How kids around the world celebrate the start of the school year

Maybe you’ve been getting ready for the first day of school by picking out your favorite outfit or heading to the store with a grown-up to buy some new Ticonderoga pencils or a brand-new Spider-Man backpack.

Around the world, students have different traditions for the start of the school year. Here are a few.

Ukraine: Celebrating “Knowledge Day”

Sept. 1 is Knowledge Day in Ukraine and many nations that formerly belonged to the Soviet Union. Large ceremonies are often held at school, and one first-grader gets to ring a bell to signify the start of their education.

Ukrainian students also traditionally bring their new teachers flowers. With a flower from each student, teachers are left with big, beautiful bouquets.

Japan: A new “randoseru” backpack

Japanese students’ first day of school is typically April 1. According to Cheng & Tsui, a Japanese textbook publisher, this timing helps students associate the start of school with the promise of spring.

Students who are starting school for the first time are often given a randoseru, a hard-sided backpack. Traditionally, boys use black and girls use red randoseru, and these sturdy packs last all the way through elementary school.

Germany: A “schultüte” full of presents

When German first-graders head off to school for the first time, their families often give them a schultüte, or a “school cone.”

These cones are usually filled with candy, toys and small school supplies, German folklorist Christiane Cantauw told DW. Cantauw said the tradition is meant to celebrate a child’s rite of passage as they start school.

A student’s schultüte can be sometimes be even bigger than they are, with the paper cone packed with favorite treats that help sweeten their transition to school.