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Well come the end of August
it is that time of the year when we need to take a deep breadth,
put our flip flops back into the closet and brace ourselves for
another school year. It is often bitter sweet for our kids
when they have to return to school so why not make it fun for
them. Help them adjust to the new school year and get
reacquainted with friends. How is that? Organize and host
a "Back to School Party".
There are lots of things that you can plan
to have a great deal of fun on a low budget. You can create a memorable event for
your children by just using a little imagination.
Party Details
First thing you
need to decide is the best day and time to have the party. I would
suggest a Friday Evening. This way you will not interfere with
sports activities that the kids may have on the weekend.
Plan the
party in advance so that you give your guests plenty of notice.
You should send out
your invitations at least 2 weeks in advance. Be creative with your invitations to get your
guests excited about the event.
Make
sure you include the date, start and end time, location,
special instructions, whether food will be served and an RSVP
date with your phone number or email address. If you know
that your guests check emails regularly you can send the
invitation via the internet. When parents RSVP be sure to
find out if they plan on staying at the party and also if their
child has any allergies or is lactose intolerant.
When selecting who to invite to a
party you must consider the number of guests that you want to accommodate. Remember that when children are
young parents will normally stay at the party. So make sure you accommodate all of the people. Once this is determined work with
your child to select a list. You can always go with the
traditional formula of the number of guests is based on your child's
age. For this type of party
you
will need volunteers to keep things organized and more
importantly to keep all children safe. Consider having teenage
siblings, neighbors, or friends give you a helping hand. The young ones will
love the attention of the older kids and it will be a big help for you.
Food Ideas for
kids back to school party
Keep the
food to finger foods that the kids can put into their mouth quickly but
create a school lunch themed menu.
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Menu Ideas:
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Chicken
fingers (Chick-fil-A party trays are always a big hit).
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Sandwich
tray - Peanut butter and/or jelly, turkey, or cheese.
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Pizza
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Soft
pretzels
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Applesauce cups
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String
Cheese
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Grapes,
Strawberries, Apples
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Baby
carrots with ranch dressing
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Juice or
milk boxes
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Dessert Ideas:
Pencil Cake Recipe:
Compliments of
http://www.birthdayinabox.com
Box cake
mix
White
frosting
Yellow
food color
Tube of
Black decorator icing
Using
your favorite cake mix, bake according to box instructions in a
9" x 13" pan. When cake is cool cut it in half lengthwise
and place the two pieces end to end on a serving plate.
Cut the edge into a triangle on one end to resemble a pencil
tip. Add yellow dye to frosting to get desired color and
then generously cover the cake. Use the tube of black
decorator icing to draw the details.
Ice Cream Sundae Bar
Chocolate
and Vanilla Ice Cream
Hot Fudge Syrup
Sprinkles
Chocolate Chips
Mini M&Ms
Mini marshmallows
Whipped Cream
Cherries
Cookies
Make a batch of sugar
cookies
Purchase
frosting, and a variety of sprinkles and have the kids decorate
their own cookies.
Party
favor ideas for
kids back to school party
Option One...
Create a table similar to a candy buffet. Instead of filling the
jars with candy load them with practical back-to-school items.
Colored markers, rulers, pencils, erasers, scissors, highlighters, glue,
crayons, book covers, stickers, construction paper and index cards.
Place your school item buffet in an area
that is visible to your guests and will allow it to be a decorative
feature for your event. At the end of the party let the kids to a
little back to school shopping. Be sure to have someone on hand to
let them know that they can take only one of each item.
Fill vases, glasses and serving trays in
clear glass or plastic in various sizes, shapes and heights with the
school items. Be creative with the way you display the items.
Remember you want to get the attention of the kids.
Use brown lunch bags as the favor bags.
Decorating the lunch bag can be a party craft.
Cloth Table Covers - (yards of
material work well for table covers).
Phone books can be used under the
table covers to give height
Decorative items like twinkle lights,
ribbons, and bows can be used to make the table look unique.
Option Two...
Give each child a pencil case filled with back-to-school items and a few
pieces of wrapped candy. Pencil cases can be decorated with sharpies and
stickers as a party craft. Names can be added to each with puffed
paint prior to the party.
Decorating ideas for
kids back to school party
Keep your decorations simple and theme oriented.
Hang a chalk board and chalk or a large sheet of white paper with
markers and allow the kids to create their masterpiece.
Using a large map and stickers locate all of the places that the kids
have visited.
Make a centerpiece out of favorite books. Stack the haphazardly
and tie them together with a pretty ribbon.
Add
clusters of balloons in the corners. Be sure you have one for each
child so that they can take them home with them.
Use
crepe paper streamers to add to the festivities.
Cardboard pencils, books and rulers can be hung from the walls and
ceilings.
Cover your table with rolls of brown paper. Make a table runner
for the center out of white cardboard or paper to look like a ruler.
Create apple plates by simply purchasing red paper plates and cutting
out leaves from green felt. Hot glue the leaves to the top of the
plate and you have yourself an apple plate.
Purchase small brown envelopes to house the utensils and a red napkin.
Wrap a ribbon around the outside or add some stickers to decorate it.
Game ideas for
kids back to school party
Backpack Relay
Divide kids into even groups and have teams set up on opposite sides
about 15 feet apart. Have a backpack and supplies available for
each team. Dump the backpack and supplies in front of one member
from each team. The race starts with the member filling the
backpack with the supplies and running to their teammate opposite them.
They dump the supplies, hand them the backpack and go to the end of the
line. It is now that persons turn to fill the backpack with the
supplies and run to their teammate opposite them. This is repeated
until all team members have completed the task. The team to finish
first is the winner and gets to pick prizes from the content of the
backpack.
Traditional Games
Tag, Dodgeball, Kickball and Duck, Duck, Goose are always fun games.
Shoe Scatter Game
Have all players remove their shoes and line up in a straight line next
to each other. Place the shoes into a large pile about 15 feet
from the line of players and mix them all up. The object of the game is
for the players to race to the pile find their shoes, put them on and
run back to the starting line. They have to wait for the whistle to
start. This can also be done as a relay if desired.
Name Tags
Have the kids make name tags for their backpack. Cut rectangle
shapes out of cardboard prior to arrival. Make a hole in the top
of the name tag with a hole puncher. Place a decorative ribbon
through the hole and tie in a knot to be used to attach to the backpack.
Give them stickers, stencils and markers and have them create their
masterpiece.
Apple Stamp Bags
Purchase a few large red stamp ink pads. Slice an apple in half,
press it on the stamp pad and then make a design on a brown or white
paper lunch bag. Once design is try embellish with markers to
create leaves and stems on each apple. Use these creations as
goodie bags.
Rollo Pencil Craft
Compliments of
http://asmorrisclan.blogspot.com
3 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch
yellow cardstock
Pinking shears to trip top edge of yellow cardstock
3 1/2 x 1/2 inch pink cardstock
1" circles pink cardstock
3 1/2 x 3/8 inch aluminum foil
Rolos
Hershey kisses
Glue
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