Preschool Graduation Party Ideas

Invitations

Invitations should be given out a couple weeks before the party to the entire class and, perhaps, including the teachers. The invitation itself should be festive and reflect the graduation theme. Some ideas are to have a diploma template that has the invitee’s name along with details for the time and place of the party. Or, the invitation could simply congratulate the child for graduating and say when and where he or she can come to receive their diplomas and celebrate their entry into elementary school. Diploma templates and images of graduation caps can be found online and printed out to be used for the invitations.

Decorations

The decorations for a preschool graduation party should be fun and enhance the graduates’ excitement about having successfully completed preschool and moving on to elementary school. Balloons and streamers aways add color and festiveness. Also, a banner that says congratulations to the class is easy to make and instantly creates a party atmosphere.

Activities

Some activities that could be fun for the children to do at the party are to create their own diplomas and graduation caps. Either of these items could be prepared beforehand, but letting the kids design their own (with the help of parents) might add to the day’s fun.

Diploma

A diploma can be made from scratch, or it could start from a template that can be found online. Another option is to design your own diploma template in a word processor or by hand, allowing blank space for the child’s name. The graduate can then fill in his or her own name and decorate the diploma in whatever way he or she likes. Some supplies that can be provided are school themed stickers, glue and glitter, markers and crayons.

Graduation Cap

The kids will definitely enjoy making their own graduation caps to wear. Making them is easy and only requires a handful of supplies: a paper bowl, an 8 inches by 8 inches square of cardboard or sturdy construction paper of the same color as the bowl, yarn, scissors, glue and tape. First assist the kids in cutting off the rim of the bowl. Next, to make the tassel, loop the yarn around three fingers several times then allow about a foot of yarn on one end. Remove the loops from your fingers, but keep them pinched together. With another smaller piece of yarn tie the pinched section together then cut open the loops on the other side. Cut a small hole in the center of the paper square to put the other end of the yarn through and tape it onto the underside of the square. Next, glue the square to the bottom of the bowl and you have your hat! Feel free add flourishes such as glitter or stickers.

Poems

While waiting for the caps to dry why not have the kids write a poem about how they feel on their big day and what they are excited for in kindergarten. Another poem topic could be about what they remember from their time in preschool. The poems could be written collectively in a group or individually with the help of parents.

Ceremony

For the actual graduation ceremony collect the diplomas that each child has made and call them up individually to receive their diploma. This could be a good time to play a song such as Pomp and Circumstance which is traditionally played at graduations or perhaps a favorite song that the children learned during their time in preschool. It could also be nice for a parent or host to be in charge of taking photos of each child as they receive their diploma and the photos could be e-mailed afterward to each family so that they can remember the special day.

Reception

After the ceremony is a great time to have some food and games. The food could range from healthy snacks to some special treats. Cupcakes are a good option because they are easily served and provide an opportunity to add another graduation themed decoration with icing. The icing could say “A+” or “Congrats!” The healthier snacks could be apple slices or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins. Be sure to check with parents about food allergies, though. Also, instead of champagne, try a youngster-friendly beverage like a sparkling apple cider or sparkling white grape juice to add festivity. The reception could also be a great time to play a game like “Duck, duck, goose!” or sing songs to do with graduation like this one sung to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”:

Kindergarten here we come

We know we'll have lots of fun

Lots of things to make and do

Reading Writing Counting too

Kindergarten here we come

We know we'll have lots of fun

Party Favors

No party is complete without a little gift bag to send the kids off with. One idea is to have the party favors be supplies for the graduates’ first year of kindergarten. It would be great to fill small backpacks with pencils, erasers, rulers and crayons. In addition you might want to add a small frame in which the parents can display their child’s graduation photo from the ceremony.

No matter what you decide to do for a preschool graduation party, remember to have fun and let the graduates enjoy their big day as they say goodbye to preschool and hello to kindergarten!