Each year, we are tasked with creating the ultimate Back to School Party for Kindergarten through 12th Grade families in our region. This is the time of year where we get to lean into the community organizations located in our area and pull them together for our local families to learn about while having fun at our event.
(One note if you choose the Riverview Park Chapel Shelter location for your event is to let guests know that they have to use Google Maps with the address in order to be brought to the correct location or they will end up at a location in Manchester).
– Pittsburgh Social Blog
The parking is all along both sides of the street as Riverview Avenue is a one way road. I had teachers assigned to putting up directional signs from both the Perrysville Ave. Entrance and the Woods Run Ave. Entrance and many of my guests said that it helped them be able to navigate to the party with ease in the giant park.
One of the things that I like to try to do with any money I spend on vendors for events is to use small businesses of people that I know or are referred to me in order to help give back to the local economy and support small local businesses. This year, we used Happy Day Dessert Factory for our Ice Cream vendor (Galen brought out the ICE CREAM BUS and it was a huge hit!) and used local artist, and my cousin, Jameson Skiles for face painting!
Pittsburgh Community Based Vendors
I also want to give a major shoutout to our vendors and local community organizations that came out and were able to make some valuable connections with our families. I encourage you to check out all of the incredible things that these organizations and businesses are doing for the community of Pittsburgh!
Bridge City Braces/Dentistry For Kids
Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)
Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh (HARP)
Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania
Girl Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania
PA 211
Women Work
Dress For Success
Back to School Bash Decoration Ideas
One of the signature items I am known for with my events is my creative décor ideas! I spend months gathering ideas, shopping, and making all of the items
Paper Air Planes
I just grabbed regular steno-pads from Walmart and made a bunch of differently shaped airplanes. I used fishing line to hang them over the walkway with clear packing tape
You’ll need these items:
Giant Popcorn
I used two large pieces of foam core from Hobby Lobby and red and white duct tape. You start by taking the red masking tape and adding it evenly to each piece of foam core long ways. Then, take the white tape and seam each piece together at the edges. I put a piece along the back side too to make sure that when the structure folds up, it doesn’t stick together. You then can add a “Popcorn” label and blow up a ton of white and yellow balloons at varying sizes to add to the center of the box. The more you add, the better it looks!
You’ll need these items:
Life-Size School Supply Decorations
The things families thought was the coolest part was how big the school supplies I made were! We had a piece of notebook paper (made from white foam core and markers), pencils (pool noodles with yellow poster board wrapped around them), Crayons (pool noodles with marker free-hand), and a huge marker and highlighter (I got 2 four foot concrete tubes and spray painted them white, then used acrylic paint to add all of the fine details.) It would be easy to add a paint brush and pallet as well as a ruler, but I ran out of time!
You’ll need these items:
Back to School Photo Backdrop
Our school colors are Blue and Yellow, so I did a mix of different shades of blues, yellow, and gold. We also used our giant school supplies as props and it was a big hit!
You’ll need these items:
Photo Backdrop Stand (This is a great investment – I use it all the time)
Letter Balloons
Finally, we made a foil letter balloon installation that really set off the whole space! I got the multi-pack from Walmart and it was perfect!
You’ll need these items:
Back to School Bash Activity Stations
While Caretakers visited the Community Organizations area, students and children were able to engage in tons of fun crafts and games! Students made reusable name tags to bring with them to future events, wrote a thank you note to a teacher, made friendship bracelets, and played numerous carnival activities. Some of our teachers hosted a prize table where students could turn in their earned tickets for candy and non-food based prizes (a great idea for those hosting school events to consider families with food allergies and religious dietary restrictions so they can feel included too).
(a great idea for those hosting school events to consider families with food allergies and religious dietary restrictions so they can feel included too).
– Pittsburgh Social Blog
Back to School Bash Games:
You’ll need these items:
Fish Cup Game (clear plastic cups, ping pong balls, water)
Roll A Ball Game ( I made my own version of this game)
All of which can be found on Amazon or made by hand using materials you probably have laying around the house/classroom.
Back to School Bash Craft Ideas
Friendship Bracelets
In the era of Taylor Swift, this station was a huge success! The students loved to take their new friends to the station, make a bracelet and then swap it! I especially loved this craft because it brought students who usually only know each other behind the computer together in person!
You’ll need these items:
Reusable Name Tags
I host almost 100 events and field trips throughout the school year for the school where I work and we always use name tags at every single event. I have been trying to cut down on single use items, so I decided to add a “make your own name tag” station. We give all students lanyards already to collect field trip pins on, so this was a great way to make sure they get put to use!
You’ll need these items:
Clear Name Tag Holders with Lanyards
Markers, Stickers, Crayon
Name Plate Craft
All you need for this activity is colorful popsicle sticks, hot glue, markers, and stickers. You have the students glue the popsicle sticks together and then write their names on the front. It is a great way to personalize their work space at home!
You’ll need these items:
Crayons, Markers, Scissors, Construction Paper
Thank a Teacher
We had a station where students could choose to write a note to their teacher to thank them for all of their help. We had a few students write really sweet and sincere notes to their teachers, then I took them and mailed them off when I was back in the office the following day.
You’ll need these items:
Wishing Wall
We do two big events each year, one at the beginning of the school year (Back to School Bash) and one at the end of the year (Field Day). To get students to reflect on their year, we had a wishing wall where they could post notes to their future selves which will be displayed at Field Day at the end of the year so they can see the comparison.
You’ll need these items:
Back to School Bash Sensory Friendly Zone
We made sure to include a sensory friendly station for our student guests with special needs and it seemed to be a big hit! They loved the kinetic sand station, the pompom sorting station, the animal sorting station, and the noise cancelling headphones.
PRO TIP: If you are planning an event for school age children, you definitely want to consider those with special sensory needs. Try to think of a designated space where they can retreat during the event if they need a quiet time break. Make sure you let their Caretakers know where they can find this space when they arrive to the event. You can even go the extra mile and have some coloring books and fidgets in that space for them to use while there.
Sensory Station Idea #1: Kinetic Sand
I started out by grabbing two of these 2 Pack bins with lids from Target. Then I ordered this Kinetic Sand and these construction toys to add to the bin. When you arrive (or even in advance to prep) add the sand to the bin and then put the toys on top. Children with sensory needs really enjoy the feeling of kinetic sand!
You’ll need these items:
Sensory Station Idea #2: Pom Pom Sorting Activity
I used a second bin with a lid and added three bags of multi-colored pompoms along with 7 different cups (I grabbed the $.50 cent plastic grey ones form Target) and tongs/various other tools that kids can use to work on fine-motor skills to pick up and sort the poms by color or size.
You’ll need these items:
Sensory Station Idea #3: Fidgets
For all of my field trips, I make sure to bring my sensory-friendly bag that has fidgets and noise-cancelling headphones in it. Some of the fan favorites are the ones listed below:
Sensory Station Idea #4: Take Away Items
When it is finally time for kids to leave the station, they almost always want to bring something with them. In order to prevent the more expensive items from walking off, I like to take a pool noodle and cut it up into various size pieces. They are so great to squish and mess with. Some students even chose to add googly eyes and name their new squishy friend. It was adorable!
You’ll need these items:
Googly Eyes (with sticky back)
Back to School Bash Passport and Map
One of the things that my families know they can expect from me at a stationed based event is a map and a passport! I love to make these and give them to each student to make sure that they visit all of the stations that I created at each of my events. I use Adobe Illustrator to create the map and usually the passport as well, but sometimes I will hop into Adobe Express or Canva to see if they already have cute graphics available so I don’t have to make them all from scratch. Here is what it looked like this year:
How does something this big come together in a matter of a few hours?
I could not make these crazy detailed events happen if it weren’t for the help of many teachers who volunteer their time to come help on the day of the event! Something that I have found that helps me to organize 25+ teachers is to list out all of the pre-event needs and the run-time needs in a spreadsheet. I email the list out to my teachers and have them sign up for two spots, one pre event and one run time event. After the event is over, I give them a central location so they break down their station and bring it to the central loading area. It helps the teachers to be able to choose where they would feel the most helpful and it works out well for me as the organizer so all of the items end up in one spot for loading into my car after the event. I also give all of the teachers a copy of the map and passport so they can answer any questions about where to find things within the event.
PRO TIP: Delegation is KEY for large events like this. Sometimes with delegating that means things won’t end up exactly as you planned for them to, and that is okay. My favorite quote is, “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” And in the event industry, it is something to LIVE by! Provide as much detail as you can to your helpers (include pictures and set up instructions if necessary) so they can feel like they are being set up for success when helping you! There is nothing MORE frustrating than showing up to help for an event and not knowing what the expectation is from the organizer.
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And if you enjoy a good laugh… guess which one is me 🙂 You can hardly tell I was sick at all!
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