Thanks for the support and your opinions and advice! The mother/son bowling sounds like a lot of fun--actually my president just mentioned it to me the other day as we worked on new stuff!
This will work well since we are going to be under construction starting in April and we will be losing our gym which is our only space to host events. We are looking into more off-site events to make up for the ones we'll miss due to the construction.
we do a mother/son bowling or to be politically correct it is the Young man/special lady bowling event. They have pizza, bowl and get their picture taken. It is a break even event. We also do a Young lady/special gentleman dance in our small gym. We partially cater the food and take donations also. We have a DJ and a professional photographer and provide a frame when the pictures come back. Another break even event.
I realize you may have different issues at public schools than I am used to dealing with, but at our school Pre-K thru 8, I have organized Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances for the last 3 years. We have a great DJ which might be the difference from dads propping themselves against the walls and our dad's who are doing the limbo, twisting and even trying the latest dance moves. We have been growin every year, but most recently we have had approx 95 out of 140 families at either event. We give $10 gift certificates to the winners of various dance contests. We provide refreshments only. The dances are from 6:30 - 9 as the little ones get tired early. There is a nominal fee, just enough to cover the DJ (at a discount) and the snacks. We also have a private photographer come in and take pictures for an additional fee. The photographer is totally on their own financially, we don't pay her, and we don't even guarantee a certain amount of business. Its on a Friday evening so that helps keep the cost of the DJ down. I think its worth trying at any school. For our children who don't live with both parents, they have brought their parent anyway, or even grandparent, aunt or uncle in other cases. Good Luck with whatever avenue you plan to pursue.
I think Robin hit the nail on the head. Having gone to 2 Father/Daughter dances for Girl Scouts, I have to elaborate on what Robin said.
To really make it uncomfortable for the dads, have the dance be a 50's dance. All the girls can wear poodle skirts (which gets the wife mad because she has to make the poodle skirt), and the dads all wear jeans and a white t-shirt with their hair all slicked back. (Walgreens wonders why there is a run on Brilcream suddenly.) Or make it be a Mardi Gras theme where you all have to come with a mask.
Alright, enough of my complaining. I know the people who set it up had very good intentions and did a lot of planning. But seriously, Father/Daughter dances are pretty much like Robin said. The girls want to dance, but the dads don't know the "Electric Glide" and so even those that are willing to try look and feel awkward. Maybe some dads could try a little harder, but it is similar to some moms being asked to play touch football with their sons. Some will give it a try, while others will flat out refuse.
A suggestion, for Mother/Son instead of board games how about BINGO. We had a BINGO night and it went extremely well. We charged $2 a person, but gave back all of the money as prizes. (Lots of $5 Dairy Queen certificates.) All the kids sat and played with their parents, I did not see any kid running around like it usually happens.
And for Father/Daughter, how about a gym night. Even if you played floor hockey (Haqndicap the dads somehow), or SPUD, or put out the tumbling mats, or even try double dutch jump roping. I would bet you would get more dads willing to try double dutch jump roping than dance to the YMCA song.
hello.. i have some comments about both nights.. just playing devil's advocate here...
first, my husband has gone to a couple of girl scout dad/daughter dances.. @ 300 people at them- he hated them.. the guys stand against the wall, feeling awkward chatting with people they hardly know ( we all know women bond better at these events) and the girls ran around and did a lot of screaming to music that the dads hated.
secondly, .. in a public school, it's tough to promote a mother/son, father/daughter as there are SO MANY different family situations.. kids live with just mom or just dad or aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents that may be gay or lesbian.. and so on..
why not just have 2 different " family nights"
have a dance, and then have maybe a sport or tool or arts n crafts thing.. and let the crowd decide which event is the most comfortable for them??
Thanks for responding Tara--I also feel either one of those ideas is great so I'll see what I can do with a little negotiation.
By the way, if you're looking into a tool/building type night and you have a Home Depot in your area, I've heard that they are a great source of info and some stores offer employees that will come to the school to be instructors for such an event.
