We have a Family Story Night. We had teachers in the classrooms and Big Brothers and Sisters from our local High School come and read. The kids went through 3 rotations each. They came in their pajama's. We served Milk and cookies beforehand. The cookies were donated. It was a huge hit. We have 600 studnets (pre-k-5th) and we had almost 300 attendees. It was a free event.
We are getitng ready to host a Family Game Night. We are having getting games from parents and having the Big Brothers and Sister form the local High School once again run the games. The kids love htese interactions. This is also a free event.
In November, we have a Variety Show. The kids get to showcase thier talents without judges etc. It is also a free event!!!
In October, we host a Pancake Supper to go along with our Book Fair. We do charge for this, but it is agreat way to get togther.
I love all these ideas!!! Thanks for sharing. Would love to hear more about the breakfast ideas and how that works. Our school begins at 7:55 and many eat breakfast bc of a high percentage of free and reduced lunch. Where do you hold the breakfast?
Thanks!!!

This is my first year as PTA President and we are splitting the grades up we are having K-2 on one night where the parents and kids come out and we will have the children and parents seperated by grade level and volunteers will read books to them they will come in their p.j's. The night for the 3rd and 4th grade will be MATH MANIA where the parents and children will play math games agaist each other. The the night for the fifth grade we will play are you smarter that a fifth grader. I hope it turns out ok. W e will have these activities next month.

We have our annual Snowflake Ball in February. This will be a 5th year and is the first thing the kids ask about returning to school every year. Hang a few snowflakes for decoration, hire a fun DJ, baking committe provides snacks = a fun night had by all.

Hi Paula-
How flattering that so many people asked for more info on your ideas. I am glad that the onslaught didn't scare you off. : )

So to answer your question: Is it ok to post links to offsite content -- The general answer is if the link contributes to a conversation, then it is ok. Any promotional links, or links that are out of context are deleted. That said, if your link is to your google site we would prefer to have you upload docs (at your convenience) to the file exchange. The goal of our site is provide a central place for leaders to get information, tools and files -- if a message board thread has a link to a great compilation of event planning documents it is likely that not many people will benefit from your hard work. On the other hand, if the documents are on the File Exchange they are indexed and easy to find for all leaders. Make sense? If you are feeling overwhelmed by this process, feel free to email me the documents and I will upload them to the File Exchange. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Keep up the good work!

~Lisa


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This year our school turns 40! To celebrate, we are having an all-school birthday bash on a Saturday afternoon. (Our school serves students from preschool through grade 12.) We will have games for all ages set up in the gym along with an inflatable. The high school students will play a volleyball game against the faculty. If the students win, they'll receive a week's worth of dress down passes. If the faculty wins, they'll get lunch served to them by the students.

We'll have a spaghetti supper (complete with birthday cake) with a silent auction followed by a 1970's themed dance. Prizes will be awarded for best 70's outfit and best 70's dancer.

Tickets will be sold in advance at a nominal fee to cover expenses.

We are excited about this and think the entire community will come out and celebrate.

Lisa,

I previously posted anonymously as Paula Hurley. Is it OK for me to post links to offsite content? If so, I would like to organize and post my info, but it is spread across emails, Word docs, Excel Spreadsheets, hand written notes, web links etc. I was thinking of setting up a free google site with all the documentation, links and other related info I used to plan my events.

I can use the File Exchange instead if this is a forum violation. www.ptotoday.com/filesharing/category/7-events-a-programs

I thank everyone for all the email requests for information, but am unable to respond to all the emails and posts immediately (nor likely in this lifetime). I was somewhat surprised, then overwhelmed, by the requests from my post. Providing this information will take a little time, so bear with me. I intend to share all I have to share Rather than repeat the same things ten times for a hundred people, I prefer to share the information to everyone once it is compiled by event.

I have put a lot of time and effort into accumulating ideas, contacts and methods to run these type of events and wish I had a consolidated resource for ideas. Sometime an idea is all that is needed to spur the creativity in all of us to do this for our children. The memories and smiles make all the work seem trivial