How to celebrate end of primary school (in COVID times) for my son
June 18, 2020 10:25 PM Subscribe
My son has not been to primary school (he's 10 in UK so going to secondary school in August) since the lockdown began months ago and it looks like the school will only give him ten minutes in the school to get his books and be on his way.
I want his end of term to be memorable and fun, preferably something he can do (socially distant) with friends to mark him leaving primary school. What can we do to make it fun?
Traditionally they run down the stairs of the Victorian Primary School spraying silly string and popping streamers. He's a bit sad it's all ending like this. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we, as parents, can do to make the end of the term fun? We've ordered cans of silly string which he will spray with friends outside school and I'm digging through the photo collection this weekend to make a wall of photos of him but I'm struggling for inspiration for other things :(
Traditionally they run down the stairs of the Victorian Primary School spraying silly string and popping streamers. He's a bit sad it's all ending like this. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we, as parents, can do to make the end of the term fun? We've ordered cans of silly string which he will spray with friends outside school and I'm digging through the photo collection this weekend to make a wall of photos of him but I'm struggling for inspiration for other things :(
Response by poster: That's exactly what we're doing but it feels too low key and I was wondering if there was a nice way to end it all so to speak.
posted by Vroom_Vroom_Vroom at 3:14 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Vroom_Vroom_Vroom at 3:14 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
How about a sort-of sports day? But one which is mostly about having fun rather than being competitive. If gathering with 6 people is still the limit you could go to a big park and play games or do races in groups of 6.
posted by lizabeth at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by lizabeth at 5:59 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Do you live in an area where biking is safe? Maybe you could plan a meet up where they all decorate their bikes and ride in a parade through the neighborhood near the school or even through the school lot. Parents could be along the route cheering with signs.
posted by maxg94 at 6:42 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by maxg94 at 6:42 AM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Could they create a piece of art that could be hung somewhere in the school for future years? They could either create separate pieces that would come together, or co-create something digitally that could then be printed in large format.
(My first idea was for them to paint a mural, but I think that might be more logistically difficult - although if there's an outdoor area that might be amenable, it'd be a meaningful way to leave a mark! I'm sure there's a way it could be done safely if painted in shifts.)
posted by mosst at 6:42 AM on June 19, 2020
(My first idea was for them to paint a mural, but I think that might be more logistically difficult - although if there's an outdoor area that might be amenable, it'd be a meaningful way to leave a mark! I'm sure there's a way it could be done safely if painted in shifts.)
posted by mosst at 6:42 AM on June 19, 2020
Scavenger hunt and gift exchange? Gifts get hidden by all participants and should be no more expensive than stickers or dollar store trinkets down to drawings/cards by those who are not equipped to invest in anything more expensive, with extras stickers and collecting cards provided by the organizer in case some of the kids arrive empty handed. Spots where items are hidden can be marked with silly string or other colourful items to make them more easy to find. The idea is to have the kids running from location to location, not wandering around listlessly not knowing where to begin looking.
We used to do trails. The first clue would be something like, under the bench in front of the side door and that would lead to a clue that said in the flower planter by the front door and that would lead to a clue that said something like the new little maple tree that got planted at the beginning of the school year and so on. The person searching gets to run around the area looking for the hiding places. This will only work if all the kids or attending parents understand that the clues are not to be taken away so the next person following can also find the trail. It may work best if you have ten participants to have fifteen identical clues in each hiding place so they get the idea that they only take one. If you have thirty five participants it would be best to print forty of each clue.
A special picture taking experience where each kid gets their picture taken in three different places at the school and the pictures are assembled into a montage or slideshow. This works best if the pictures are NOT formal and not designed to make the kids look good in a yearbook, but encourages the kids to clown around. This would require a parent photographer with a good camera, patience with kids and a good sense of humour and a parent who can make an album or montage out of the pictures. Works really badly if one or more of the kids will not get access to the result due to only having a wonky tablet that can't download pictures of a decent resolution or not pictures at all. One picture could be of the dumbest costume the students can scrounge given five minutes lead in time before they leave the house, so mum's bathrobe, and a wooly winter hat, or older sister's sparkley sequined top and dad's big sewer waders etc. Three pictures like, clowning on the bench, wearing a costume on the steps, and from the back as taken by someone on the main steps watching them leave would make a good set, all the more funny if you can't tell who most of the kids are in a still picture from behind. Those uniforms...
Make it sentimental if they are a close crowd: Make up an activity where the kids fill out a list of what they admire most about each other - this can be disappointing if one kid gets artist and another kid gets a raft of differing traits, brave, funny, articulate, stoical etc. and far worse if nobody can think of any whatsoever to say about James.
There should also be treat food however that is defined, such as cupcakes for every participant.
If some kid can't attend or some kids can't attend efforts to include them by delivering the treats and trinkets and a map of the scavenger hunt is important, otherwise the exercise becomes a private party for a certain in-crowd that leaves out the kid with a single Mum who was working on the Saturday you held the event. The event could be held on two or more days to ensure as many kids as possible get included. Holding it as a two day all day event will also ensure maximum spacing and appropriate social distancing. It won't work if you hold it from 1 PM to 1:30 on a Saturday as the kids will end up either bunching up as they line up to run the course, or worse, wanting desperately to bunch up and not able to even though they can see each other.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:30 AM on June 19, 2020
We used to do trails. The first clue would be something like, under the bench in front of the side door and that would lead to a clue that said in the flower planter by the front door and that would lead to a clue that said something like the new little maple tree that got planted at the beginning of the school year and so on. The person searching gets to run around the area looking for the hiding places. This will only work if all the kids or attending parents understand that the clues are not to be taken away so the next person following can also find the trail. It may work best if you have ten participants to have fifteen identical clues in each hiding place so they get the idea that they only take one. If you have thirty five participants it would be best to print forty of each clue.
A special picture taking experience where each kid gets their picture taken in three different places at the school and the pictures are assembled into a montage or slideshow. This works best if the pictures are NOT formal and not designed to make the kids look good in a yearbook, but encourages the kids to clown around. This would require a parent photographer with a good camera, patience with kids and a good sense of humour and a parent who can make an album or montage out of the pictures. Works really badly if one or more of the kids will not get access to the result due to only having a wonky tablet that can't download pictures of a decent resolution or not pictures at all. One picture could be of the dumbest costume the students can scrounge given five minutes lead in time before they leave the house, so mum's bathrobe, and a wooly winter hat, or older sister's sparkley sequined top and dad's big sewer waders etc. Three pictures like, clowning on the bench, wearing a costume on the steps, and from the back as taken by someone on the main steps watching them leave would make a good set, all the more funny if you can't tell who most of the kids are in a still picture from behind. Those uniforms...
Make it sentimental if they are a close crowd: Make up an activity where the kids fill out a list of what they admire most about each other - this can be disappointing if one kid gets artist and another kid gets a raft of differing traits, brave, funny, articulate, stoical etc. and far worse if nobody can think of any whatsoever to say about James.
There should also be treat food however that is defined, such as cupcakes for every participant.
If some kid can't attend or some kids can't attend efforts to include them by delivering the treats and trinkets and a map of the scavenger hunt is important, otherwise the exercise becomes a private party for a certain in-crowd that leaves out the kid with a single Mum who was working on the Saturday you held the event. The event could be held on two or more days to ensure as many kids as possible get included. Holding it as a two day all day event will also ensure maximum spacing and appropriate social distancing. It won't work if you hold it from 1 PM to 1:30 on a Saturday as the kids will end up either bunching up as they line up to run the course, or worse, wanting desperately to bunch up and not able to even though they can see each other.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:30 AM on June 19, 2020
Really make the gathering in the park into a celebration. Like someone else suggested, a quasi-sports day—we always ended the grade school year this way and none of the “sports” were formal competitions, but rather silly games like racing with an egg on a spoon or a hula hoop contest. You can order commemorative t-shirts online for the group (“End of Term Day 2020”) and hand out printed certificates with special awards that you make up. Cupcakes or a cake or some other special treat. Ask people to wear school colors if you have them.
posted by sallybrown at 7:51 AM on June 19, 2020
posted by sallybrown at 7:51 AM on June 19, 2020
Could they all learn a dance (something like the floss, if that's still a thing, or whatever is cool with 10-year-olds) from the same video and then all do the dance together in the playground?
posted by essexjan at 11:59 AM on June 19, 2020
posted by essexjan at 11:59 AM on June 19, 2020
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posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:05 AM on June 19, 2020