Need back to school party theme ideas? Everything you need for an epic starting school party and a fun back-to-school bash!
Best Back To School Party Theme Ideas
You can do a ton of fun back to school party activities on a budget! (You can even use some of these for back to school block party ideas, back to school birthday party ideas, or even back to school college party themes!) We’ll answer your school party ideas, but let’s start with how do you throw a back to school event?
How do you host a back to school party?
For a back to school DIY party:
1. Set a Date and Time: Choose a date and time that works best for you and your guests. It’s usually a good idea to schedule the party a few days after the school year starts to give everyone some time to settle into their routines.
2. Create A Fun Back To School Party Invitation: Send out invitations to your friends and classmates. You can use digital invitations through email or social media platforms, make back to school party flyers, or you can go with traditional paper invitations if you prefer a more personal touch.
3. Choose a Theme: Selecting a theme can add an extra layer of fun to your back-to-school party. Some ideas for themes include “School Spirit,” “Throwback to Elementary School,” “Hawaiian Luau,” or any theme that you want! You can even just do a simple school colors theme.
4. Plan Budget-Friendly Decorations: Decorate the party space according to your chosen theme. Hit up the dollar store for streamers, balloons, banners, and other cheap decorations that match the theme. You can also incorporate school-related elements like books, chalkboards, and school supplies into the decor.
5. Organize Activities and Games: Plan some entertaining activities and games to keep your guests engaged. Do funny things like a “pop quiz” trivia game, a back to school dance-off, or even a decorate your own school bag station.
6. Prepare Food and Drinks: Consider serving snacks and refreshments that are easy to eat and enjoyable for all. Finger foods like mini sandwiches, pizza bites, fruit skewers, and chips are popular choices.
7. Make a Trending Music Playlist: Get the kids involved in creating a playlist to set the right mood throughout the party.
8. Have A Back-to-School Photo Booth: Set up a photo booth or fun photo backdrop with props related to school, such as graduation caps, oversized pencils or school supplies, or photo props that match your theme so guests can take fun pictures, share on social media, capture memories from the party.
9. Don’t Forget The Party Favors: Give out small party favors or goody bags. These could include school supplies, candies, or other small items related to your party theme. You can also make mini back to school cones with fun candies.
10. Have Fun! Lastly, remember that the primary goal of the party is to have fun and celebrate the start of a new school year with your friends. Enjoy the company, participate in the activities, and make great memories together for the start of a new school year!
See the full list of ideas for a back to school bash below. KEEP SCROLLING for back to school party ideas for elementary students through back to school for high school ideas!
What to do for a school party?
A back-to-school theme party can be anything that you like!
Themed Dress-Up: Choose a fun theme for the party, such as “Decades Day,” “Superheroes and Villains,” or “Favorite Movie Characters.” Encourage everyone to dress up according to the theme.
DJ or Dance-Off: Hire a DJ or create a playlist with popular songs for a dance party. You can also organize a dance-off competition with prizes for the best dancers.
Trivia Games: Organize a trivia contest with school-related questions or general knowledge topics. Split attendees into teams and offer small prizes for the winners.
Karaoke Night: Set up a karaoke machine or use a karaoke app and let students show off their singing talents.
Game Night: Have a selection of board games and card games available for students who prefer more laid-back activities.
DIY Craft Stations: Set up stations for DIY crafts, such as making friendship bracelets, decorating bookmarks, or designing school spirit t-shirts.
Outdoor Games: If the party is held outdoors, consider organizing games like relay races, sack races, or tug-of-war. Or, use oversized lawn games like this for a fun twist.
Talent Show: Host a talent show where students can showcase their unique talents, such as singing, dancing, magic tricks, or comedy.
Outdoor Movie Night: Project a movie onto a screen or large wall and have students watch a popular film under the stars. LEARN HOW TO DO AN OUTSIDE MOVIE PARTY HERE
Back to School Carnival or Fair Booths: Set up carnival-style games like ring toss, bean bag toss, or a dunk tank.
Food Trucks or Snack Bar: Arrange for food trucks or set up a snack bar with a variety of treats and refreshments for everyone to enjoy.
School-Themed Quizzes and Challenges: Create fun challenges related to school subjects, like a math problem-solving challenge or a science experiment contest.
Ice Breaker Activities: Organize ice breaker games to help students get to know each other better, especially if it’s the beginning of the school year. CHECK OUT FUN GAMES WITH QUESTIONS HERE (The STICKY NOTE GAME is also a lot of fun for back to school games!)
Outdoor Picnic or BBQ: Host a school-wide picnic or barbecue with a potluck-style arrangement, where students bring their favorite dishes to share.
DIY Pizza Party: Set up a pizza-making station with various toppings for students to create their own personalized pizzas.
Escape Room Challenge: If your school has the resources, create an escape room experience for students to solve puzzles and challenges.
Inflatable Obstacle Course or Bounce House: Rent an inflatable obstacle course or bounce house for some high-energy fun.
What is a back to school party?
A back-to-school party is a social gathering held to celebrate the start of a new academic year. It’s a fun and festive event where students, teachers, and even parents come together to mark the beginning of the school year with various activities and games.
Fun Back To School Party Names
- Back to School Blast
- Academic Adventure Fest
- Classroom Carnival
- Back To School Book Bash
- Middle School Mixer
- Too Cool For School Party
- Back To School Bash
- Schoolhouse Celebration
- Campus Quest (great for a back-to-school scavenger hunt theme or back to school escape room game)
- Bookworm Bash
- Scribbles & Sundaes Soiree (LEARN HOW TO THROW A BACK TO SCHOOL ICE CREAM PARTY)
- STEM-tastic Celebration
- Literary Luau
- Oh The Places We’ll Go This Year!
Let’s get to our back to school party ideas for high school students all the way down to preschool back to school fun!
How To Throw Back To School Parties
Back To School Party Decorations
Creative Back To School Party Decoration Ideas:
- Balloon Arch: Use a back to school balloons arch or balloon wall in school colors for great back to school pictures
- Party Banners: Make a fun back to school party banner as a welcome back to school
- Party Favors: Give out back to school party bags or string backpacks with school supplies, a bag of smart cookies, and healthy snacks
- Chalkboard Backdrop: Create a large chalkboard backdrop with back-to-school messages or drawings. You can use chalkboard contact paper like this.
- DIY Pencil Cup Centerpieces: Decorate tin cans or mason jars to look like pencil cups filled with pens, pencils, and markers. Add some artificial flowers for a pop of color. Give them away as party prizes at the end of the party!
- School Supplies Garland: String together mini school supplies like erasers, rulers, colored pencils, and paper clips to create a unique garland for walls or tables.
- Apple Accents: Incorporate apple-themed decorations, such as apple-shaped balloons or apple centerpieces, as a symbol of the teacher-student tradition.
- Giant Crayons: Craft oversized crayons from cardboard or foam and place them strategically around the party area.
- Book Nook: Set up a cozy book nook with bean bags or cushions, where guests can relax and enjoy reading materials. Have a box of “TAKE ONE!” books for kids to take home as a party favor.
- Framed Blackboard Signs: Use small blackboards or chalkboards like this for party signs, food table menus, or photo props.
Whatever you use for your back to school bash decorations, be sure to use school colors!
Fun Back To School Party Food Ideas
PRO PARTY TIP: Serve food on lunch trays like this instead of plates!
Back To School Bash Food Ideas:
- Smart Cookies Display: Design a “Smart Cookies” table with arrangements of different cookies
- Bowl of Smarties candies
- Bowl of Fresh Apples
- Mini Nerds Candy boxes
- Put candy ring pops in a bowl and label them “Class Rings”
- Use sour gummy worms as “Book Worms”
- Pencil Pretzels: Dip pretzel sticks in yellow candy melts to create a pencil-like appearance. Add a pink candy melt at one end to mimic an eraser.
- Book Sandwiches: Cut sandwiches into rectangular shapes and use food-safe markers to draw book titles or fun school-related doodles on the bread.
- Notebook Rice Krispie Treats: Make square or rectangular Rice Krispie treats and use edible markers to draw lines and doodles to look like notebook paper.
- Alphabet Fruit Salad: Create a colorful fruit salad using small letter cookie cutters to cut the fruit into alphabet letters.
- Test Tube Tasties: Place Nerds candies in test tubes with lids like these for a fun party favor.
- Calculator Cookie Bars: Decorate cookie bars to resemble calculators using frosting or edible markers.
- Graduation Cap Cupcakes: Top cupcakes with chocolate squares or small cookies as the cap and attach a mini candy or fruit gummy as the tassel.
- Smarty Snack Mix: A trail mix of nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate chips (or anything you want!).
- Diploma Roll-ups: Roll tortillas with cream cheese and your choice of fillings, wrap them with a ribbon of scallion, and secure with a small bow to resemble diplomas.
- Apple Snack Board: Create an apple snack board like this as a nod to kids giving teachers apples.
Back To School Party Games For Adults And Kids
Here are fun ideas for back to school theme party games for adults and children!
Back To School Bash Activities And Game Ideas:
- Back to school foam party (I love this one for an outdoor back to high school party idea! Teens will love this!)
- Back to school dance glow party
- Book Bingo: Create bingo cards with book titles or genres instead of numbers. Call out book titles, and players mark them off on their cards to win.
- School Supplies Scavenger Hunt: Hide various school supplies around the party area and provide a list of items for participants to find. The person or team that finds the most items within a time limit wins. Everyone gets to keep the school supplies they find.
- Schoolyard Olympics: Organize a mini Olympics with school-themed games, like a paper airplane toss, hula hoop challenges, and a standing long jump.
- School Supply Tower Building: Provide various school supplies like pencils, rulers, and erasers, and challenge participants to build the tallest tower using the supplies within a certain time period (like 20 minutes). This is actually a really hilarious game for all ages!
If you have favorite back to school bash games and activity ideas, let us know and we’ll add them to our list!
Back To School Theme Party Dress Up Ideas
These are not only great for back to school bash costumes, but also back to school spirit week!
Back To School Party Dress Up Ideas:
School Uniform Day: Encourage guests to dress up in school uniforms, whether it’s their current school uniform or a classic plaid skirt and white shirt combo.
Nerd Day: Dress up as nerdy students with suspenders, high-waisted pants, taped glasses, and pocket protectors.
Spirit Day: Ask everyone to wear their school colors or dress up in outfits that represent their favorite sports teams or clubs.
Decades Day: Choose a specific decade (e.g., 80s party, 90s party, etc.) and have guests dress up in clothing styles from that era.
Famous Teachers and Students: Have guests come dressed as their favorite fictional teachers or students from movies, TV shows, or books.
Crazy Hair Day: Encourage wild and wacky hairstyles using colored hairspray, hair gel, and hair accessories.
Dress as Your Dream Career: Ask guests to dress up as the profession they aspire to be when they grow up.
Superhero School Day: Invite everyone to come dressed as their favorite superhero or create their own superhero persona.
Disney or Cartoon Characters: Have guests dress up as characters from their favorite Disney movies or cartoons.
Teacher Swap Day: Have guests dress up as teachers, and the actual teachers can dress as students.
Athlete Day: Encourage guests to dress up as athletes, whether it’s a specific sport or a general sports-themed outfit.
Book Character Day: Guests can dress up as characters from their favorite books or literary classics.
Career Day: Have guests dress as professionals in various careers, such as doctors, firefighters, astronauts, etc.
Favorite Subject Day: Invite guests to dress up in a way that represents their favorite school subjects, like math, science, art, or history.
Influencer Day: Have kids dress as social media influencers.
School Mascot Day: Have guests dress up as the school’s mascot or create their own fun mascot characters.
More going back to school party Ideas: How to Throw A Fun Back-To-School Sleepover! (Great for back to school party ideas for highschool students!)
