Back-to-School Party...

Here's an idea, why don't you schedule the party like a school day?  As soon as the kids arrive, you can split them into groups, and have them rotate throughout the party.  We suggest decorating in simple primary colors; red, blue, and yellow.  As the "students" arrive to your party, have them randomly pull a color from a basket.  This will be their homeroom color.  They then gather at their designated homeroom spot.  As the party continues, ring a bell between the following sessions... PE (games and activities), Art (arts and crafts), lunch time (refreshments), and recess (free play).

Here are some ideas for games and arts and crafts!

Games:

• paper airplane contest 
• twister
• Simon-Says
• Pencil Walk: (Just like the traditional Cake Walk game but with pencils as prizes instead)
• Teacher’s Bag:  (Get a paper lunch bag and put in various small items in it, like paper clip, eraser, chalk, gluestick, etc.  Let each person close their eyes and try to feel and guess what is in the bag)

Arts and Crafts:

• Decorate a Pencil Box: Buy some inexpensive plastic pencil boxes and use stickers, permanent markers, to decorate a pencil box. Favors like pencils, erasers, stickers, can be given at the end of the party together with the pencil box as the perfect Back To School favor.
• Make your own bookmarks
• finger painting
• oragami
• clay/play-doh

Suggestions for free play:

• Four square
• relay races
• water guns/balloons

 Stay tuned for decorating ideas and party menu!

Start a new tradition

The first day of school is upon us. For many of us it means a return to car pool, after-school activities, homework, and a long farewell to “me time”. I like to mark the first day of school with another tradition—Mommy’s Morning Out. After you have taken your back-to-school photos, dropped off the kids, and secretly spied on them through the window to make sure they are alright (although, we are all secretly and selfishly hoping they will have that “I miss my mommy moment”) invite the other mommies out to coffee at your favorite local coffee house (insert plea here for supporting locally owned business).

This is the easiest party to organize. All you have to do is send out the invitations. Everyone will purchase their own food and beverages. You will all have things in common and the conversations will flow uncontrollably. If it is a success, try to make it a weekly event. When my husband complains about the $10 a week I am spending, I reassure him that it is cheaper than a trip to the psychiatric hospital.

Back to School Parties

BTo all of our readers, HELLO!  I am so sorry for the lack of posts, but I want to share with you why.  We all are swamped with summer camps, vacations, and now getting ready for school to start.  I have to share with you why there was such a huge hiatus...

My family just spent 10 days in the fabulous Egypt!  We had such a great time!  The history in Egypt is amazing.  To think that these structures were built over 4,000 years ago is so hard to wrap your head around.  While DH and I listened intently to the guide, ours boys drew in the sand and asked every 5 minutes "when do we get to ride the camels?"  I'm hoping one day soon that it will sink in where they were and what they actually got to witness, but don't worry...I'm not holding my breath LOL.  I'm sure it will always be the trip where they rode camels and saw real mummies!

Well, now that we are back to the normal grind of swimming pools, play dates, back-to-school shopping (Jo, did you get your penny paper?) and getting ready for school to start, I'm here to see how you are doing!

The end of July/beginning of August (depending on when your school starts) is a mixed blessing for most school children. The carefree days of summer are coming to end, but the thought of a new school year is exciting.

Make the end of summer vacation more fun for your child with a back-to-school celebration.

Why have a back-to-school party?

There are many reasons!  If your summer is anything like ours, our summer vacations overlap with our friends.  For example, during our 10 day trip to Egypt, our best friends left for their vacation.  Now we are back, and they are gone for another week.  Having a back-to-school party allows for all of us to get together and exchange vacation stories (i.e.  "Joey was spit on by a camel.  How was your time on the beach?").  It also helps the kids get in the mind set of school, while reconnecting with friends they may not have seen much over the summer.  In our case, we are switching schools this year.  This was a pure academic decision, so some of my boys' friends are still at the old school.  This way, they can also connect with friends that they won't see on the first day of school!

Today we will talk about invitation ideas:

Here are some creative ideas:

• Report card style: 
  Make a invitation that resembles an old report card. Use any previous school report cards as a reference or create your own design. Fill in school subject with party information, replacing the adjacent grades if necessary. These party invitation ideas should look like a report card with slight modifications when finished.
• Mini chalkboard. Get mini chalkboards and chalk as invitations.  On the edge of the board, write “Back To School Party” with a permanent marker.  Type up party details on a piece of paper and insert it in with the chalkboard.  With chalk, write “You’re Invited!” in the center of the board.
• Homework assignment style (your first assignment of the school year is to come to this party and have a great time)
• large red apple, yellow school bus, or #2 pencil cutouts
• buy inexpensive notebooks or note pads and write invitation on cover or front page
• tape or tie a fun pencil to invitation 

Stay tuned for more ideas!  Enjoy the rest of your summer and keep us updated on any great back-to-school sales you come across!