I love the fall and back to school season. Perhaps it is the years I spent teaching high school home economics. Or the 18+ years I went to public school.
But I love that we get a fresh start halfway through the year and another chance to start again and learn more. This year I have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner.
I wanted to end their first day of school on a high note, so I put together a surprise back to school party for them.
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The first day of school is always an exciting time, but it can be a bit scary for kids too. I know I had a few years I felt uncertain or confused in a class without some of my friends or with a teacher I wasn't sure I'd like. I know my kids had a bit of anxiety about going back to school this year and I wanted to find a way to make the transition back a little easier.
After setting up the party, I headed out to pick them up from school. This year my son wasn't riding the bus and I knew it would be a little confusing as to where he needed to go for me to pick him up. There was a bit of confusion and we couldn't find each other for a bit and I know that scared and upset him a little. It is things like this that help me recognize that a little celebration is a good way to help kids feel loved and noticed.
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Surprise Back to School Party
This back to school party wasn't big and elaborate, but it was special to them and when they got home and saw it they were both excited and super happy. We sat and talked and shared some stories about the first day of school. It was worth the effort just to see how happy they were.
So let me share how I quickly put this fun back to school party together. Perhaps you'll want to do something similar for your children to help transition them back to school or just to celebrate a new school year.
To start with, I grabbed a couple inexpensive paper cups, plates and napkins from the Dollar Tree. I picked yellow and blue since those are such great back to school party colors. I then went through my craft supplies to find some red balloons, a black tablecloth and red, green and brown construction paper. Then I was all set.
I started by making my backdrop of balloon apples. I started by cutting out large leaves and stems from the green and brown construction paper. I blew up the red balloons. With a bit of thread and a needle, I sewed the red balloons onto 3 rows of thread. Then taped the leaves and stems to each balloon so they looked like hanging apples.
Next, I put together these fun pencil cups. Just a strip of red construction paper around the bottom of the cup. With a black sharpie writing No. 2 and I had some cute No. 2 Pencil Cups.
I used my Cricut Maker to draw and cut out these back to school party ruler popcorn bags. I had some leftover brown paper packaging that I loaded into my Cricut Maker to draw and cut them out. I think they turned out super cute.
Finally, the napkins. I cut out "hello school" on some iron-on vinyl and pressed it onto the napkin. Click here to see the full tutorial on how to make iron-on vinyl napkins. It was super easy and it really made the napkins pop and my kids loved that they said "hello school".
Just a fun and easy back to school party idea, but it could make a big difference in your children's mentality of how the school year starts. I know it made a difference for my children. They told me not to take anything down. We shall see how long that lasts.
