One clever mom’s twist on back-to-school festivities

By: Natasha Biasell

 

With back-to-school right around the corner, many kids are dreading the end of their lazy summer days, while some parents are counting down the minutes till the littles ones are out of the house again. Let’s create a fun TableScape to get them excited for school!

No matter how you feel about back-to-school, the fact is, it’s unavoidable. Kids will whine about the impending homework and early bedtime, and parents will brave the crowded store aisles shopping for crayons, back packs, calculators, rulers and all the little things to prepare their little ones for a succesful year of education.

Why not make the season a bit more enjoyable and host a little back-to-school party? Bust out the supplies a little early and showcase all the fun stuff in a clever, creative way. Who knows, maybe it will even make them excited to go back and put the stuff to use!

One Australian mom, Leoni Jena, took this concept and created an amazing party for her daughter and blogged about it here on her blog, Just Call Me Martha.

TableScapeTableScapeTableScape

Using Leoni’s party ideas and photographs as inspiration, here are a few ideas for creating your own back-to-school TableScape:

 

Back-to-School TableScape ideas:

  • Buy a can of chalkboard paint and get creative. Make food tags, milk jar labels (see photo), or even as the finish on an old wooden table. For inspiration, check out this incredibly simple, 30-second video tutorial on making chalkboard paint jars.
  • Have an “apple” themed table, decorating using real apples, or serving apple-themed food such as apple pie, apple chips, apple sauce, waldorf salad, etc.
  • Stack up the kids new lunch boxes and use as a base for displaying the food.
  • Organize crayons, rulers, colored pencils, etc. into jars, label them with the chalkboard paint (see above), and dipslay them as colorful centerpieces.
  • Use wooden alphabet blocks as a centerpiece and spell out the kids’ names or their new teacher’s name.
  • String up math or spelling flashcards with twine or ribbon and hang on or over the table as decoration.

 

Have fun with it, get your kids involved, and maybe your whole family will start gearing up for school with some excitement!