We host both-- our fliers says come out with Dad, grandpa, uncle and have a donut and juice with them.... we charge a fee--- they come in the morning before school--- and have donuts, milk, juice, coffee with them... we have coloring pages and crayons on the table--- and we raffle off centerpieces some years-- we also have a photo area where we charge a fee to take and print a picture of them together and send it home after the event.... kids love it, its a great momento for them and their moms-- we charge 2.00 per picture--- and this helps us make our budget for this event-- but more over its a great family event to bring dads that work and can't make most things to do something special with their children one morning--

We do the same this with Mom, Grandma, aunts for muffins with mom--- in May....

We're holding our first Donuts with Dad in conjunction with our spring book fair. If it goes well, we'll plan Muffins with Mom to do with our fall book fair.

We weren't thinking we'd expect too many, being the first one and before school since most of our dads are off to work, but now we're getting a little nervous seeing posts and blogs where they had 500-1000 people come.

We're not charging and I think we're going to plan 25 dz donuts, 10 gallons of milk, water, and hoping to get some coffee donated from Starbucks. That should cover 300 people at 1 donut per person. And because of our limited space, donuts, and time (only 1/2 hour to have a donut, drink, and shop) we are only having students with their dad, uncle, grandpa, or male adult guardian. As for anyone being "left out" we also do have an evening family event and, as mentioned, will more than likely do a Muffins with Mom in the fall.

So, now my question...with only planning on 300 donuts, how should I word that on my letter that goes home??? It's not going home as a separate invitation, but being mentioned in our bookfair letter as well as on our website.

Thanks!

In the fall we had donuts with dad, and muffins with mom on a separate day. In the spring we will hold pastries with parents.

As far as kids feeling left out we didn't hear anything. A lot of the kids where one parent was abset just borrowed their friend's dad.

Don't plan on everyone RSVPing. We doubled the order of dad's that rsvp'd..and we still ran out.

We do this on the Friday before Valentines Day and call it Sweets With Someone Special. We don't charge for the event but to help offset the cost, we hold raffles. Lately we have been doing Webkins and we usually do flowers or something too for the parents. It's a pretty big event, and the kids have lots of fun bringing their parents into school.

The majority of kids are left out at "Donuts with Dad" or "Muffins with Mom" events. Either because of the inability to leave work or the loss of one or both of their parents from their lives.

Rather than causing mental anguish for the kids that these type of events exclude, calling the event something non-specific like "Donut Day" with an invitation to families and/or foster families, produces the most successful results without making any kids feel bad and/or miss school that day.

This morning we had our first-ever Donuts with Dad at the middle school. It's been a successful tradition at our elementary for about 4 years, but some people thought middle-schoolers would be "too cool" to come. Well, it wasn't the crowd we have at the elementary, but we did have about 100 dads and kids this morning. That's huge for our school. We kept it very simple: glazed donuts, juice (PTO provided) and coffee (brewed by the cafeteria staff). We raffled off a pair of pro Bball tickets and made enough to cover the cost of the event. Easy. Cheap. Worthwhile. Try it even at Middle School.