Graduation is just around the corner in our house! As I was brainstorming with other moms creative ideas to make our high school seniors feel special in this most difficult year, I was reminded of this party I organized four years ago for her middle school graduation. Small and personal celebrations are my favorite and this one was no exception.
If you are looking for an easy way to add some personalization to a party for your graduate, read on, because pen and paper is all that is required to create something meaningful that will stand the test of time for your special student…
Since this party was celebrating the graduates of an international middle school, I chose a global travel theme. I truly believe the world awaits these awesome kids…
Once again, I failed to get a photo of the finished fully styled table, a party blogger I am not, but you get the general idea. Globes, maps + photos of the grads. I wanted to mark their growth so I stopped by school and took quick portraits of the kids and mounted them on canvas frames from Michaels. I then paired the 8th grade photos with pictures of each kid from their preschool days – the kids and parents alike had a good time looking back at these sweet mementos.
Now, getting to the original point of this post. As soon as the kids arrived at the party (this was easy as they all came together straight from school on the last day) I asked them to grab the stack of cards by their bag and write one note to each of their sectionmates. Doable with 10 kids!
Once they were done, each kid walked along the table and dropped a note in everyone’s individual envelope. I had also included a fun class photo in the glassine bags. And since our kids have mostly all been in school together as a small class for 10 years, when the parents arrived later in the night, I asked them to kindly add their voices as well.
All sorts of good stuff followed this activity, including swimming and games, tacos, a highlights video invoking laughter and tears and, of course, much cake.
While the kids can’t take home swimming, tacos and cake at the end of the night, they can hang on to these special notes. Smaller than a yearbook, a little envelope of goodness they can tuck in their desk and happen upon from time to time, reminding them of this very special time in their lives.
In fact, my daughter still has her bag filled with these kind words of love, support and encouragement hanging on her bulletin board. Many of the other pictures and mementos have changed and been updated over the past four years, but that little glassine envelope has been a constant. Words matter.
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