When I first decided to have a back to school dessert social for my sons class I never intended for it to become a tradition but we have loved it so much that we have done it every year. We usually do this a week or two into school, so don’t worry if school has already started for you. I’m at Babble/Disney sharing this with my readers over there. You can visit here.
I have enjoyed doing this every year since my oldest was in Kindergarten and my goal behind it is to get to know the kids and parents in my son’s class. It actually started to help my ease my son’s back to school fears and jitters. I share about that here.
It’s helped all of my boys get to know their classmates and teachers outside of school. I personally like to know the parents of the kids my child will be begging to go play with after school, so this makes it easy for me to put a name with a face.
This has also been a great way for the parents to mingle so that when we see each other in the halls or across the room at school events they are not complete strangers. My son has also made some neat friends that he would not have naturally gravitated towards as a result of our little gatherings.
When planning such an event keep your focus on the goal–helping your child and his classmates connect. This will help you not get overwhelmed with impressing your guest but the heart of the matter, your child.
I know my party may not seem like I kept it simple but parties is my love language. But I did try to keep it simple and only have a small dessert table that was decorated. Keep it simple, have an ice cream gathering or a make your own smores or soda floats. I used to not ask parents to bring anything but I always had so many parents offer that I started taking them up on it. Or you can even invite everyone to the park for a Bring Your Own Lunch picnic and you can provide dessert. Keep it as simple and remember your goal is to get to know each other.
The chalkboard invites are pretty easy to make, it only took me about 30 minutes to make 25 invites. You can go here for the details.
The crayon cake made from wafers (not pretzels) was amazing, go here for the details.
These apple pops were absolutely adorable and so very easy. You can go here for the details.
These owl cupcakes are perfect for fall and yup they are also super easy. I am all about easy so don’t feel overwhelmed by how cute they look.
I loved how this crayon banner turned out. We also use them as crayon magnets. Find out how to make this easy peasy crayon garland here.
The adults mostly mingled and the kids played but we did do one activity, friendship bracelet. I just briefly talked about friendships and asked each kid to make a friendship bracelet for the person to their left. The bracelets were made out of bubble gum balls.
I hope our party inspired you to have your own dessert social with your child’s class!
Other post you will enjoy:
Easing Back to School Jitters: DIY Heart Stamp (The Kissing Hand book)
Fear Busting Strategies: For Back to School
Back to School Recipes, crafts and more
