Family Fun Tip: Attend School Events

 Originally Posted on March 25, 2018 on Free, Fun Family

I’m an educator by profession and a huge fan of public schools.  What you might not know is that local schools provide hours and hours of low-cost or free events.  This weekend, my family enjoyed two evenings of very low-cost entertainment by checking out our local public schools.

Friday night, my son’s  school (a classical charter K-8) hosted an “Arts Night” where the teachers of specials (Art, Music, PE, Spanish, and Latin) each planned an activity for families.  The PE teacher had a volleyball net and soccer field set up indoors.  The Music teacher had youtube videos streaming of those Xbox-style dance video games while we all danced along (“Footloose” was popular with the parents).  The Art teacher had paint markers and pre-treated rocks for the “Kindness Rocks” movement.  She let students design “classical” rocks (my son painted the Acropolis).  The Latin teacher had students create a coat of arms on a cereal box.  Finally, the Spanish teacher had students make a “god’s eye” traditional Mexican craft with yarn and popsicle sticks.

The whole evening was stress-free, fun for both my son (who saw his friends from school and played with them) and his younger sister (who loves to think of herself as going to school like big brother).  As a parent, I made connections with other parents at the school and got to know his teachers outside of his normal classroom teachers.  There were even door prizes for visiting each activity.  Best of all, my son learned a new favorite craft (guess which one?).

Check out what your child’s school might offer.  Many schools have fairs, talent shows, competitions, etc. with little to no entry fee.

Another great option is to look at the local high school offerings.  Until February when I got a promotion, I was a teacher at our local high school, so I had an “inside scoop,” but these days most high schools publish an e-mail newsletter to inform the public of events. Even though our children are young (6 and 2), many high school events are appropriate for all ages.  We go to sporting events, music nights, science fairs, plays and musicals, and art shows.  Some have small entrance fees (in the $5 range for adults, often children younger than 8 are free or reduced cost), but these fees support the student events and programs you enjoy.  Also, high school students LOVE young kids (often their siblings are older than my kids).

Saturday night we attended a male “beauty pagent” (Mr. OurTown) for the senior class.  It’s sponsored by the National Honor Society and all the proceeds go to charity.  While some of the jokes are aimed at the adolescent male mindset (one boy’s escort was his “girlfriend” that was his best friend’s mom *eye roll*), mostly it was funny and sweet with some neat musical, dance, and performance talents.  The kids loved watching the antics and the excitement of a live performance. Full disclaimer: I was asked to judge this event as a former teacher, so my husband was fully responsible for managing both kids during the show–not recommended!

The crazy thing is that if we’d wanted even more things to do this weekend, the public schools had more offerings than we could have possible enjoyed.  There was a science and social studies fair, many sports games, and a spring musical.  That happens just about every weekend!  Check out your local schools for some great, low-cost family entertainment.