For several years now our PTO has sponsored a Boo Hoo Breakfast for preschool and kindergarten parents on the first day of school. Last year I asked them to also include "Yahoo" in the name since some parents rejoice with the beginning of school as a celebration for their children's advancement to another stage in their development. This creates a positive spin for this breakfast gathering too. So now we call it the "Boo Hoo/Yahoo Breakfast". The PTO provides a continental breakfast and lots of encouragement for preschool/kindergarten parents. This gathering helps the parents transition away from the classroom so the little ones can get settled into their new experience. It has been a great success.
We do a Newcomer's Ice Cream Social. This is for new incoming families. We also invite a few veterans with Kindergarten kids as well to mingle in with the newbies.
We do Sundaes or Novelties on our playground.
Usually its 2 weeks before school starts and a week before our open house. That way the families can get their feet wet without feeling overwhelmed.
A fun game idea would be hula hoop game here:
What you need:
Hula hoop
Instructions
Ask the kids to stand in a big circle, slip a hula hoop onto one child's arm, and have them all join hands.
They then must find a way to move the hula hoop all the way around the circle without letting go of each other's hands.
We do an all school Root Beer Bash - serve Root Beer Floats, have the class lists posted, have drawings, etc. But I like the idea of a Kinder only playdate!!
We have the same kind of event before school starts, only the entire school is invited. We call it Popsicles with the Principal. Same idea, kids can meet their teacher, classmates, the principal and of course, the PTO!
Lisa @ PTO Today
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13 years 4 months ago - 13 years 4 months ago#157745by Lisa @ PTO Today
followme- A boo hoo breakfast is an event often hosted by the PTO or PTA for parents of kindergarteners... they drop their kids off and go to a coffee for a good cry and to meet and commiserate with other parents. In so cases they call it a boo hoo yahoo breakfast because in some cases the parents are say yahoo to their kids starting school ; )
Donna- Some names I have seen used over the past years are:
Kindergarten round-up
Kinder-jam
Kindergarten mingle
Anyone else have some creative name suggestions for Donna?