One of the things I like to do for my girls is have a Back to School celebration. It helps them get excited for school’s return and it allows them to reacquaint themselves with friends they may not have seen through the summer. Last year, my girls attended a new school which brought a little extra pressure. They were nervous about making new friends and being in a new environment. In typical Candace fashion, I jumped in and planned a party for both girls, on the same day, inviting all their classmates (because I hate excluding) and their parents. Crazy? Maybe. But it all went off without a hitch and in the end I was glad I did it.

Since my house would never accommodate that many people inside, I planned for it to be outdoors and prayed for good weather. We thought we’d have a bonfire and make s’mores. So we dubbed our party The S’more the Merrier.

I went out and bought small cello bags, tags, brown ribbon, marshmallows, small individual size Hershey bars and graham crackers. Into each bag, we put two graham crackers, two marshmallows and a chocolate bar, then tied it up with the tag. These were then our invites. The girls took them to school the second day and handed them out! They were pretty popular kids that day.

Not everyone could make it (which was probably a blessing), but many did and it was so much fun seeing the kids play and make new friends. It was good for my husband and I too to meet some parents of the kids our girls would be hanging around. Of course, you can do this too on a much smaller scale and still reap the benefits of having your kids look forward to back to school.

This year, my girls have decided boys are icky and I’m cool with that. So our back to school party will be significantly smaller. I also might break it up this year but haven’t decided if that means twice as much work or not. Hmmm. I’ll let you know. In the mean time, here’s some inspiration for your own “S’more the Merrier” party.

The Spread - Pretty Easy!

Don't forget sticks for your marshmallows!

Make sure you assign adults to supervise around the bonfire!

Brace yourself for kids hopped up on chocolate!