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Valentine's party questions
Hi ladies,
Need your advice. I am planning a valentine's party for my daughter's pre-school (4yrs) class at my house. I know almost none of the parents or kids and to be honest that's why I want to have the party - to get to know some of these people! I have lots of ideas for activities for the kids - we'll do bounce house, craft, cookie decorating - will be cute. But I'd like the parents to have a good time too. Can you think of any ways to get them interacting/mingling? Icebreakers? Are nametags tacky? Is it completely out of the question to offer a champagne punch and beer at what is likely perceived to be a "kids party" (they dont have to get hammered, just loosen up! lol) Also, any recommendations on what to serve? Its a lunch... planning to do heart shaped sandwiches for kids, fruit, cupcakes, but not sure what to feed the adults.
Thanks!
Re: Valentine's party questions
I don't have kids, so take that into consideration with my opinion, but I have never been to anything like that where alcohol wasn't available, so I don't think that is a problem at all. Adults can have a beer or two, still supervise their kids, chit chat and it will help them all have a good time.
I don't think ice breakers/name games are tacky. It is a kids party, and as much as adults like to say they are silly, everyone likes them. It's something that the adults and kids can all do together which I think is nice too. Better getting the parents engaged too instead of just watching their kids.
Just a few thoughts. Make sure however you invite people they know the parent is invited to stay. This may seem a no brainer, but I've seen and heard the question "Am I supposed to stay?" too many times.
I am not and never will be a fan of ice breakers. Something to also consider with this is you don't want all of the adults engaged in an activity with nobody to watch the kids. If you can tie a kid craft into and adult thing too, it would work. I don't think name tags are tacky, but an idea might be to tie that into an icebreaker or somehow tie the tag to the kid. I'm not a fan of being "matthew's mommy," but in this case it might be good to know what kid goes with what parent. I'm not creative, but here's where you might try to tie it in with an icebreaker. Have the person put their name and a trait about their kid (could be a physical or personality). Then people have to try to match the adult with the kid.
As for alcohol, you really need to know you're audience. My mom group from church, have at it. My mom group from the Baptist church, not on your life. When in doubt I would either not do it at all, or make it very low key. For instance have a cooler of beer in the garage/deck/basement for people to help themselves. Don't set up a big punch bowl in the middle of the kiddie snacks. KWIM?
Every kid-friendly party I've ever been to has had alcohol. If you have a bar or a cart/desk/sideboard you could turn into a bar, you can just direct people there to help themselves instead of mixing it in with sodas and juice or having a punchbowl out on the table.
I hate name tags but I think icebreakers are ok but cooperative games are better. Make small teams of several parent + kid pairs and have them do something as a group--you mentioned cookie decorating, maybe one person gets red icing, one gets pink icing, one gets sprinkles and one gets candy hearts and they have to work together to make the best cookie. I don't know--just something where they are forced to learn names and work together. Doesn't even have to be a game, ask three parents to help set up a craft table so they have to work together, etc.
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I agree with PP - this is a very sweet thing you're doing!
Since it's a pre-school party and since you don't know many of the families, I'd actually avoid serving alcohol. Now, don't get me wrong -- normally, I'm all for serving booze at a party, even if it's kid-friendly. I love my coctail and/or glass of wine as much as the next person. But I'm also in the camp that firmly believes you do NOT have to have alcohol to enjoy a social gathering and that some gatherings simply don't call for it. In this case, I think you'd be better off not serving it. If/when you get to know the parents better and invite them to other things in the future (maybe your daughter's birthday party? Or an end-of-the-school-year event?) then I'd say okay. You don't want to insult or alienate any of the guests since this isn't a "natural" crowd of friends and you're just getting to know them.
I also agree with PP that decorating cookies or some other group event should work in lieu of a planned "icebreaker." I actually don't think nametags are a horrible idea. You could make them really cutesy -- maybe even do something like have a sticker that matches for each family (ex: Mom (Jane) and Dad (John) bring their son (Sam) -- they all have green starts; Mom (Susan) brings her daughter (Jamie) -- they have pink hearts; etc.).