Promoting Your Family Math Night Event
Dinner + Math
We all know that parents are busy people. Any opportunity to make their lives easier and, well, they’re usually in. So let’s take dinner off their plate (!) and feed them. A spaghetti feed works well. But if you want to make it easy, bring in pizza or, even better, have a local restaurant donate the food. You can pass out their restaurant coupons at the Family Math Night sending customers in their direction. It’s a win/win!
If you do decide to offer food, it’s nice to have an area set up just for families to eat. That way food stays at those tables and the math stations remain food-free.
If you don’t have enough tables for both the food and math stations, consider having just a few tables designated for eating and families eat during the event as space at one of the tables becomes available.
The photo below reflects families eating pizza (donated from a local pizzeria) at the tables outside the cafeteria before doors opened.
Two-Fer
Or how about making the event a two-fer. Offering dinner is one great way to get families out but so is connecting the Family Math Night event with something else. For example, one year we had the local police department come and put together fingerprint packets for the families. This was a huge draw. Another year we ran the Book Fair in the evening which, again, brought in families. And then, of course, there’s the PTA bake sale. Families come for one event and ultimately participate in the second. Works every time.
Ice Cream Social
Another idea is to link an ice-cream social with your event. This one is great at the beginning of the school year as the young kinder families are excited to meet new people and the seasoned families love reuniting after the summer break…or in our case, a pandemic. The key to this one is offering the treats near the end of the event. That way families don’t eat and run.
Homework Pass or Extra Credit Coupon
So for this next one you’ll need buy-in from the teachers. But, let me tell you, it’s a huge hit. All students who participate in the event receive a FREE Homework Pass. This works for your virtual events, as well! Of course, there are restrictions on those homework passes. That book report project is off-limits. But the kids just L-O-V-E getting these passes. If you’ve purchased our kits then you have the link to customize and print out your own passes.
If the FREE Homework Pass just isn’t for you or your staff, what about an EXTRA CREDIT coupon? We include these in our kits, as well, and they’re just as popular as the Homework Pass.
Raffle
Next in line, the raffle table. Everybody loves to win something. Consider setting up a raffle table where, periodically throughout your event, items get raffled off. I like to stick to ‘mathy’ items like playing cards, calculators, dice, strategy games, etc. And here’s a great idea shared by one of our curriculum consultants – display the raffle items in a nice basket and put it in the office for everyone to see. Make sure to label it Family Math Night Raffle Items. It’s sure to bring in some very excited students!
Family Math Night Ambassadors
Here’s one of my absolute favorites. Use upper grade students as Family Math Night Ambassadors to promote the event in the classrooms. Kids get kids excited. You’ll need to “train” them before sending them off. But I’ve got you covered. Use this Promotion Presentation Sheet to help. Have students practice a few times with each other so they get comfortable with what to say. They’ll need to make appointments with the teachers and when they arrive to do their presentation be sure they bring a few sample activities to share (Ladybug clock from our Math Medley kit or a pattern bracelet from our Nifty Numbers kit or geoboards from our Gellin’ with Geometry kit, a raffle prize, the estimation jar…). I like to send out my Ambassadors a few days before the event. Another good time is the day the flyers go home.
Reminder Stickers
For the little guys, I like to use Reminder Stickers…a small sticker with the event reminder printed on it. As primary students are walking out the classroom door at the end of the day, put a sticker on their shirt/jacket. This helps remind parents of your special event. The ones I’ve linked above are customizable and print on Avery labels 5163.
I caught this student at one of my events sporting his reminder sticker. The reminder worked!
Promote, Promote, Promote
Finally, as with any event, it’s really all about promotion. Advertise in the school newsletter, social media, and on the school marquee. Hang posters around the school that include the date and time of your event. And, of course, send out your Family Math Night Ambassadors. They’re the best advertising around!
