OFF TO KINDERGARTEN Grandma came dressed as Raggedy Ann (old Halloween costume) and read stories to the kids relating to going to school or kindergarten. Then we played games.
•Alphabet I hid all the letters of the alphabet (the magnetic ones you put on the fridge) and the kids had to find them all and put them in alphabetical order on a magnetic board.
•Memory We laid school-related items out on a tray -- the kids examined them, then closed their eyes while we took an item or two away, then they had to guess what was missing. (As a variation you could take everything away and see how many things they remember.)
•Relay race The theme was getting ready for school. With, say, two groups of four kids, one child starts in a sleeping bag (bed); you ring a bell, he jumps out of bed and puts on clothes (big old clothes laid out for them); he tags the next person, who packs her lunch (with pretend food), then runs and tags the next person, who puts things in a book bag and tags next person; that person does the wheelbarrow with the person who tagged him and they go to the finish (the bus stop). The other team does the same thing, and the group that finishes first wins. -- pero107

 STARTING-KINDERGARTEN ICE CREAM BASH Each year a child in our family starts kindergarten we have a Starting School Ice Cream Party. Bus or schoolhouse invitations carry the message " _________ is starting school. Please help us celebrate by coming to her Starting School Ice Cream Party." I include a note asking each child to bring a copy of a favorite book to be donated to the classroom, as well as to prepare something for Show and Tell. We have a puzzle-piece hunt and then put the puzzle together. And there's ice cream, of course: chocolate and vanilla, plus chocolate and strawberry syrup, nuts, cherries, whipped topping, butterscotch, caramel, bananas. Favors are crayons, pencils, glue, stickers, pens, candy. We always have fun, and the teacher enjoys getting the books the first day of school! -- Gymom

 STARTING-SCHOOL TREASURE HUNT Have the children design informational/emergency name tags to attach to their backpacks. Laminate (or cover with clear Con-tac paper), punch in a hole, and let the kids braid some gimp or twine as the tether. Hold a school-supply treasure hunt with erasers, glue, pencils, etc. Tie a certain color yarn around one of each item and hide throughout the area. Assign each child a color plus a pictorial clue list, leading them from one item to another. They'll have to figure out what each picture represents or where it sends them. The kids will love the thrill of the hunt and be that much more excited about school. Finally, make a cake to look like a sheet of elementary-school writing paper, then write your message in a child's hand. -- shaknzmom

 PRETEND SCHOOLDAY At our back-to-school party we plan on 25-35 kids and have pretend classes: Art (tie-dye and fabric painting T-shirts); Paper Folding 101 (paper airplanes, paper footballs, bookmarks, gum-wrapper chains); Metal Shop (bracelets made out of fishing swivels). Then we break for lunch (paper bags with juice, chips, sandwich, fruit snacks, and fruit). Then it's P.E. (obstacle course, water dodgeball, wheelbarrow racing, crab soccer) and recess (scavenger hunt, water balloon brigade, wet head). The children save their brown bags from the scavenger hunt for the goodie bags. I print up "schedules" for each child with where to go, laminate them, and punch a hole and put yarn in it so it can be worn around their necks. We ring a bell to change classes. All this happens outside. -- Ughhhh

 BINGO PARTY The kids play bingo for school supplies, which are really cheap in August. We use brown paper lunch bags for treat bags, and each child gets pencils, erasers, note pads, etc. in the sack. We usually serve soft pretzels and juice, just like at school, and serve cupcakes with letter pics or a schoolbus-shaped cake. It's a really fun tradition. -- camcwoody

 GOODIE BAG Include things they can use at school, like safety scissors and small boxes of crayons, plus ABC cookie cutters and large cookies they can each frost or decorate. -- HMaffioli

 PARTY FAVORS How about inexpensive books, purchased at discount store and wrapped individually? Then have some kind of a "grab" to give them out. -- Minnie321

 ALMOST-SLEEPOVER BACK-TO-SCHOOL PARTY The girls arrived in PJ's. I had purchased flip-flops for each girl, and the night before I cut various colors of felt into strips; the girls tied them to the "V" shape that goes between the toes and over the foot and made their own "slippers." From there we moved outside to play Twister while I set up a table with white pillowcases and fabric paint. The girls painted their own pillowcases, and all signed one for my daughter. They then did a treasure/scavenger hunt in the yard to run off some energy. We had the "sleepover" cake (from FamilyFun!) and ice cream outside and then went back inside to get into sleeping bags and watch a movie (our basement is finished so I had hung 100 cardboard stars from the ceiling and put little white Christmas lights in the artificial trees to make it look like nighttime). When the parents came for pickup at 8:30, we served them appetizers and beverages, and the party went on until about 10 p.m. It was fun for everyone. -- mom2maddie

 SLUMBER PARTY Have the kids bring some pics of what they did over the summer and put toegther a mini scrapbook. Be sure to include pics of that night! -- letsparty_now