I’ve been seeing special back to school dinners long before I had children and noted the idea for when the day would come. Have you done one? We never did one growing up and at first when I saw it, it seemed like overkill, but now that I see the anxiety, uncertainty, and hesitation in children as they prepare for lots of changes, I started to see the importance of it. So, last night we did one! I did it all VERY last minute and used what I had, but I thought I’d share some back to school dinner ideas in case you find it helpful for your family as well.
What is a back to school dinner?
Once again, I did not have this tradition growing up, but we did have a couple of traditions that made back to school special like a new outfit, new supplies, a father’s blessing, which is our religious tradition of a father giving a special blessing of guidance and strength. I always loved these because I felt like it was a good way to connect with my dad and receive a special focus for the year. My idea with a back to school dinner was to do something similar that focused on the special nature of a new year.
I love the idea of milestones and nothing special occasions so that each step is clear, recognized, and celebrated. Life is more enjoyable that way! So, I really wanted to do it.
What’s else is a part of a back to school dinner?
I think you can really do it however you want. You could go out to dinner, just have a family meeting, or some type of outing. I wanted to feel like our home was the celebration since we’ve been out so much this summer and it would be nice to feel like our home was the base. I had grand dream of making a home cooked meal, something I NEVER do, but alas, time got away. I took the boys to the supermarket and they picked out sushi, which turned out to be a great idea because we rarely do it and they loved picking out their food and attempting chopsticks. We also bought a cake and added our theme as a topper, but more on that below.
Things to do at a back to school dinner:
In addition to the actual meal, I thought it was nice to add in some special moments. Thankfully, because of my job, I have a lot of fun things that add a lot of fun to a table so I set out a fun table cloth, napkins, and lots of candles. It was overcast yesterday so I thought candles would make everything special. They did! And of course, they wanted to test out their limits with fire too…BOYS! I also printed off this back to school printable that we designed that’s free here. I placed these on their plates along with a handwritten card from us about how excited we are for them.
While we were at the market they also picked out a cake so I made a quick cake topper out of paper and placed it on the skewer with the name of our theme: “Kindness begins with me”. There’s a song in our church by that name and it’s something we’re really working on so I thought it would be nice to set the stage for the school year.
Other ideas for a back to school dinner:
- This back to school printable that we designed
- The printable has goals listed on it, but if you don’t do a printable, this is a primetime to establish goals
- Film the kids by asking them the questions from the printable and turn it into something you watch every year. Here’s the one we did last year with Jasper.
- Write a note from you to your children
- Write out your theme somewhere. I had intentions of making a garland, but that didn’t happen this time.
- Sing a song inspired by your theme or make a slideshow about it with pictures (here’s one for Kindness Begins with Me)
- Measure the height of your children each year!
- A Father’s blessing (I explained it above, but it’s our religious tradition of a father giving a special blessing of guidance and strength)
- Share memories from your back to school years. Jasper always responds really well to stories from when we were children.
- Talk about the new teacher(s) and what’s in store at the school
- Discuss extra curriculars
Other back to school theme ideas:
We chose “kindness begins with me” but I thought about a lot more. Here are some ideas. I even like the idea of using a mantra or a scripture or quote to help set the stage.
- Let your light so shine
- Shine on (with the focus on lots of candles)
- Reach for the stars
- Adventure awaits
- “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen”
- “I learn from my mistakes”
- “I can figure it out”
- “I can be that friend”
- “I am a problem solver”
- There’s nothing I can’t solve
- Be that friend
- “I can get better every day”
Setting expectations for yourself
Now, I always have grand plans and get pretty frustrated when things don’t go accordingly (anyone else??!?!). We had a neighbor come over right in the middle, they spilled soy sauce all over my nice tablecloth, they blew out all the candles…etc etc. I think just knowing that things may not go according to plan, especially with younger kids, is helpful. I was assuming that because I had done something special, they would see that and be ooo’d and wow’d. When will I learn?! They’re too young! But! I do think that they noted how it was a special dinner and things were different, which I was glad about.
If you’ve done one before, I’d love to hear YOUR ideas! Share them in the comments!
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