Easter is right around the corner, but for some families, so is graduation. Preschool graduation takes place at the end of April at the small Catholic school my daughter attends. Unfortunately, the occasion is not marked with a ton of pomp and circumstance. Rather, the school leaves the celebrating for the parents to handle at home.
The school has the same rules for kindergarten. Last year, when my daughter completed half-day kindergarten, it was up to me to come up with a way to celebrate her accomplishment. We had a small party with family and friends. Nothing over the top; rather it was a decent size get-together to mark the special occasion.
If you are looking for simple ways to celebrate your little one’s graduation day, consider the following:
Cap and gown: If you have the means, then you can easily purchase a mini cap and gown from a party shop. However, since I only had one graduate to dress I made my own cap from construction paper. I embellished the traditional black cap with glitter and added a tassel I had leftover from my college graduation cap. The gown was fashioned from leftover fabric I had in my craft closet.
Decorations: There are several ways to commemorate the accomplishments of the year. However, instead of filling the room with store-bought decor, I had my daughter draw her favorite memories from kindergarten and used the art work to create a gallery for the party guests to look at as they entered the house. I considered putting together a video of her school activities and presentations, but I ran out of time. Instead of videos, you could print out photos from school activities and create a collage to hang near the cake.
Menu: The party menu was pretty basic, save for the alphabet treat tray we designed. Everything on the tray represented a letter in the alphabet. For example, we had apple slices for the letter “A”, bananas for the letter “B”, cookies for “C” and so on and so forth.
In terms of the ceremony itself, I would suggest keeping it short and simple. Young kids have fairly short attention spans, so don’t spend too much time talking. Play “Pomp and Circumstance,” let your child sing a favorite song he learned in school, hand out a homemade diploma, then get on with the eating, drinking and making merry.
Related Articles: