It's That Time Already: Back-to-School

Some parents may be celebrating as the summer is finally coming to a end and we all know what that means. It means off to school the children will go! The question on many parents' minds are: How do I get my child excited and ready to go back to school? We know what it was like to go back to school on an unhappy note.

Get the kids active before they go back to school by using the following approach.

Have a Back-to-School Event: This gets the children in the neighborhood together as well as acquainted with one another. Decorate with school themed party supplies. Most kids will know their school schedule and it will give them a chance to compare their schedule to each other's to see if they share any classes and make plans. Also, it gives parents a chance to visit and form carpools.

Just make sure that the back-to-school party is not all just about school. Play some pop songs in the background, have some pen and paper games on hand, and offer some yummy party munchies for the children enjoyment.

Do a Back-to-School Activity: The best Back-to-School craft you could do with your child is one they can use during school. This could be as easy as making a pencil into an animal or alien. You could also decorate their school book covers for each subject, or entice them to put decorative stickers on their pencil boxes. You also might encourage them to choose, decorate and cut out the photos that will decorate their lockers; elementary-aged children might choose to apply their crayons and markers to coloring book pictures, then cut out those pictures to decorate their lockers. Teens might want to draw or paint portraits of their favorite television and music stars. This will add a little extra excitement to their normal school day when they pull it out to use it, or when they see it displayed in their locker.

Back-to-School Games: Play party games that are educational such as free printable word find puzzles and word searches. You can even assemble kids from the neighborhood and make a Back-to-School game show event. Put them on teams or have them play individually. A brain-teasing trivia game would be best, but--to provide the kids with optimum entertainment value--you also might challenge the children to a creative back-to-school activity involving dancing or acting. Kids might write and act in funny skits about what not to do the 1st day of school, for example. Or they might be challenged to come up with a spirit song to celebrate their school; in either case, the group that comes up with the funniest skit or song could win a prize. This will get their minds going for their first day of school.

Going back-to-school can be a blast for the children if you approach it in a unique way.


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Mrs. Party...Gail Leino helps you with fun ideas for parties, games, events, and
activities for both the young and old. Have party supplies to match the
celebration. Party planning freebies: free printable school themed party invitations.