The adorable Back to School dinner idea every Kindergarten Mom needs

Welcome your kindergartener back home from their first day of school with this adorable back to school dinner. What a special way to mark their big day!

When your little baby heads off to kindergarten for the first time, it is the perfect opportunity for setting some simple family traditions.

Everyone has their own set of must-do's for a kindergartener's first day:

• special photo ops: check out our tips for back to school photos here.
• first-day clothing shopping trips
• interviews for the scrapbook
• special notes in the lunchbox: Read how to pack the perfect kindergarten lunch right here.

Of all the traditions out there, I've always especially loved the idea of holding a family feast to honor the new year. For a kindergartener, this is an especially wonderful opportunity to welcome them home after their first big day.

Years ago when I first read "The Family Dinner," I was enamored by the simple table settings Laurie David shared as part of her family's everyday routine. It's amazing to me how powerful a little extra effort towards the table really is.

The only fancy things required are some simple table sprucing. In this instance it truly doesn't matter what's on your menu--even hot dogs or chicken nuggets are elevated by some ambiance.

I pulled this back to school dinner table together with materials found around my house in just a few minutes and it made all the difference in turning a weeknight dinner into a party. A quick raiding of the kids' toy box and art supply stash along with two minutes in my backyard garden provided everything I needed. No special scissors or printables required!

3 simple table decorations for the cutest back to school dinner ever:

1. Spell it out:

I used two sets of ABC puzzles from Melissa & Doug to spell out cute messages at each setting. We love the Alphabet Art puzzle here and the See-inside Peg Puzzle here.

Words I played with include:

• smarty
• grow
• learn
• teach
• ABC123
• study
• know
• friends
• love

How many more can you think of?

2. Clever containers:

The sweet yellow school bus from the Whittle World School Bus Set is a fall classic and made the perfect unique container for some flowers snipped from my garden. I found a clear plastic disposable cup, gently squeezed the sides together and set it in the open space towards the front of the bus. I added a little water and just popped the flowers in and done.

It's the cutest little centerpiece and it came right from the toy bin!

3. Sweet little apples on the placemats:

To give the placemats a more festive feel, I hand-painted some sweet little apples using the easiest trick you'll ever see:

Simply bend a paper towel tube to form the apple shape, dip it in red paint and press it on a large piece of white paper. I just trimmed some from the craft paper roll from the kids' art station. 

Then I used a small paintbrush to add the little green leaves for an accent. This would be a fun back to school art activity to do with the kids the night before or you can just surprise them after school with everything already prepped.

Need some back to school dinner recipe ideas?

As I said, it really doesn't matter what you serve that night, just make it something the kids love and that is easy. But, if you really need some inspiration, here are some of our favorite school night suppers:

• Crazy easy Instant Pot shredded chicken tacos that kids beg for
• Bacon ranch cheesy chicken roll-ups
• Easy beef stir fry with noodles that kids want to gobble up
• 30 quick dinner ideas for your busiest Soccer Nights

And quick, before you go . . .

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I love sharing seasonal recipes and ideas for celebrating the holidays. This is one of my favorite back to school celebrations ideas. If you'd like more ideas for the coming holidays, be sure to get on my weekly email list where I share the latest ideas for making each season special:

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