Are you a class mother or someone who is responsible for organizing a classroom party? Organizing a classroom party can be overwhelming. Unlike your child’s birthday party where you would only invite a few close friends, it’s harder to make a classroom party a success as you have more kids to please. – and it’s up to YOU whether or not the party goes well.
But don’t feel pressured. It really is easy to put together a fun classroom party which kids will remember for a long time. Here are 5 important things you need to know in order to throw an incredibly fun classroom party.
1. Communicate well with the helpers prior to the party
Once the party is planned, let the helpers know what exactly they will be doing prior to a party. By doing so, you will save yourselves some time on the day of party and you can get the party started promptly. Party time is limited and you don’t want to waste any time - even if it’s a just few minutes.
2. Split the students into 2-3 groups.
It is harder to make sure all 15-25+ students are enjoying their time at the party. So split them into groups. You can set up 2 or 3 tables and each group moves from one table to another, to work on different projects. Think of(…or borrow some ideas from the cool kids party websites that are listed on child-gift-ideas.com) a few age appropriate crafts they can make, and with parent helpers’ assistance, children can enjoy making theme related crafts to take home. Since they will be small groups, it’s easier for parent helpers to have the children under control and also to help them with their project during party.
3. Everyone gets a reward for participating!
You may be planning some games to be played at the party. And you may also be planning to give winners a reward. That’s fine. Every time someone wins a game, give him/her a reward. Kids will most likely try to play harder because they want to get the prize. However, we need to think about ones who end up not winning any of the games. While winners feel great about doing well with the games, others may feel disappointed or even sad which is not a result you want. You have to make sure all the kids have fun. So what do you do? Give everyone a reward for participating! At the end of the game, hand out prizes to kids who are empty-handed. Tell them “You did a good job, thanks for participating.”
4. Eat the cupcakes at the end of party
We all know what sugar does to kids. so let’s have them eat towards the end of party. Enjoy craft activities and playing games FIRST, then the students can enjoy the food(right before they are dismissed). Kids are usually already hyped and excited at the beginning of a classroom party(or any parties for that matter), so there is no need to make the matter worse by giving them sugary cookies and cupcakes until after we do all the planned activities.
5. Take some pictures during a party
Whenever we have a party or a field trip, I always take pictures of the event so I can email them to the parents afterwards. This is a great way to keep in touch with the parents (other than when you need something from them) plus the parents, especially ones who weren’t able to attend the party would appreciate it. For photo sharing, I always use Shutterfly. With Shutterfly, it’s free to create an account, store and share pictures with others. What I love about the company is that they don’t inconvenience you in any way whatsoever. A recipient doesn’t have to have a Shutterfly account to view the photos while many other online photo sharing services don’t let you see all the pictures that are emailed to you unless you sign up to become a member. So, for this reason, I highly recommend Shutterfly!
That’s it. Follow these simple rules and the children will have a blast at a classroom party that you host. Happy Partying! ==============================================
Asa Mills is a stay-at-home-mom to her two school age children and an editor/publisher of Child-Gift-Ideas.com and Hello-Kitty-Gifts.com. As a class mother, she enjoys brainstorming kids party ideas and is enthusiastic about providing the class with a fun time. To receive her monthly newsletter, please visit Child-Gift-Ideas.com.
