A Vintage Back-to-School Kid's Party

School starting back up in the fall is a happy time for my kids, and the best way to celebrate it is with a big DIY back-to-school party! Hosting an easy, back-to-school party is a fun way to gather all your kids friends up and get them excited for the year to come. Sometimes with long summer breaks the kids might not get to see each other, and I love to get them together before school is in session to rekindle their friendships! I love vintage anything, so I decided to celebrate Emily entering middle school by throwing her a DIY vintage back-to-school party!

The Backdrop

I like to set up every party with a cute backdrop that sets the scene of the party. To create this back-to-school vignette for this party I layered some vintage pieces I collected from my local antique stores. A large chalkboard I had laying around, a vintage school writing board, some vintage alphabet blocks, and a handwriting poster.

A tiered tower holds the cupcakes, layered with a giant wooden scrabble tile.

An old crate holds the supplies for the party. Each bag is filled with supplies for the clipboard craft in a red paper party bag from the craft store. I wanted to make sure each kid was given an equal amount of supplies and a wooden initial, so separating them ahead of time made sense.

The Tablescape

To create a school-like setting, I lined the table with kraft paper and layered tissue paper and vintage flash cards on top. You could add other fun school themed elements here like tools and pencils and staplers, etc. Anything you add that has that school vibe would make a great addition to the tablescape.

Each place setting had a clipboard for the craft, and a hand-made sugar cookie, tied together gently with some twine. I always make sugar cookies themed to the parties that I host. It is a super easy and cute way to incorporate a themed element into a party. You can read this post on how to make and decorate the perfect sugar cookie here.

The Fun

I gave each kid a quick get-to-know you printable, which they played as they all arrived. This way any of the kids who didn’t know each other could break the ice, and everyone could enjoy some fun!

The kids really enjoyed this game! It is a great get-to-know you game, perfect for back to school. This is a great opportunity to invite some new friends or friends your kid hasn’t seen much over summer for them to all connect or reconnect.

After the game, the kids did a fun DIY clipboard. They were all entering middle school, and getting lockers for the first time, so they created custom magnetic clipboards. The table was lined with various washi tapes to decorate their board first.

Next, they used the sticky notes and other items that each kid had in their supplies bag, along with their initial, to embellish their clipboard.

They attached magnets to the back, and done! It was super simple, but the kids enjoyed it and it took enough time up to be the main event of the party.

The Food

During the craft, the kids were given a pizza and chips with a drink, served in a kraft container.

There were apple slices drizzled in carmel for snacking on as well.

Emily really enjoyed hosting this party for her friends. It was a great way to get all of them reconnected and excited to be back in school. I hope this inspires your own DIY vintage back-to-school party!