A friend who moved to the US from Germany asked me if we made “sugar cones” for our kids at the beginning of school. I had no idea what these were, and decided to do more research. A “schultüte” (or school cone) is a large, colorfully-decorated paper cone, generally filled with little trinkets, sweets, and school supplies given to kids on their first day of school to help ease their anxiety.
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I love the idea and was surprised to learn that the tradition of Schultuete dates back 200 years, to the eastern part of Germany. Today parents and grandparents in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria gift these to the children to make their first day of school a little bit sweeter:).
Because I wanted to get the kids involved, we decided to make a schultuete for each of their teachers! First, 
gather your supplies. I love- LOVE- Sharpies, and after this project, the kids did too!
* Goodies: snacks, sweets
* School supplies that teachers would enjoy (sticky notes, clips, Sharpies, fun pens)
How to Make the Schultuete
Once we had our supplies, we cut out our poster board so it could be rolled into a cone. It should have an arch (like the picture) that will be the top of the cone.
Next, the kids dove into the Sharpies. Each had their own design and picked their color scheme. My daughters incorporate school subjects and their teachers’ names, but my son just made a colorful design. My older daughter did such a great job making squiggles, and then filling in the separate shapes with zentangle designs:
With the clear packing tape we rolled up the cones and sealed the seam. Then we filled them with goodies, and waited to hand them out at our Meet the Teacher day! The teachers are going to love the little care packages as much as my kids will love passing them out.
Love this Becky! I am soooooo going to do this with little man! 🙂
Super-easy and fun! 🙂
Always loved this idea — and I love that you are handing them out to the teachers!
It was really fun reading about this activity, I’d never heard of it before.
I love the Schultüte tradition. But I was wondering why specific credit is given that this tradition has its roots in East Germany? As you mention the tradition dates back 200 years and two hundred years ago there was no East Germany. I was raised in West Germany and it was unheard of for a 1st grader to not receive a Schultüte. Basically it is a GERMAN tradition, when Germany split to East and West if was observed in both parts.
I’m trying to keep it alive in my family here in the States.