Simple Back to School Party

Summer break is ending and everyone here is headed back to school. We’ve had a great summer and while I’m sad the fun is ending, I think getting back into a more structured routine will be good too. We did a lot of play dates with friends the past couple of months, so it was fitting to do a fun little back to school party playdate to end the summer! I love the way our little party food table turned out and it really was SO simple! I just used inexpensive black plastic table cloths for the table and backdrop. It was a little reminiscent of a chalkboard, so it worked –especially with using chalk to write on it. This time of year especially, I’m sure you can find miscellaneous school supplies around the house. The globe, glue, markers, notebooks, etc. were all items that we already had. Then, while out doing some school supply shopping at Walmart, I picked up some extras for the party. In the school supplies area I found those adorable die cut pencils and crayons. That was the only new decor I bought and spent less than $6! Now that’s a win for a simple party! For food, I grabbed some apples (those are a must, right?!), carrots, Tombstone pizzas, Apple Juicy Juice boxes, and some Nesquik. The food required very little prep work (which is always good for a simple party/playdate) except I did have a little creative fun with the pizzas. I wanted the pizzas to have a little school theme to them. So, I rearranged & cut some of the pepperonis that came on the pizzas. On one pizza, I put a simple math problem and I made the other a clock! Easy and fun! I also made some quick & tasty chocolate cookies using the Nesquik powder! Those disappeared in no time! They were SO good and so easy to make with the Nesquik powder! Kids love juice boxes and they go well with a back to school theme since those often end up in lunch boxes. I love that Juicy Juice is 100% fruit juice so those are a good go to option for us. Plus, the little apple animals on the front are just SO cute! For the moms, I added printable school-themed labels to water bottles. It’s amazing how something so simple can really make things look so much cuter! And aren’t those crayon & pencil die cuts SO cute?! I LOVE them! Not only were they great for just decorating the table, but they were perfect for food name cards. Since we have lots of preschoolers and young readers, I went with simple letter & word food cards. Easy & cute! The kids loved the whole thing. They enjoyed eating all the food and then played Back to School Bingo (<– you can click that link to download the free bingo printables). So much fun! I love that with just a little bit of extra work, you can plan a little celebration. Back to school parties certainly are by no means necessary. But, I think anything to help get the kids excited for school is good! And, I think we might make this a tradition. How fun to get together with your friends to kick off the school year in a fun way?!

Do you have any back to school traditions?

For more back to school recipe ideas, be sure to check out the Flavorful Moments site and follow along with the hashtags #FoodMadeSimple and #CollectiveBias!