking questions
- Missing home and being apart from caregivers
- Positive self-talk and their own ‘I CAN!’
Supporting Emotional School Readiness
For some children, the emotional side of starting school can be much bigger than packing the right things.
A new classroom, unfamiliar routines, separation from family and meeting lots of new people can bring excitement alongside uncertainty, nervousness or worry.
The activities give children different ways to explore these experiences without requiring them to sit down and have a big conversation about their feelings.
They can play, choose, cut, stick, colour, draw and talk, allowing conversations to happen naturally as they work.
EYFS Emotional Literacy & Wellbeing
The pack also provides lots of opportunities to develop children's emotional vocabulary.
Using Mila's emotion cards, children can practise recognising and naming different feelings, consider what might cause them and begin thinking about what could help.
Children can also explore the idea that feelings aren't always simple. A child might be excited AND nervous, or proud AND a little scared about their first day.
This makes the resources useful beyond the initial transition period as part of ongoing EYFS emotional literacy and wellbeing work.
Building an ‘I CAN!’ Mindset
One of the strongest themes running throughout the pack is self-belief. Children are encouraged to recognise what they can already do while understanding that they don't have to be able to do everything yet.
The Things I CAN Do activity gives children space to write or draw their abilities, while the affirmations and conversation cards reinforce messages around trying, learning, asking for help and having another go.
Perfect for Home, Nursery & School
The printable activities can be used in lots of different ways, making the pack suitable for:
- At home – work through activities together during the weeks leading up to the first day.
- Nursery and preschool – incorporate activities into school-transition work with children moving on to Reception.
- Reception transition sessions – use the story prompts, Pack the Bag activity or conversation cards with incoming pupils.
- EYFS classrooms – use the affirmation and emotion cards during circle time, check-ins or wellbeing activities.
- One-to-one support – select activities for children who may benefit from some additional preparation or reassurance around the transition.
Let Children Lead
There is no need to complete every activity or work through the pack in order.
Choose the resources that feel most relevant to the child and let their interests and conversations guide you. Some children may want to talk endlessly about their new classroom; others may prefer to quietly colour Mila while listening.
Both are absolutely fine.
The aim isn't to create a ‘perfectly prepared’ child. It's to make starting school feel more familiar, more manageable and something they can believe they are capable of doing.
Don't Forget the Story!
This activity pack has been designed to accompany the I Can Pack My School Bag story.
For the full experience, begin by joining Mila as she packs her bag for school and discovers that some of the most important things she needs are already inside her, then use these activities to help children discover their own ‘I CAN!’ too.
