Schultuete: A New School-Year Tradition

Start the new school year by presenting your child with a Schultuete (also known as sugar bags in Germany) on the first day of school.  These clown-hat cones are a fun way to present new school supplies to your child and are sure to be a hit.   Mark it a tradition to continue throughout your child's schooling.

I made them last year for my younger girls and they were thrilled with their schultuete.  I made them out of poster board and wrapping paper.  Very simple to make.  My youngest also wore it as a dunce cap (her incentive, not mine).  Go here and scroll down to see the pictures.

Since it was my first time making a schultuete, I think I went a little overboard.  I made them with large poster board and they were large.  Too large for the new pencils, erasers, stickers, and other small objects placed in it.  So I suggest using the smaller poster boards unless you're planning to be generous and include stuffed animals, lunch buckets, crayon boxes, slingshots, and other school necessities.

Silly me...this year I kept forgetting to buy poster board and we began school two weeks ago.  I assumed---falsely---that the girls would not remember their German schultuete from the previous year.  Wrong!  Last week DQ questioned me, "Aren't we getting one of those sugar cones again this year?"

Perhaps the German school fairy can whip-up a couple for this Wednesday as the area children(neighbors, friends, and cousins) go back to public school for the first day.   And people say homeschoolers don't learn how to be competitive.  Ha!

I'm eager to hear of your ideas in filling your child's schultuete.  Let us all know (in the comments section) what goodies you add.

Comments

[Rebecca]

Oh, I did that last year for the first time, too! And one year was all it took for the kids to ask what they were getting in their cones this year, too - although school doesn't start for a few weeks more here! I'll post a picture of last year's cones tomorrow.

[Denise in Ohio]

What a nice idea - I'm in :)
Golly, I went to the link you provided at 4Real and wowza - those were some loaded sugar bags those kiddies were holding!

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down....:)
Blessings,
Denise

[Jenn Miller]

I'm glad you're doing this again. I was so inspired by you last year. Can't wait to institute it with my little one. Maybe next year for preschool?

[RebeccaB.]

Cay, This is a great idea! I have already purchased a few school supplies and this is a wonderful way to present them. Thanks.

[Daniela Jones]

I am not sure how much you about the German tradition of the Schultuete (School Cone). From reading your blog, I am getting the feeling that you are intending to giving your girls a schultuete on the first day of each school year. If that is your desire, you are more than welcomed to do so. However, the tradition in Germany is that a Schultuete is a special gift to children on their first day of 1st grade only.

[Tina]

Nice ideas and great pictures. Would like to make a correction...Schultuete directly translated is Schul (School) and Tuete (Bag) so Schoolbag or many people indirectly translate as Schoolcone. Sugar (Zucker in German) should not be used as a word to translate this item.

[VJHR]

Wondertime magazine just had a great article (Sept 08 issue) about this tradition, including directions for making a schultuete. Just like the previous comment noted, the word means "school bag" and is only given on the first day of FIRST grade. The cones in Germany ARE large, so poster board is appropriate for this project!

[sue]

Love these. We actually had many German neighbors (we've lived in Germany several times) who expanded the tradition from just the first day of first grade to the first day of every year.

Zuckertüte is an alternate name for these in some areas, which is why they are sometimes called "sugar cones" in English.

I'll be making some again this year ~ they're so fun!! Thanks, Cay!