This Back To School Party Family Dinner is the perfect new tradition to start with your family. Your kids will love a chance to tell you all about the first day, new teachers, and friends with a fun back to school themed table.
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Why We Love This Party
- It's a great tradition to start the school off.
- Back to school is a big transition and traditions like this one help kids get excited.
- It's always a great surprise for kids to get home from school and find a beautiful party like this all set up.
- It's a chance to intentionally hear about new teachers, friends, and how their day went.
It’s a tradition in our house to have a special Back To School party family dinner on the very first day. We hear all about new teachers, and who’s sitting where, and if the teachers seems nice so far. Our girls can’t wait to take their turn and tell us all about it.
While they’re at school that first day, I take the time to put together a Back To School themed table and they can’t wait to see it when they get home.
It’s getting a little tricky to come up with new ideas each year after doing it so many times. You can see the best of my Back To School Party Ideas here, and the book themed party here. Also check out our free back to school printables, Marshmallow Pencil Snacks, and Back To School Snack Mix.
Back To School Party Decor Ideas
This year I was inspired by apples and succulents.
I’ve been pinning fall decor on pinterest, and saw pumpkins planted with mini succulents the other day and it inspired the idea of hollowed out apples with succulents planted inside.
I ended up using some great faux succulents, but real ones planted in apples would look amazing too.
I also hollowed out a few apples to hold some tea lights.
And from there the apple ideas continued.
Apple Balloons
On the side cabinet I set up a sweet little Back To School vignette, and added these DIY apple balloons.
I picked up some simple round red mylar balloons at the party store, and added green ribbon, a brown paper stem and green leaf with some clear tape.
So simple and so cute.
I also added in a few school supplies.
Chalkboard Table Runner
Over on the table, I started out with a “chalkboard” runner. It’s made out of simple black wrapping paper. It was a bit too wide, so I folded it in half. I added “A B C” with some chalk.
Then it was time for a few fun DIY additions.
The little apple chalkboards were picked up at the dollar store, and made great little placards for us.
Gum Ball Pencils
The Gum Ball Pencil favours for the kids were really easy and inexpensive to make. I picked up the individual gum balls at the party store, removed them from their packaging and placed them in these glass test tubes from the craft store.
Pencil Stir Sticks
Another fun DIY detail were these little pencil stir sticks. I was inspired by the Studio DIY version. For mine, I used a straw, tissue paper for the top, and then washi tape to hold the tissue paper in place. Then I covered the tape with some gold string, and they turned out so cute.
Apple Desserts
We also have an apple themed dessert for these back to school family dinners every year, so this year I made my grandma's apple dumplings.
But as a little added dessert bonus, I also made these cute apple donuts.
These simple apple donuts are made with honey dip donuts I picked up at the donut store. I made some red icing using red gel food coloring, and spread some on top. The stem of the apple is made from a pretzel stick and the leaf is a green skittle.
We had a great time hearing all about our girls adventures so far in a new grade.
And don’t worry, if you’re feeling inspired to start this new family tradition at your house it’s not too late. How about you celebrate Friday night with a “you survived the first week of school” party! And, be sure to pin this idea for next year too. 😉
With a Back To School Family Dinner, life really is a party!
Frequently Asked Questions
I usually start prepping a few weeks ahead, picking up supplies my kids don't know about. After I drop them at school on the first day, I come home and set it all up, and cook. I know some families do it as a breakfast party, and set it all up the night before, after their kids go to bed.
These are inexpensive helium balloons from dollar tree. We added a simple paper stem and leaf and transformed them into apples. You could also use regular red balloons and blow them up and tape them to the ceiling for a similar effect.
Use gel icing. It's much more intense than regular liquid food coloring, where the red often leaves things more pink colored.
If you try the Back To School Family Dinner Party, or any other ideas on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
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