I volunteer to help with one of the classroom parties in each of the kids' classrooms every year. As a parent who works outside the home full time, I am always looking for ways to feel involved in their school experience even though I am usually not the one doing morning drop off or afternoon pick up.
Classroom parties are interesting beasts. They are challenged with high energy levels, sugar overloads and the difficulty of coming up with creative things to do in a classroom in 45 minutes. I remember classroom parties in elementary school when I was little, but I don't recall parents being so heavily involved. Perhaps it was that I just don't remember parents being around or they were just successful at staying in the background. Someone must have made all those cupcakes, right? To tell the truth, I find the parties a bit stressful. I am usually rushing from a work meeting to get there, the parking lot is jammed with other parent cars so there is nowhere to park, and the activity or thing I am helping with usually involves dragging in bags of supplies. But then my kid sees me there and is so proud I am helping with the party that I want to do it again.
Going to third grade this year definitely upped the ante in terms of what the kids find engaging. Their sense of humor has changed, and they also have a perspective for the first time on whether something is cool or not. My station was pumpkin decorating, and I was in charge of bringing supplies for the kids to use in decorating. I had markers, foam stick-on facial features, yarn for hair, googly eyes and random washi tape. I threw in some toothpicks in case they were needed to hold anything down. Enter third grade boys. One boy came up with the idea that the washi tape could be a headband and the toothpicks could make a mohawk. Suddenly all third grade boys wanted pumpkins with headbands and mohawks. I quickly ran out of toothpicks.
