Back to School Reunion Picnic

Great Ideas for Getting Your Students to Reconnect

© Janice Benoit

Aug 8, 2006

summer picnic, ClickArt

Here are some great party plans for an end of summer picnic for students. Help them reconnect with their friends while you get in touch with your parent support group.

The end of summer is met with mixed reactions from students and parents alike. On one hand, the kids are looking forward to meeting up with their friends again, (and the parents may be anticipating a much-needed respite from too much kid activity!), while on the other hand, the kids may have some anxiety over new classes, new teachers and lack of summer playtime (and the parents may be stressing over how to manage the extracurricular activities that are about to begin). A Back to School Reunion Picnic is the perfect venue to answer all of these needs, no matter what age your children are. Read on to learn how to set up your own picnic to encourage your kids to reunite with their friends before going back to school.

Basic Concept

  • Host a 2-3 hour casual picnic at your home or a park. You could even host it at the school's playground, but you may want to check with the district's policy of picnicking on school property
  • Offer games, activities and crafts for the kids to facilitate reconnecting with their friends
  • Offer recipe swap and school year carpool sign-up for the parents
  • Get everyone excited and organized for the start of school

    • Event Details

    Party Timing

  • A good time to host this party is during the week prior to the first day of school. Generally, elementary school class lists are posted by this time and middle school and high school students have already received their class schedules.
  • Send out invitations (email or regular mail) as soon as possible, to ensure the best attendance rate as possible.
  • Schedule the party from 12 - 3pm or 4 - 7pm, so that it's a natural time to offer the meal.

    • Food and Beverage

  • Casual picnic fare should be the choice for this function, to lessen the stress for the host (you!). Consider hotdogs and hamburgers if you wish to grill, pre-made or make-your-own sandwiches if you don't want to bother with the grill, or hot and/or cold fried chicken if you'd like traditional picnic fare (you can even use your local KFC if you aren't a cook).
  • Add a several varieties of chips and pretzels, some sliced watermelon and a selection of chilled beverages (water, juice, soft drinks).
  • Ask your guests to bring a plate of cookies or brownies to share

    • Set Up

  • Provide picnic tables/patio furniture if possible. Otherwise, ask your guests to bring their own folding lawn chairs
  • Provide several large trash cans, and have extra can liners on hand
  • Provide napkins and Wet Ones (or other moist towelettes) for your guests, as all of the food is finger food, and you won't be bothering with flatware.

    • Games & Crafts

  • Anything goes in this category. Your students may like volleyball, badminton, soccer, softball, wiffleball, street hockey, frolicking on the playground equipment or throwing the frisbee.
  • You can also set up some crafts to encourage the kids to communicate about their summer fun. Good crafts to include are scrapbooking, macrame/friendship bracelets, and T-shirt decorating. For this last option, pre-wash inexpensive cotton T-shirts. Provide fabric markers and fabric paint (try Tulip brand products) so that the kids can decorate or autograph one another's shirts. You may want to provide foam board or cardboard to place between the shirts layers to create a sturdier painting surface.

    • Parents' Activities

  • Use this gathering as a way to share family-friendly recipes. Ask each parent to bring multiple copies of their favorite dinner recipe. The recipes should be easy to make, kid-friendly, or make-ahead so that they can make menu-planning for the school year a snap!
  • Provide a sign-up table for school year carpools. Perhaps your guests will want to create carpools for soccer, football or school. Perhaps they may just want to swap names, phone numbers and available driving times. In any case, just make sure to provide lots of pens and paper. I usually offer inexpensive mini-spiral notepads to make it easier for my guests.

    • Use these ideas to make your students' return to school fun, stress-free and a real celebration!

  • Click here for back to school party foods.

    • © Text by Janice Benoit, graphic by ClickArt. [August, 2006]. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.


    The copyright of the article Back to School Reunion Picnic in Entertaining is owned by Janice Benoit. Permission to republish Back to School Reunion Picnic must be granted by the author in writing.




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