My elder daughter Sofia graduated from elementary school while my niece Asma graduated from Kindergarten this year. My sister in law and I decided to invite their friends for a small graduation party.
As someone who prefers homemade treats made from scratch, I was feeling guilty that my three month old son wouldn’t let me make any this time. I finally gave up trying to be supermom and settled for store bought cupcakes, cookies , pizza and snacks.
The kids didn’t seem to mind though. They happily munched , played games and had fun.
Here is how we had a stress-free, fun-filled graduation party.:
Party Platters
We found graduation cupcakes at Sam’s Club . Cookies and croissant platters also proved to be quite cost effective from Sam’s Club. We added a few simple homemade treats like jello and popcorn along with the quintessential party favorite – pizza.
Simple Party Decorations
DIY decorations were not an option for me. Shopping with my little one is also quite a hassle. So, I opted to shop online from Oriental Trading for most of my decorations. My favorite was the inexpensive Graduation Party yard sign which unfortunately I forgot to click.
My sister in law also picked up some decorations and disposable tableware from our local Dollar Store. We didn’t go for any specific color theme so that we could mix and match stuff.
Goodie Bags
I am not a big fan of goodie bags since mostly they lead to a lot of clutter. However, for kids a party seems incomplete without them. I found these cute little tote bags on Oriental Trading. The girls filled them up with pencil cases, motivational bookmarks, candies and other small items.
Non-Competitive Games
The kids were perfectly happy to play good old party games like Musical Chairs, Hot Potato, Obstacle Course and piñata.
Instead of buying prizes for just the winners, we bought a bunch of inexpensive gifts from Dollar Store and numbered them. At the end of the party we announced that since each one of them had played really well, every kid is entitled to get a gift. The kids picked out a number and got the corresponding gift. This ensured that there were no disappointed faces.
It took me three kids to realize that there’s no point in getting stressed and trying to be supermom. It’s perfectly OK to lower your standards when it comes to cooking, entertaining, housekeeping or dressing up when you have little ones. What ‘s most important is to enjoy their childhood. After all they will only be little once.
Congrats to all parents whose little ones have successfully completed one more year of school. Here’s to many more years of success.
Wow..loved the party description. U am sure the girl must have had so much fun. You are right, sometimes something simple can make an event memorable. Kids don’t want everything to be fancy.