Have a Last-Day-of-School Party
Be the Best Mom on the Block and Celebrate Summer With Your Kids
Don't wait until Fourth of July fireworks to blast into summer. Start the celebration on the last day of school.
For most kids, it’s the happiest day of the year. The last day of school – the day kids say goodbye to homework, tests and grades, and say hello to leisure time and fun in the sun – deserves a party all of its own to celebrate summer.
A last-day-of-school party tells kids their parents appreciate the work they’ve put in all year and are looking forward to summer as much as they are.
The perfect last-day-of-school party is casual and spontaneous, even if it’s been planned. Have your last-day-of-school party right after school lets out, capitalizing on the burst of joy and excitement kids get when that last dismissal bell rings.
Keep it casual, but invite friends and neighbors well in advance. It’s a nice touch to invite your children’s favorite teachers, too. They’re just as glad to see another year end and the summer fun begin.
Last-Day-of-School Party Food
Fun finger foods, snacks and kid-friendly favorites should be on your menu for a last-day-of-school party.
Serve ants-on-a-log and other quick and easy finger foods that kids love.
Keep in mind that if your party is immediately after school, most kids will go home and have dinner, so keep your party food relatively light and healthy.
Games to Play on the Last Day of School
If the weather allows, plan to have your party in the back yard and play some outdoor games to keep the party guests active and lively. If it's warm enough, play some water games with the kids.
For some mischievous school themed fun, have the kids bring their backpacks to the party. Sit in a circle and have the kids dump out their backpacks in front of them. Give fruit rollup prizes for the child who has the oldest paper (don’t be surprised if there is at least one from September), the smallest pencil nub, homework with the best grade on it, and other items. (Anybody have an old PB&J sandwich in there?)
Or set out bubbles, sidewalk chalk and squirt guns and let the kids have some free playtime. Set out a football, a soccer ball, some hula hoops and Frisbees and see what outdoor games the kids will come up with.
Other Last Day of School Activities
If the guests at your party are all leaving the same grade level to go on to a new school, have a graduation theme, with blank t-shirts for them to sign with fabric pens, autograph books, and mortarboard cupcakes.
Are the kids most relieved to see the end of word searches? Spelling tests? Multiplication tables? Have them bring a dreaded school paper to the party and have a shredding ceremony, using a paper shredder to make confetti out of the last of their least favorite assignments.
Last-day-of-school parties don’t have to last more than a couple of hours. Some fun, food and festivities, and soon your children and their friends will be ready to start the perfect summer.
