<p>anyone done a HS grad party ? what did you have for entertainment? was thinking about having a DJ or karaoke but was looking for other options…</p>
<p>Grad parties are pretty common around here, very few kids don’t have one. Entertainment is typically sitting around talking to your friends. I haven’t been to any that have a DJ or do karaoke. Some people rent a bounce house though. I think people figure it’s just not worth the expense when people stay for an hour or less and move on to the next party :D. Typically the parties are open house style, for 2-4 hours. Some people that choose to have an evening party will have a bonfire later in the evening though.</p>
<p>My D and three of her friends did a combo party so they could get more bang for the buck. They had it in a bar (that closed to the public for this party) that had a great sound system, dance floor and lights, pool tables, shuffle board tables and two washer toss alleys.</p>
<p>The bar owner pre-programmed the music list they supplied into his system and it just played all night. We catered in food and frozen yogurt and had tons of water and soft drinks for the kids at the bar. It was particularly cool because the adults (parents and other family) could get wine and beer at the bar. Was a great party and only cost each kid about 500 bucks!!! They had a lot of mutual friends and some not so during the four hour duration of the party about 100 kids attended. Neither kid could have had all that for 500 bux on their own. It worked very well for us!</p>
<p>We had a picnic/barbecue. However we had the parties in August just before everyone started to leave for college. There were so many parties in June that we couldn’t find a date. Turned out that August was lots of fun…sort of a farewell and good luck party.</p>
<p>Here it is all about picnics and cookouts, preferably with 2 or 3 of your friends so you can not make your friends choose between parties. Typically people go back home to have something with the family that has come from out of town, and then the guests arrive for very casual picnic and cooking. Moms bring the food, it’s thought of poorly if you are unfortunate enough to rely on “storebought” food. It’s unusual for them to receive gifts from each other although not unheard of. Lots of yearbook signing since that is often hard to do when school is going on. The biggest hit of our grad parties was the oddest thing – a big plastic tote with sharpies, where we had people write advice to the grads. They then took the tote with them to their respective schools to use for storage, a treasured keepsake. Oh, and the girls all had pinatas one year. Which were way more fun that you would think.</p>
<p>We’ve had three… one was on our own, and total desserts. Simple.
Son was also on our own but a bigger deal with more people… Rented a giant blow up obstacle course, which he, his friends and every kid in the neighborhood enjoyed.</p>
<p>D’s was the best. Three girls. Bigger bang for the buck. Ended up with a photo both that was a massive hit. I had a scraping table for people to add their pictures with tons of stickers etc. It is the best “yearbook” ever. Bought all that on sale/clearance at Michaels. And while you wouldn’t have known it by their stereotype, they were all mostly creative silly fun and witty! Best money I’ve ever spent on a “kids” party. Even the adults got in on that fun.</p>
<p>We had it catered with mini sliders, pasta salad, salad and cookies and bars for dessert. We also had a bon fire and the makings for smores. We had trouble getting folks to leave, but it was so much fun.</p>
<p>Our kids and their group were all pretty athletic, so we had a BarB-Q and softball and badmitten. Water baloons later were a nice and welcome addition to the party. </p>
<p>Our youngest didn’t have one - but went to a series of parties that lasted @ 2 weeks!</p>
<p>And at this point, a whole 1/2 year in, I bet those parties are all a distant memory…</p>
<p>People play cornhole at all the grad parties here. You decorate the board and/or bags with the name of the intended college. Is this just an Ohio thing? We used to call it bean bag toss in Minnesota, but I don’t think it was ever popular with the high school crowd.</p>
<p>The OP is probably thinking of a more elaborate affair, but for those who might want to do something more modest: We joined with one of D’s friends and had an ice cream sundae/pool party. It was on a day that the seniors didn’t have school. We served some salty snacks, too. But basically the parents manned the tubs of ice cream inside - maybe 4-5 flavors-then we had every sundae topping imaginable outside. It was a big hit, didn’t last too long, wasn’t too expensive. Great for the kid who wants to do “something” without it being high pressure/a big production.</p>
<p>We’ve hosted two. Things are pretty casual where we live and there is a wide range of grad parties. </p>
<p>We did typical midwestern open houses. We have a pool so that was open and had a couple of corn hole games set up. We borrowed a few extra tables and some chairs to set up around the pool area. Inside we set up the ping pong table in one area of the basement with the Xbox karoke/rock band game (whatever it’s called) ready to go. Food was inside and simple sandwiches, salads, and chips. I roasted a couple of turkey breasts and a large beef roast for sandwiches. I made a few salads and supplemented it all with store bought snacks. My mother likes to decorate cakes so she provided a sheet cake. I made a few dozen simple cupcakes decorated in college colors. We had lots of water, soft drinks, and beer (adults only). The only “problem” was the weather at DS’s party. It was about 100 degrees outside. Until late afternoon everyone wanted to stay inside. Space wise we were fine as it was mostly family that stayed for hours. DS’s friends came and went. </p>
<p>A few kids will get together here and do something at a local park. A couple of DS’s friends rented a party boat and spent the afternoon on a local lake (adults were present). As I said, people here tend to keep it pretty casual. The most extravagant I’ve heard about was a group of football players that rented out some part of the local university football stadium for a group party. The parents brought in food.</p>
<p>We had a small mariachi band at a Mexican themed party. My son speaks Spanish and was able to recruit them from a local Mexican restaurant, after my failed attempt in English. It was only two or three guys, but that was kind of fun. The kids sang along with some of the songs.</p>
<p>Our area does school-wide alcohol-free graduation night parties to keep the kids off the street.</p>
<p>My younger S graduated from a private school that didn’t do that sort of thing and we had a lovely garden party picnic for him and his friends (and a few faculty members – that sort of school ) … white umbrellas, round tables, food, soda, cake, and some yard games, all overlooking our (non-swimable) lake. We had perfect weather for his special day and three years later people still mention it.</p>
<p>just reading back over this- we are having a cookout next Friday- and it is for about 20 families-all senior boys- I am trying to think of something fun the boys can do that isn’t too corny…</p>
<p>Horseshoe tournament. Volleyball, giant slip and slide, the guys here actually do paintball battles. :)</p>
<p>I think those boys will find something to do without a lot of help from you. It sounds like fun. We have something similar and we spent a lot of time reminiscing. The boys may not appreciate it, but I did put together a montage for our kid’s graduation party.</p>
<p>I think my son would kill me if I had an activity planned- we have done so many photo collages for baseball/football programs and yearbooks that if I put out more pictures he would kill me-I did make a graduation photo book for him from birth til senior year that will be at party and i have a friend that is coming to take pictures of each family and the group of boys…it is just a dinner full of conversation and memories…</p>
<p>Had party for D with about sixty five people.We had about twenty five to thirty kids,the rest adults.Because of the amount of kids I chose to go alcohol free.We had a laser tag business come to the house.Kids enjoyed it immensely.Had badmitton and other yard games.Fortunately,I rented a tent with sides as it rained on an off all day and evening.When the laser tag people came there was just a slight mist and the kids thought it added to the game.She graduated two days later and got a lot of compliments from parents about what a good time kids had.</p>