A middle school dance idea I used in the spring was a "Spring Into Friendship" dance. It had a sixties appearance. We decorated a gym. Around the gym on the walls were collections of bright color flowers, 36 to 24 inches in diameter with a different color center. They looked like the no slip doilies we used to put in bathtubs, sixtyish. Each flower had a stem with leaves cut out of green paper that reached to the flower.
In between each of the large bouquets of flowers, we had very large silhouettes of young adults hanging out together: shopping, skateboarding, walking, having a picnic, graduates, playing basketball and playing chess. These silhouettes were located on the free clip art web site I found by googling free clip art. I then printed and transferred them onto overhead projector sheets of acetate and enlarged them to 8 feet in height on black roll paper, putting two pieces together for some of the large group silhouettes.
In the center of the long gym wall I placed a large sign with the Spring Into Friendship in black letters on yellow paper - it really popped. We usually set up a snack table and 4 to 5 round tables for kids to sit around. These were decorated in a variety of colors, plastic table cover. I cut out small flowers to sprinkle around the tops of the tables and placed a colored gift bag, different colors, with flowers glued to the outside in the center of the tables. The arrangement coming out of the bag was bright color flowers and rising up from the center. I placed a rectangle of floral green foam in the bag to hold them. Rising up from the flowers was the overhead acetate silhouette stuck on a plastic floral card holder. The only requirement for admission to the dance was they had to come with a friend or group of friends to get in.
I surely wish you were making our school more fun when I was there many years ago. I hope that the kids appreciate your creativity. Though at a distance, I certainly do.
Waaah, I was hoping for a photo! sounds like it was totally fun and happy-looking. So not like the Goth stuff, and I bet the kids loosened up and relaxed right away. Good work!
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