Homeschool Graduation: Ideas for a Great Graduation Party

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Ready to host the graduation party of a lifetime? Your homeschooler probably can’t wait to graduate, and an awesome graduation party would be the icing on the cake. If you haven’t thought of graduation party ideas just yet, here are some that are sure to get you partying in no time:

Graduation Party Theme Ideas:

A party always seems more cohesive when you have a theme to tie everything together. You can extend your theme to all aspects of the party from photobooth props to desserts.

 

• Wild West: This is a popular party idea that’s so much fun! Guests can even dress up in their best western attire. You can display photos on an inflatable cactus or you can create a “banner” out of small western hats and display them on the wall. Then, use a clothespin to attach a picture of your student through the years on each hat.
• Go Vintage: For this theme, think lace, pearls, antiques, and anything vintage you can find. Buy lace on a ribbon spool and use it to hang photographs on the wall or from the ceiling. For table decorations, scatter some fake pearls all along the table and perhaps some old family photos or a vintage family photo album.
• Through the Years: This is a really cute theme that lets you celebrate your student’s milestones through the years. Pick a table or buffet to display everything. For each grade, you’ll make a brown paper sack (lunch bags) and adhere a printable number K, 1, 2, etc. all the way through 12th. Put any tiny pieces of memorabilia in the bag to add weight or just use rocks to hold the bags down. For each grade level, make a stack of memory items such as crafts, cards your student made for you, pictures from that grade level, report cards, and yearbooks.

 

• Chalkboard Cheer: Since your student is celebrating a graduation from high school, this theme ties in nicely. Everything will have a chalkboard label or design element that is very “school-y.” Use another color to offset the black and white and create a table decoration using colored gumballs or silk roses. It’s a good idea to shop at a craft store, such as Michael’s, when you’re looking for monochromatic party decorations. 
• Sports Fanatic: Does your child have a favorite football, basketball, or baseball team? Perhaps your family likes hockey instead. Whatever suits you, you can use the team’s colors as your jumping off point in decorating for your student’s graduation party.  

 

If you decide not to have a themed graduation party, you can still tie everything together by choosing colors that coordinate and having everything match. A black and white gala affair is a nice combination, or you can choose your student’s favorite colors. Unsure if they go together? You can use a color calculator to see which colors go together. The color calculator will even suggest several colors to complement the main color your choose. No matter what you decide, put some finishing touches on your graduation party with these ideas:

Picture This:

Remember those annual “first day of school” pictures you faithfully took year after year? Now is definitely the time to display them!

 

• Picture Your Future: Create a banner that spells out the words “Picture Your Future” and hang that on a wall. You can put each letter on a piece of paper designed to look like an old Polaroid. Then, in the space remaining, hang those fantastic annual school pictures you took! Alternatively, you can decoupage baby pictures and other types of pictures to 3D numbers of your child’s graduation year. 
• If you’re a scrapbooker, consider pulling out some of your scrapbooks for your student and displaying them on the table for guests to thumb through.

Photobooth Fun:

Photobooths are just as much fun for guests as they are for the graduate! Have some fun with this and give your guests something to talk about.

 

• Step up your photobooth with many props such as a cap, a graduation gown that goes on and off easily, and the usual props like mustaches, large glasses, lips, and more. Be sure the backdrop says “Congratulations,” “Con-GRAD-ulations,” or “Class of 2018” so there’s no doubt this is your student’s graduation year!
• Step and Repeat: You know those red carpet events you see on TV where the celebrity stops on a red carpet and poses in front of a backdrop that has ads all over it? Those are called a “step and repeat” and you can have them customized! For a customized step and repeat banner, you’ll want to choose graphics you can upload from your computer and you’re usually allowed up to 5-6 images that will repeat in a pattern on the step and repeat. If you don’t have any images you’d want on there, maybe use your family’s crest or just your family’s initial.

Food for Thought:

Depending on the time of day you host your graduation party, you may need to think about feeding your guests. You have a couple of options here:

• Catered: Probably the biggest benefit to having the meal catered is that you don’t have to bother with cooking and cleaning! Of course, you’ll pay a price for that but it may be well worth it. The downside is that catered food doesn’t alway get the best reputation for taste. Shop around, visit caterers, and ask to taste food before placing an order. Also, remember that many restaurants offer catering so if your graduate has a favorite restaurant, check to see if they cater.
• Potluck: Another way to ensure that you don’t have to cook everything is to ask each guest to bring something. This will also provide a large variety of foods. To organize a potluck, it’s best to have a sign-up sheet so you don’t get 10 pans of macaroni and no meat.
• Array of appetizers: Whether you end up providing all food yourself or have guests pitch in, you can avoid serving a proper “meal” by having a variety of appetizers and finger foods instead. Don’t worry about people not getting full; if you have enough appetizers, they’ll get full. Providing finger foods and appetizers just makes this part of the party that much easier on you!  

No matter how you decide to provide food for your guests, serve it in a festive way that ties in with your theme!

A graduation party is a way to celebrate your student’s accomplishments with other people. It’s the perfect time to showcase your student’s hard work and photographs through the years. It’s also a great time to present your student with his or her homeschool high school diploma. Let others join in the fun by having an awesome graduation party!

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May 6, 2018