Back-to-School Party Ideas for Kids
Time to plan a back-to-school party. Here are a few ideas to get your
party off to a great start!
| · | What is the purpose of this activity? Is it to provide a fun family opportunity for the children in your department or to reach prospects or both? | ||
| · | Where will you have the activity? How much room is available? | ||
| · | What will the schedule be? Will several things happen at the same time and kids rotate? Will everyone follow the same schedule? | ||
| · | What will the theme be? This will impact advertisement, flyers, decorations, games, and refreshments. | ||
| · | Set a timetable for advance preparation, day-of activities, clean up, and follow-up. Divide the responsibilities and don't forget to have fun! | ||
1st and 2nd Graders
Promotion to a new Sunday School class can be exciting and a little scary for a first grader. The transition can be a lot smoother when each child has a "buddy." If your class combines 1st and 2nd graders, older children can feel important and needed when they are enlisted to be a "buddy." Odds are you will not have an even number of new kids and returning kids so consider these options:
| · | One older kid can be a buddy to more than one incoming child. | ||
| · | Pair "older" with "younger" kids, even if the "younger" are returning children. | ||
Get Acquainted Game
Locate sets of two interlocking pieces from an old jigsaw puzzles with large pieces. (You will need one set for every two children.) Spray paint the front of the puzzle pieces with a light colored paint. Separate the pieces and put them in a large bag. Have some fun music playing when the kids arrive.
| · | Guide each child to choose one puzzle piece from the bag. | ||
| · | Tell the girls and boys that each puzzle piece will lock with one other piece. | ||
| · | Instruct them to begin searching for the person who is holding their interlocking piece. | ||
| · | Provide permanent markers for "buddies" to write their names on the fronts of the puzzle pieces after they have matched up. | ||
Decorations: Pictures of famous "buddies" such as Andy and Barney or The Skipper and Gilligan.
Games: Play "buddy" games.
| · | Ask buddies to sit back-to-back, link elbows, and try to stand up. | ||
| · | Guide buddies to link elbows and try to tie a shoe with their free hands. | ||
| · | Make a list of pairs (buddies). Instruct kids to try to guess the second half of the set. Your list might include peanut butter and _____, hamburger and _____, and so forth. | ||
Refreshments: Serve "buddy" foods such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
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3rd-6th Graders
Use all of the following ideas for a super-combo pizza party or put one or two ideas together for a more personal-size party.
Make your own pizzas.
Provide some type of crust for the pizza.
| · | You can use prepared crust, English muffin halves, flour tortillas, or can biscuits rolled out thin (use flour to prevent sticking). | ||
| · | Canned pizza or spaghetti sauce is wonderful, but barbeque sauce, tomato catsup, and alfredo sauce make interesting choices. | ||
| · | Set out toppings buffet style: pepperoni, cooked susage, grated cheeses, sliced olives, green peppers, and onions. | ||
Pizza Box Games.
Make a game out of making a game.
| · | Form teams of two to four preteens. Give each team an empty pizza box (or a box of similar size). Each team is to design a board game. | ||
| · | Provide a supply area that includes poster board, construction paper, scissors, hole punches, yarn, tape, glue, markers (wide-point and fine-line), pencils, rulers, and other art supplies. | ||
| · | Explain the rules: All parts of the game must be able to be stored in the pizza box. A copy of the rules and how to play the game must be included. | ||
| · | When the games are completed, teams may swap games and try out each other's games. | ||
Pizza Flyers.
Provide markers and sturdy paper plates or cardboard circles like the ones frozen pizzas are packaged on.
| · | Guide kids to draw on their favorite pizza toppings. | ||
| · | Play a few Frisbee type games with the paper plates. | ||
| · | Toss to boxes placed in different locations. | ||
| · | Mark point values on the boxes. | ||
| · | Try to toss through hoops. | ||
| · | Play with a partner and count how many times a pair can toss and catch without missing. | ||
Pizza Delivery Guy.
Add a bit of fun by purchasing the white paper hats that short order cooks often wear. You can sometimes find these at grocery warehouse stores. Kids can even decorate their own hats.
Delivery Guy Relay.
In this team relay, the runner holds an empty pizza box over his head with one hand, runs down to and around an empty chair and back to the starting point. If he drops the box, he must begin again.
Thirty Seconds or It's Free.
Teams have 30 seconds to pass an empty pizza box from the front of the line to the back of the line without using their hands or letting the box touch the floor. Each person must stay in his place in line and each person must help pass the box.
Hold the Anchovies.
An adult reads a huge pizza order (write a few of these ahead of time) that ends with "and hold the anchovies." The first runner on each team races across the room and writes down the entire order from memory on a dry erase board. The team with the correct order gets a point.
Ideas taken from www.lifeway.com