Ideas for Kindergarten Graduation

Graduating from kindergarten is a big milestone in a child's life. After a year of learning and growing, it's important to celebrate this achievement with family, friends, and classmates. Here are some ideas to help make a kindergarten graduation celebration special:

Class Party:Nothing gets a group of Kindergarten students as excited as a class party!  Reward the students for their accomplishments by planning a fun hour long party during the school day.  The students will feel special and will make memories to last a lifetime.  You will want to include a few of the elements below, like decorations and special treats, and also some fun games for the students to play.  

Cap and Gown Ceremony: A cap and gown ceremony is a great way to make a kindergarten graduation feel special. Parents can purchase caps and gowns for their child, and teachers can provide certificates of completion.  If it’s not in the budget to use real caps and gowns, the cardboard hats are just as fun!  You can find them online, or even have the students do a craft to make their own. The ceremony can be held in the classroom or in a larger venue, depending on the number of students and families involved.  Some graduation ceremonies have even been held at local parks, where the kids come down a slide as their name is announced.

Decorations: Decorating the classroom or venue with balloons, streamers, and other festive decorations can help set the tone for a special celebration. Parents can also create photo backdrops for taking pictures of their little graduates.  You can buy decorations off of the internet, or you can have the students help to decorate the classroom by giving them a fun art project to do that can then be hung all around the classroom like the cute craft below.  Balloons are a super easy decoration that can add an immediate festive flare to any classroom.  Don’t feel like you have to do all the decorations yourself, you can send out a sign up list to have parents bring in different items. 

Special Treats: Serving special treats, such as cupcakes or cookies, can add to the celebratory atmosphere. Parents can also create a "graduation" candy buffet or goodie bag for each student.  It’s always fun to stay on the graduation theme while planning your treats.  Here are a couple fun ideas:

Ring pops - Give each student a ring pop with a sticker that says “Class Ring”

Chocolate diplomas - Buy a pack of Hostess Ho Hos and tie a ribbon around each one to make it look like a diploma. 

Sting cheese diplomas - Similar to the idea above, tie a ribbon around each string cheese stick to make it look like a diploma. 

 

Graduation cap applesauce - Glue a square of blue of black paper on to the top of each applesauce.  Glue string made into a tassle on top of the paper to make it look like a graduation cap.  Lastly, glue googly eyes onto the side of the apple sauce so that your apple sauce now looks like a graduate.  *It’s important if you are using a glue gun to glue the eyes that you use it at a low setting so that the heat of the glue doesn’t melt the plastic on the side of the apple sauce. 

Smarties - Smarties make a great graduation treat.  You can put a few in a bag for each graduate with a sticker that says “Congrats Smartie Pants” or you can set them out in the classroom next to a sign that says something about the students being Smarties. 

However you decide to celebrate your little graduates doesn’t matter, as long as they feel excitement about their accomplishments. If you are a party planning warrior, you can checkout Pinterest boards such as this one for ideas of how to plan out all the details.  If you are a parent with less time, you can always order a preplanned party that includes the elements above.  Creating a fun and festive atmosphere will help make this special occasion one that students will cherish for years to come.