7 Tips for Planning a 50's Theme School Dance
Posted: Tuesday, September 18, 2007
by Jennifer Lawton
superfundraiser
School dances are popular with the student body, but they often take lots of planning and good organization to make them successful. A 1950s theme school dance is a very traditional school dance, back when good ol rock n roll was just getting started. Parents will be likely to smile when they drop their children off for the dance, as this is the music of their own parents liking. Here are seven rockin tips to get your 1950s dance off to a swinging start!
Tip 1: Get Students Involved. A school dance will not be successful unless the students are interested in it, no matter what the theme is. Let the students vote, or create a committee of interested students to decide on the theme. Simply make sure that the students voices are heard on each part of the dance, even if you cant supply every wish the kids have they will certainly appreciate being listened to and you will know that the dance will be well-attended.
Tip 2: Get Parents Involved: Every school dance needs parents to be chaperons or to help supervise students with decorating. Depending on how large the dance is, will determine how many parents you truly need. But involve every parent that steps forward to help in some way, because they have volunteered their time and their services.
Tip 3: Set a Date: Finding the perfect date for your 1950s theme dance can be found best by talking with students. Discover when exams are coming up and make sure the dance is not held during that week to interfere with studies. Look at the school calendar to see when school vacations will fall that year. A great idea could be to hold your school dance the week before or just after a school vacation.
Tip 4: Create decorations: The magic of a 1950s theme dance is found in the decorations and also in how people dress for the dance. You can buy some decorations, but you can also make some as well. Simply decorating with records (remember those?) around the gym will remind people quickly of the 1950s. Or you can draw records on poster board and write the names of popular 1950s songs like Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis on them. Balloons can be great to decorate with. Traditional 1950s party colors tend to be: pink, white, silver and black.
Tip 5: Encourage costumes: Students should be invited to dress in traditional 1950s clothing for this dance. They may need some help coming up with costumes. Send home a flyer with photos or images of traditional sock hop" 1950s teenagers so they can get ideas for their costumes. Girls may be able to ask their grandmothers to borrow their poodle skirts. Adding a costume contest to your dance can make this even more fun, and will really encourage students to go all out" with their look.
Tip 6: Music! The music of the 1950s is a lot of the fun of a 1950s themed school dance. Find someone who has a lot of 1950s music, or survey a number of people to get a wide variety of music. To make your dance even more entertaining, see if you can find little facts about each singer/entertainer for the D.J. to say as each song is played. The kids can learn that Elvis loved grilled banana and peanut butter sandwiches, for example (lets not tell them he used to eat like a dozen of them at a time). Make your school dance a bit entertaining and educational at the same time, and students may be interested to learn more about the 1950s in general.
Tip 7: Safety. Remember to set up practical safety measures that you would for any school dance. Keep an eye out for any students that may have ingested alcohol or drugs and let chaperons know the signs they be aware of. Make sure that students are kept from dancing too closely and that dancing is appropriate for their age group. Keep the school dance fun and a safe time for everyone.
About the Author: Jennifer Lawton writes about topics of interest to K-12 teachers and students. Shes a frequent contributor for http://SuperFundraiser.com a site that will match your PTO, elementary school group, sports team or other group with the best school fundraisers.
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