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Helpful Hints for |
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Helpful Hints for Room Parents 1) Physical education teachers, music teachers, librarians, secretaries, custodians, and the principal are usually forgotten as potential classroom helpers at party time. They are good resources for you if you don not have enough parent volunteer help for the day. You can even plan extra treats/drinks for them. (If you have a lot of extra refreshments, you may want to set them in the teachers' lounge for everyone to enjoy.) 2) For easier cleanup, bring a large plastic garbage bag tot he party. The bag will eliminate overflowing trash cans, and the custodians will love you. It also helps to have a roll of paper towels or a sponge for spills, which we know will happen. 3) Do you have any extra children's costumes? Bring them along because they might come in handy for children who have forgotten or don't have costumes. 4) A Halloween activity done on paper, such as a crossword puzzle, works well as a back-up activity for children who run out of things to do or who are waiting to take turns as a particular game. (Try not to have too much waiting time. Kids are ready to go.) 5) Kids can draw numbers or straws to decide who starts or finishes a game. 6). Give prizes to all the kids. 7) The children will probably be in costumes during the party, so beware of any difficulties this may create when playing the games. 8) If trying a new game, practice it first at home, but try to keep it a secret from your child who will be attending the party. 9) Dividing the class into smaller groups works best. For older grades, groups of three work well if you want to do a relay race and have tree teams compete one at a time. Dividing the class into boys versus girls works great in fourth through sixth grades. 10) A good way to divide the kids into rotating groups is to give them tags based on the party's combination of themes. Such as: a ghost, pumpkin, bat and witch magnets. You can put them all in a pretend witch's cauldron, mix them up, and let the kids reach in to choose one to pin on their costume like a name tag. The magnets make nice favors to take home. Another great idea for dividing into groups is to give the students name tags that are Halloween shapes cut out of construction paper. Or try using the same shape, but on different colors of paper. 11) Give name tags to all the room parents as well as the children. For younger grades it works well to write "Laura's Mom," and "Shaun's dad " on the tags. For older grades, it is appropriate to write out the parent's last name (for example, "Mrs. Snyder"). 12) Parents should wear costumes if possible, because children like to see their parents dressed up. Dressing to fit the theme of the party helps to reinforce the theme. So the mom in charge of the pumpkin game could dress like a pumpkin. If the child is in the pumpkin group, he will know to start his rotation at the pumpkin mom's area. 13) Purchase or make extra favors because some may break and you may need others for new students who have joined the class. And make sure the favors appeal to both boys and girls. 14) Make sure you have an updated class list. 15) Check with the teacher on correct spelling of names. If you are personalizing anything. 16) Ask the teacher if younger siblings can come to the parties. If the teacher says yes, ask your room parents to include extra treats, drinks and favors if possible. Always include drinks, and treats for the teachers and parent helpers. Favors for the teachers would also be nice. They can give them to their children or save them to give to students who lose theirs. 17) Many room parents may have more than one child attending the school. They need to be aware that it is very difficult for other room helpers if they party hop. This problem can be solved by going to Shaun's Halloween party and Abby's Christmas party. If a mother has more than two children at the school, maybe the father can help by working in one of the other children's classes. Even grandparents would be welcome. 18) Try to keep all the plans a secret from your child who will attend the party. He/she will enjoy the party more that way. 19) Downplay the scary aspect of Halloween for younger children. Go for cute, fun, and silly. 20) Have everything ready before the party begins. 21) Don't forget your camera, film, and/or video recorder. 22) Keep in contact with the teacher about all party plans including food. 23) Finally, start and end on time. 24) Have fun!
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