How to host a neighborhood kindergarten breakfast

A highlight of June: hosting a kindergarten breakfast in our neighborhood! This was a very, very low-key event – so low-key that it almost feels not worth detailing – but it’s been a sweet tradition in our neighborhood for many years and was a great comfort to me when June was a rising kindergartner. Today, I thought I could offer a few ideas (and lots of encouragement) if you, too, might like to host one!

The background on our neighborhood’s kindergarten breakfast:

Our neighborhood has been holding a breakfast for rising kindergarteners for at least as long as we’ve been here. (I remember thinking it sounded like the coziest tradition when we moved in ten years ago, sans children!)

The first time I actually attended was in 2021, when June was getting ready to make her elementary school debut. Though I had nothing to compare it to, it felt like a bit of a muted event – which makes sense, since things were still opening back up after the pandemic. There were just a handful of families in attendance, but what we lacked in quantity was made up for by quality – including a pair of powerhouse moms with four kids each, all of whom attended June’s future school. Getting to chat with them and ask them questions went a long way toward putting me at ease.

It was my desire to pass that sense of ease onto another new kindergarten parent that made me say “yes” when a request went out for a breakfast coordinator earlier this year. After confirming a date with the head of the social committee, I was given a budget of $200 and carte blanche to do pretty much whatever I wanted… my ideal scenario, ha!

Planning a kindergarten breakfast:

In our neighborhood, the kindergarten breakfast is open to all rising kindergartners, no matter what school they’re planning on attending. Since our public and private options include year-round schools, we hold the breakfast in June. (This feels early for those on traditional calendars, but the year-round school year starts in July!)

We got the word out in a few ways: we included the details in our neighborhood’s email newsletter. We made a Facebook event and posted in the neighborhood Facebook group. We set yard signs at a couple of key intersections, and put a signboard out by our neighborhood clubhouse a few days before the event. Thankfully, this was all taken care of by the social committee!

We ended up with about 15-20 kindergarteners (and their parents and siblings) in attendance, which I was pleasantly surprised by!

Kindergarten breakfast ideas:

We hosted our kindergarten breakfast at our neighborhood’s clubhouse, which has a wide, covered porch and is right next to the neighborhood playground. The event was from 9:30-11am on a Saturday.

We did, indeed, keep things very simple. I set out tablecloths I already owned and added this paper ruler runner on top. We arranged the food on one table: juice boxes, chicken minis and coffee from Chick-fil-a, donut holes from Dunkin, and mini muffins from Publix. Simple, simple, simple!

A few more fun details: these composition cups for coffee and cheery red (apple-esque!) plates for food. And these striped napkins, which just seemed to have a “school” vibe to me!

The main activity for the adults was simply mingling (we set out name tag stickers!), chatting, and swapping information :) We also had a little bracelet making station, inspired by June’s and my kindergarten tradition. At just $9 (!), this bead kit was perfect and we still had plenty left over after the party.

We also printed copies of Whitney’s summer book BINGO card as a sort of parting favor. Aside from making bracelets and scarfing snacks, the kids pretty much just ran in a pack from the playground to the porch and back – and seemed to have a great time.

And that was pretty much it! I loved getting to meet other kindergarten parents, loved seeing Shep meet some kindergarten buddies, but I think my favorite part (rather selfishly) might have been knowing that I played a small part in keeping a beloved neighborhood tradition alive and well. In a world where a lot of people don’t know their neighbors or the families at their kids’ schools, I’m grateful for the tight-knit communities we get to be a part of – and willing to do what I can to strengthen those bonds.

And you can do the same! If you’re reading this with a bit of sadness because you wish your neighborhood had an event like this, you can be the one to make it happen! You don’t have to wait for someone else to create the kind of place you want to live!!

That’s just what my friend Bethany did, and to round out this post, I thought I’d share a bit from her perspective. After hearing me yap about my plans, she decided to put together a little celebration for the kindergarteners on her street (including her son!). Here she is with the details:

One of my big, dreamy adult hopes is to be the home where the kids hang out. So it feels like we hit the jackpot when we landed on a street with more than 50 kids in middle school or younger. My oldest and four other pals on our street are starting kindergarten this summer (year-round school!). Always looking for an excuse to gather friends with all the comings and goings of summer schedules, we threw a kindergarten ice cream party to celebrate their transition.

Most of the kinders will attend the same school, so we scheduled the party in the afternoon, following Meet the Teacher at our school. The logistics were simple: I texted the other parents to share the invite, and each family graciously asked what they could bring to the party. Our menu included ice cream, lots of fun toppings, fruit, a veggie tray, and crunchy snacks. Our only non-food purchases were a set of very popular color-change spoons and school-themed napkins. (We also bought these adorable ice cream plates, but I don’t think a single one was used.)

Most of the kinders have older siblings who pass our house on the walk home from their bus stop. We planned for the kinders and parents to arrive a bit before the bus dropped for some quieter time with just the younger kids, and then the older siblings and their friends joined a bit later for an ice cream bash for about 40 people. (Reader, you should know that when I bought extra ice cream because I was worried the three Bluebells tubs would not be enough for 40 people, I was very wrong. If you’d like to have ice cream tonight, please come to my house; we still have plenty!)

I hope our time together excited the kindergartners and maybe helped to quell some fears or uncertainties about their start at a new school. And, if I’m being my big, dreamy self, I hope it’s another moment the kids look back on when they remember the big team they had cheering them on as they moved through childhood. 

Isn’t that the best? If nothing else, I hope this post inspired you to make a little community magic right where you live :)

P.S. How we prepared for kindergarten the first time around – re-reading this myself!

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