we have mother/daughter tea party, father/daughter dance, Mother/Son dance, and Father/Son night. Everyone gets a chance to participate one way or another. We are very inclusive, so we understand different types of families and accommodate them accordingly. For our father/son night we are building pinewood derby cars and race them on a big track that the local boy scout troop let us borrow.
I was the chairperson for the father/son night last year. I reserved our local YMCA for an evening. Because we are a non profit organization it only cost us $90 which included two lifeguards. The big and little guys were able to play raquetball, basketball, swim and more. The added bonus for me, was there was no prep or clean up afterwards. The only thing they required was proof of insurance and a letter stating how many participants afterwards. Since this event cost so little, with the extra money I had in my budget, each boy was given a school logo water bottle afterwards at no charge.
I, too, am thinking about such ideas. One thing I came up with was a father(or male)/child fishing trip. We have a state park nearby with a small catch and release pond specifically for kids. Do a BBQ, and some outdoor games (treasure hunt, sack or three-legged races, etc). We have also thought about doing a combo father/daughter dinner & father/son sports thing...for the dads who may only have children of one gender or for those who have both/all children for a limited amount of time (visitations) & don't want to split it between their kids.
My D.H., also very involved in our PTA, says things need to be geared not as much toward women. He likened going to PTA meetings to going into the pediatrician's office...lots and lots of "women's" magazines & stuff, but nothing for men. So he has sort of become our spokeman for male involvement, and has even agreed to contribute a letter now and then to the PTA newsletter.
We are still in the planning and organizing phases of our father/child activities and would love some suggestions and tried and true methods to make them successful.
In the past we have had daddy/daughter dance and mother/son social event. Sometimes mom/son is dance, others bowling, or whatever. This year it was suggested that we also have mom/daughter and dad/son events. Brought up the same question about single, divorced, deceased parents - it was suggested calling it he & me, or some other catchy phrase. Our notices have ALWAYS had a statement that the adult participant should be of the appropriate gender but can be any important person in that child's life - father, grandfather, uncle, family friend - even "big brother" if it's male and same for females. It hasn't been a problem and I think that is because it's always been included in the flyers that it doesn't have to be "bio" parent.
Love the idea!! We always need more dads involved! We tried a fathers/daughter night before & had some people upset because of all the kids with no fathers (absent/divorced etc...)feeling left out. So we said how about special male & me night, people were still upset, so it ended up being a special person & me night!! Which turned out to be whole families & alot of moms!!! It kinda blew the whole idea!! Would love to hear if you have any protest to a fathers/son night, and how you handle it! [img]smile.gif[/img]
Sounds like a great idea! We are always trying to get more Dad's involved and this would be great. Our school would not make it a fundraiser therefore not charge but it just sounds like a great idea. I will be watching to see if anyone else has done this and let me know what success you have too.
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