If you are a teacher or a room parent, you know the
excitement and the pressures of throwing the BEST PARTY EVER for your
students. This post will share some
ideas and tips that will help you for any party throughout the year. Whether it is Halloween, Veteran’s Day,
Holiday (Christmas), Valentine’s Day, Easter, graduation, or celebrating
classroom goals, these ideas will help ease your fears of not keeping up with
the class next door!
TEACHERS
Your first assignment is to find a good room parent at the
beginning of the year. Wait a few weeks
to get to know your parents before jumping the gun. Although they all have great intentions, not
all parents are organized and actually help you achieve your party goals. Once you find that perfect match, tell him or
her that you want to work with them and would like them to run their ideas by
you. That way, you can let go of the
arrangements, focus on teaching, and still know what to expect on the party
day.
PLAN PLAN PLAN
Next, find out from the office what parties you are allowed
to hold throughout the year. Some
schools limit how many parties and even tell you the dates and times you may
hold them. Others may give you free
reign. Regardless, plan for them and get
them on your calendar! If you have a
notification reminder, set it for at least 3 weeks prior to the party. DON’T WAIT TO THE LAST MINUTE! Parties that are not planned well can turn
into disasters and you will more than likely go home with a headache. Finally, give or attach this guide to your parent to guide them!
ROOM PARENT
Your first assignment is to get contact information for all
the parents in your child’s class. Don’t
procrastinate because celebrations can sneak up on you! As much as you may want to do everything, it
can be overwhelming and recruiting help will make the party run smoothly. You need to be the person who oversees that
everything is getting done. Once you
have their information and know what parties you will be organizing, create a
SignUpGenius for parents to sign up. This tool is true genius! List each party (dates can be announced later
if you don’t have them) and ask people to sign up for:
Help with the party
Photographer who can be at each party
Send in snacks, drinks or goodie bags
Send in paper goods or other supplies
Tell them that you will contact them closer to the party
date and give them the specifics of what is needed.
This will help distribute the responsibilities and give
working parents opportunities to help if they can’t come in. It will also provide you with a list of
parents for each party so when it gets closer you know whom to contact. Three weeks prior to a party, start planning! Decide which of the following you will need
for your party.
Set up:
Arrive 30 minutes prior to the party. I know you want to socialize with your
friends, but the room or area needs to be ready on time. Classes have to keep to their schedule and
being 10 minutes late can cut the party 10 minutes short. Be proactive, ask questions, and get it done!
Helping run the party:
Rotate around and help all children not just your own. I know that sounds like common sense but we
all tend to gravitate to our own children.
The other children don’t have parents there so they need your attention
too. Serve the food, help with crafts and
games, and clean up as the party is going so it doesn’t take long
afterwards.
Photographer:
1.
Before you begin, check with the teacher to see
if there are any privacy restrictions of students.
2.
If the teacher doesn’t have a website to upload
photos for everyone, create a classroom account on a sharing site like Flicker,
Photobucket, DropBox, Google Photos, or Shutterfly. Research the best one that offers free
storage for the teacher and input all the parents’ emails to share the photos.
3.
Tell other parents ahead of time that you will
send them pictures so students don’t have to keep wiggling so that every parent
gets a picture.
4.
Make sure to get at least one picture of each
student at every party. The parents who
can’t attend will appreciate seeing their child.
5.
Gather ideas to use these photos for an end of
year gift for the teacher, a photo collage for the students or Mother’s day
gifts!
Clean up: big trash bag and wipes.
1.
Prior to the party day, check to the see if the
teacher has Lysol wipes. If not, bring
some!
2.
Get a big trash bag from the custodian. The classroom trashcan is good for the normal
day routines, but won’t be enough for a party.
3.
Clean up everything so the teacher doesn’t have
extra work after a day of teaching and partying. Wipe down desks, tables, counters, and other
furniture. Collect all trash and sweep
the floor.
Food and Drinks:
1.
Don’t leave this blank on the SignUpGenius. Tell parents exactly what you want and how
many. You don’t want to get to the party
day and be scrambling. That has happened
to me one too many times!
2.
Don’t forget to bring serving utensils. These aren’t things that most teachers have
available. If you are serving ice cream,
bring a scoop!
3.
Avoid cakes that have to be cut. Cupcakes are a better choice. It can interrupt instruction time if the
teacher doesn’t have help, doesn’t have a knife, and has to figure it out. It happens!
I once had a parent bring in a cake for their child’s birthday with no
knife, plates, forks, or napkins. I didn’t
want to disappoint the child so I was scrambling to figure it all out.
4.
Find some healthy alternatives. Carrots, strawberries, cut up bananas with
sprinkles, popcorn, Cheezits, low sugar drinks, 100% fruit juice, cheese and
crackers, etc.
Paper goods and
Plastic Utensils:
Depending on what you are serving, you may need paper
plates, cups, forks, spoons, napkins, straws, or papertowel.
Decorations (if
needed)
If it is a holiday or theme party, you may want to get a few
things to decorate the room. Get a
tablecloth, centerpiece, and a few things to hang in the room. The Dollar Store, Walmart, and party stores
have reasonable prices!
Craft or game
supplies:
1. It is time to
partayyyyy but an organized party will eliminate stress on the teacher! Student excitement around a party escalates
and you need to remember that the teacher will have to work with them the rest
of the day.
2. Check with the
teacher on whether or not there is time for a game and a craft or just one and
which one she prefers.
3. Then get on
Pinterest and find some creative ways to celebrate that event.
4. Print off any
instructions for parents who are helping with the party. If there are pictures to show how to do the
craft, send the link to the teacher and maybe she can project it onto her
board.
5. Turn a craft into
a service project: Create cards or
crafts for the elderly, orphanage, service men, or homeless. Students will love it!
Goodie Bags:
Sometimes it is nice to send home goodie bags so the
students can keep celebrating once they leave school. Items to include: candy, pencils, erasers, little notepads,
little toys, bubbles, stickers, etc. If
you are really organized, order from Oriental Trading ahead of time! And if you want to be creative, go to
Pinterest for ideas!
Now that you have your ideas together, run them by the
teacher and once approved, get back on SignUpGenius and create one for this
particular party!!! Be more specific
this time (how many, what kind). List each
item individually that you will need for the current party and send it to the
list of people who signed up at the beginning of the year. Give or attach this guide
so they know your expectations.
Helping set up
Helping run the party
Take Photos during the party
Help clean up
Send in snacks and drinks
Send in paper goods
Send in decorations (if needed)
Craft or game supplies
Goodie Bags?
It is never a bad thing to OVER PLAN. What if there is time left and it is getting
crazy? Have music ready to do a dance – freeze – party. Students dance to the music and when you
stop, they have to freeze. They love
it!
I hope you found some ideas to run a smooth, organized party
in the classroom. Most importantly, have
fun!!!!!! You can find this blog post in printable form HERE.
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