Alternatives to Holiday Parties in Schools

Holiday parties in schools can be a very fun time.  It is a break from the daily routine of class. Students get to socialize freely.  There are no restrictions on time usage. However, there are many problems that arise due to parties.

For those with food allergies and religious concerns, room parties can be isolating.  Peanut, gluten, sugar consumption concerns, and others which can be found in party food is a great concern, sometimes it is life threatening. With the growing concern of obesity rates of children, removing this unnecessary calorie consumption needs to be considered.

In addition, with so many families of different religious affiliations, the origins of the room parties cause problems in schools. Even when the Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day parties are renamed Fall, Winter and Spring parties, families often see them as the same parties, just renamed.

Next, besides the food concerns and religious contradictions, the children who cannot participate as the rest of the class does, feel left out.  Sometimes they can't even be in the room, spending time alone without age peers sitting in an office or in the library.


Is this all a problem? Not really, because there is an awesome solution!

Why not have community service projects instead?!

Community service projects are a great way for students to learn and practice the benefits of giving, of thinking about others, and about helping others.

What can we do?

• Make cards for Honor Flight
• https://www.honorflight.org/

• Make cat toys, Make posters.... for Missouri Humane Society
• http://hsmo.org/kindkids/

• Make tie blankets for babies....
• http://crisisnurserykids.org/get-involved/volunteer-opportunities

• DARE messages on paper bags for grocery stores...
• http://www.dare.com/

• Make pet beds for no-kill shelters     
• http://4paws4rescue.com/
• https://www.strayrescue.org/

• Operation Gratitude - 
• https://www.operationgratitude.com/can-help/

• Make blankets for children in hospitals     
• http://projectlinus.org/

• Help PTO/PTA clean out closet, sort Box Tops
• Make seasonal cards for those in nursing homes
• Playground clean up
• "Green Space" clean up on school grounds
• Planting flowers around school
• Make books on tape for younger students in school
• As a class, make/do a project for another teacher/classroom/department in school
• Make "fortune tellers" or salt cellars with facts about a cause, issue, topic - decide if they are to be handed out in school, or to those outside of school
• Ask your students and families if there is a cause near and dear to them personally
• Older class pairs up with younger class for reading buddy time or game playing time
• Make informational posters about a cause, concern, syndrome, illness that affects a classmate, staff member or school community
• Each class can make an item for a school fundraiser event where the class items are auctioned off to raise money for the school
• Make dog biscuits
• Make sandwiches for the homeless

This cuts down on the unnecessary sugar intake, the amount of trash collected from each classroom after a room party, and it eliminates the freebie gifts/brick-a-brack that ends up in the trash once the child arrives at home.

Really, the ideas are endless. Room parents need to organize to make the most of the community service time. Also, they need to communicate with the classroom teacher about the plans in case families are asked to provide anything.