How to Plan a Fun Back to School Backwards Dinner!

Celebrate the beginning of a new school year with this fun and simple Back to School Dinner idea– a Backwards Dinner! Read on for all the details of eating dessert first, cute apple cupcakes and a simple menu everyone will love! 

HOW TO HAVE A BACK TO SCHOOL BACKWARDS DINNER 

Dessert first? Yes please! No one will complain about that. 

As a young girl, I attended a backwards dinner with my mom for a mother/daughter activity in my church group. I remember it being so fun. Of course, my festive mom and I really got into it. We dressed backwards, including our jeans, shirts, earrings, and even did our pony tails backwards. The fun didn’t stop there. The entire evening was done in a backwards fashion, including the order in which we ate our food!

The backwards dinner left a memorable impression on my young festive-loving heart. So much so that I have put on a few backwards dinners in my day, including Back to School dinners for my youth group and even my own family.

A Backwards Dinner is perfect for celebrating the beginning of a new school year!

Today I’m showing you how to create a fun backwards dinner! 

HOW TO DO A BACKWARDS DINNER 

Here’s the basic outline for the dinner: 

1. Decorate the table (decoration ideas below) and set out dessert 
2. Prepare food
3. Eat dessert first, then main dish, then appetizer
4. Dress backwards for a fun twist! 

SIMPLE BACK TO SCHOOL DINNER MENU

I bet you can get the idea of what a backwards dinner entails. You get to eat dessert first, then the main dish, and then the appetizer. How fun is that?

Of course, since you’ll be eating dessert first, you’ll want to choose a dessert that isn’t too sweet or huge. If you do, then no one will want to eat the main course, which would just be a waste of your time and energy in preparing it.

DESSERT

• Apple Cupcakes (Get the full apple cupcake tutorial here.)

They go right along with the Back to School theme and they are just the right size. Plus, since the apple cupcakes are pretty adorable, they double as a table decoration, since you can have them on the plates from the beginning. 

MAIN DISH 

• Homemade baked Macaroni & Cheese 

Homemade mac n’cheese is a great option for your Back to School dinner because who doesn’t love mac n’cheese? Plus, it’s easy to prepare in advance and then you can keep it warm in the oven until dessert is over. 

DRINKS 

• Apple Beer 

We save soda for special occasions, so Apple Beer was a treat for everyone. I love how the packaging ties right into the apple theme! 

APPETIZER 

• Choose your favorite simple veggie or salad. 

By the time you get to the appetizer, everyone may be full. So…don’t spend too much time worrying about the appetizer. 

SIMPLE DECORATIONS

I literally decorated for this Back to School Dinner in about 5 minutes! When you are preparing the meal and the dinner, it’s hard to spend tons of time decorating, wouldn’t you agree?

I have found that if I have some basic decorations in my party stash, I can decorate quickly and reuse the same items.

DECORATIONS I USED:

• Black and white polka dot wrapping paper 
• No. 2 pencils
• small chalkboard
• red and white striped paper straws
• red paper plates
• black napkins
• apple cupcakes

HOW TO MAKE THESE CUTE APPLE CUPCAKES

These apple cupcakes are just too cute and fairly quick to make. But if you don’t have time to make these for your back to school dinner, you might like The Easiest ABC Back to School Cupcakes .

Step 1-Make  cupcakes 

You can be really fancy and make cupcakes from scratch. However, for the sake of simplicity, I just used a boxed cake mix!

Choose a white or vanilla cake mix that can be dyed red, or use a red velvet cake mix.

You’ll definitely want to dye the batter red so that you can see red all the way through the white cupcake liners.  I keep a stash of these white cupcake liners at all times that I use for all cupcakes and muffins. They are cheap and they last me forever. There is nothing worse than not having cupcake liners when you need them!

Step 2- Bake

Once your batter is red, divide into muffin tins, lined with white cupcake liners. Now bake according to the recipe. 

Step 3 – Frost & Decorate 

Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled, you’re ready to decorate. To make the cute apple cupcakes, you’ll need:

• red frosting – homemade or bought
• red crystal sprinkles
• stick pretzels
• green strip candy like Airheads or these sour apple belts 

Frost the cupcakes with the red frosting. Before the frosting dries, sprinkle the red sugar crystal sprinkles on top. Then stick a pretzel in the middle for the apple stem.

Finally, you’ll want to add the green leaf. To make, simple cut an oval shape out of the green strip candy. Stick firmly into the cupcake next to the stem. And now you’ve got adorable apple cupcakes!

PICK A FAMILY THEME

Each year, we like to pick a scripture to memorize as a family. I wrote ours out on a giant chalkboard I have hanging in the kitchen and we talked about what it means over dinner and how it can help all of us in the new school year. Our theme last year was Deut 31:6- Be Strong and of good courage, Fear not, nor be afraid, for the Lord God will not fail thee nor forsake thee. 

And of course, I needed to snap a few photos of my cute Kindergartner.

And that’s you have a Back to School Backwards Dinner! 

I’d love to see your backwards dinner! Tag @sofestive on Instagram so I can feature you! 

2018 BACK TO SCHOOL BACKWARDS DINNER

OTHER FUN BACK TO SCHOOL IDEAS 

• 10 Fun Back to School Family Traditions 

• Easy & Adorable Apple Cupcakes

• First Day of School Photo Signs