Family Traditions: Back to School Dinner

As a little girl, back-to-school time was one of the most exciting times of the year for me. I loved school. I loved the anticipation of starting out fresh again in a new class and the possibility of all the new things I would learn. I still love this time of year now as a mom, and one of the ways I like to commemorate it all is with a special back-to-school dinner for my family.

Last year for our dinner, I decided to do it around after-school snacks. My kids love snack foods, so the idea of a whole dinner centered on those things seemed perfect. 

For my table decor, I headed to Walmart. I am not a super fancy decorations type girl...so I like to keep things simple. I bought a plastic table cloth, paper napkins, and paper plates and cups with the primary colors in mind (and threw in a little green too).

For each place setting, I pulled out these little writing practice cards I found at the dollar store. I wrote everybody's name on the card and put it at the head of their plate. Then they had a Handi-Snack and a Go-Gurt on one side of their plate, and string cheese on the other.

For the rest of our dinner, I made 'homemade' Lunchables with Ritz crackers, cheddar cheese, and lunch meat I cut up in small pieces. We also had apples with peanut butter, celery and carrot sticks with ranch dressing, and Totinos pizza rolls (we never eat those, so that was some added fun for the kids).

We had milk to drink in our paper cups. If I did this again, I might get some little pint carton milks like they have at school. I think they would add to the whole look and it would be another fun and different thing for the kids.

Here they are last year, all ready to eat our fun dinner! I can't believe how much difference just a year makes in how they look...

 

Do you do a special back-to-school dinner for your family? I would love to hear some more ideas!