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Tuesday was a big day at our house- Don had his first day of preschool! A month ago, we toured a bunch of places and finally found one that everyone felt really good about about it. We did our back to school shopping and a few other small things to prepare, but I also wanted to throw him a fancy dinner before his first day. 
Here’s the idea behind the back to school feast- it’s a great chance to sit down and talk about our goals for the school year. I’m a girl who believes that the intention that you put into something directly correlates to what you get out of it and I want to pass that on to Don. Plus it’s an excuse for me to do fun decorations 😉
In case you want to throw your own, here are the elements that went into our back to school feast:
theme
The theme I choose for this school year is “be bold, be brave, be you.” Emphasis on the be brave part (my little guy can be a bit shy). We talked about what being brave meant- from making friends to trying new things. Hopefully he understood some of what I was talking about!
decorations
For place settings, I painted mini canvases black and painted with white our names to look like a chalkboard. I’ve reused and painted on these canvases a few times- I love how easy they are to repurpose!
At Don’s seat, I placed a little felt crown that I made. I had a yellow on the outside and an orange yellow colored felt on the inside and I stitched them together. Really though, I could have used one color of felt and hot glued it closed to make it a 5*minute craft.
I added some school themed decorations to the table. A play school bus, globe, and red striped straws. Apples or a cup of freshly sharpened pencils could have been fun too!
colored pencil wreath
I had the idea to make a color pencil modern wreath. To be honest, I’m really happy with how they came out! I started by making the pencils with a color of beige felt. I then layered fun colors for the tip and body. Like I mentioned above, I could have just hot glued them together, but I love the look of hand stitched items.
The wreath looked a little naked, so I added “paper.” Aka, white felt with stitched blue lines. I finished by adding green leaves. To add some detail, I sewed on a stem and stitched them closed at the ends.
ladybug appetizers
I wanted a fun appetizer and a sneaky way to get Don to eat vegetables. To make these, I started with a cracker and then layered on some Roth® Snack Cheese- a Creamy Mozzarella (they come in the circles). I then cut up cherry tomatoes and placed them next to 1/2 an olive. To make the antenna, I put strips of cucumber in the olives. Finally, I put drops of balsamic vinegar for dots on the tomato wings (I used a mini paint brush).
make a wish!
I thought it’d be fun to do cupcakes so Don could make a wish for his school year. This will probably work with older kids. I tried to talk to him about ideas (wish for friends and learning lots!). But, spoiler alert, he wished for a toy garbage truck- lol!
healthy snack ideas for kids
With school starting, Don gets hungry when he gets home. I wanted to give him a fun and healthy snack. Here are some ideas:
mouse
The base of these is a cracker. I then layered a triangle shape of Roth® Snack Cheese- a Creamy Gouda. The nose is a chocolate chip, the eyes are balsamic vinegar, the tail is a strip of cucumber, and the ears are slices of hot dog. This one was Don’s favorite!
bird
I thought this one was really cute! The bird body and tail are Roth® Snack Cheese- a Creamy Cheddar. I layered mozzarella for a wing. The eyes and feet are balsamic vinegar and the beak is a chocolate chip. While the tree branches are pretzels and the leaves are cucumber.
sun
The last one was the simplest and fasted to put together- a sun! For the body, I used Roth® Snack Cheese- Creamy Gouda. Then I stuck pretzels to make the sun rays. The eyes are chocolate chips (Don loves chocolate). The mouth is cucumber.
As you can see, I used Roth® Snack Cheese in all of these! They are available in three flavors, Creamy Gouda, Creamy Cheddar, and Creamy Whole Milk Mozzarella. With just 70 calories, 0 carbs and 5 grams of protein, Roth Snack Cheese is perfect for the kids, but, I don’t mind snacking on them either 😉
Because they care about the same things I do, Roth® Snack Cheese is all-natural, preservative-free and always made with fresh, local rBST-free Wisconsin milk. Find Roth Snack Cheese in your local grocer’s deli case. Find them near you at www.rothcheese.com/locator
I hope these ideas were helpful for you! And happy school year- I’m looking forward to seeing what this year does for Don! Are you looking forward to your kids being away or do you miss them? I’m a little of both.
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