Are you a Principal or Assistant Principal looking for an innovative way to motivate students? Are you the President of your schools Parent Teacher Association (PTA or PTO) or Home and School Association looking for an immersive and interactive experience instead of the same old bouncy house rental from the last 10 years? Are you an elementary school Physical Education teacher looking to make your next Field Day the best ever? Are you a parent who is looking for a sensational entertainment idea for your child’s graduation party? Foam parties are a fun and unique idea for a school event because they offer a different type of entertainment and atmosphere than a traditional school celebration. Foam parties can be a good way for schools to bring students together and foster a sense of community, as they provide an opportunity for students to interact and have fun in supportive and inclusive environment. Foam parties can also be a great way to beat the heat, as the foam can provide a cool, refreshing atmosphere. The kids will be overjoyed when they see a mountain of tiny foam bubbles creating a festive and celebratory mood. The foam party leader will turn up the kid friendly music and keep the party rocking!
Foam parties are a great addition to many different types of school events, whether it be a preschool, elementary school, middle school, or even high school. Experiencing foam fun is perfect for all ages!
The 10 Best School Events to Turn into a Foam Party
1. Back to school bash – What a great way to kick off the school year with a bang! A foam party during a back to school bash would be a perfect opportunity for students to socialize and make new friends before the start of a school year. It would also provide a valuable platform to reconnect with old friends from prior school years.
2. Field Day – Does your school incorporate water into your Field Day? Tired of preparing and cleaning up hundreds of water balloons? A foam party is a great option for a Field Day whether it is a festival style, or station style. Ideally, no more than 30-40 students should be in the foam at one time. This ensures the foam cannon can maintain a deep foam level for everyone’s enjoyment. Depending on class sizes at your school and Field Day format, this may look like rotating sections of students in and out of the foam. Make sure to check with your administration that you have permission to integrate foam into your Field Day.
3. End of the year celebration/Graduation party – After months of being in the classroom and working hard, your students will be ready to play hard! What could be more fun than dancing and playing in foam to celebrate all that was accomplished and kick off the Summer?!
4. Carnival/Fun Fair - A school carnival or fun fair is a great opportunity to sell tickets to any students or families that would like to participate in the foam party to raise money for the school. This option also offers levels of fundraising -- You may choose to sell tickets or wristbands to students for a set amount of time (i.e. 15 minutes in the foam for $15) or you could sell a ticket or wristband for a higher price that allows access all day.
5. Fun Run/5k/Color Run – Foam cannons can be placed during the run, at the finish line, or could be utilized as a celebration after the run is completed. Foam is available in various colors which may be beneficial if your school organized a color run. You may also have a foam party using your school colors to promote a sense of community.
6. Behavior incentive – A foam party would be a unique and memorable Friday celebration! Do you have a behavior incentive reward party for students at the end of the quarter, semester, or trimester? A foam party would be a new way to incentivize great behavior and goals achieved at school for any students.
7. Fundraising reward - A way to motivate students to raise money for your school fundraiser is to promote that the top fundraisers will win a foam party. Alternatively, you could promote increased participation by offering a foam party as a reward for the class or grade level that raises the most money or has the highest percentage of students participate in the fundraiser. Win-win!
8. Ice cream social – What’s better than a foam party? A foam party with ice cream! And what a convenient way to minimize the sticky aftermath. If you’re planning an ice cream social, pizza party, or picnic, elevate the enjoyment with foam and music!
9. Night Events/Glow in the dark foam parties – For night time events, UV glow in the dark foam can be a spectacular option. Glow in the dark foam parties make it an unforgettable atmosphere with music, lighting, and other special effects that create a festive and celebratory mood. Glow in the dark foam parties look even cooler with glow sticks, necklaces and neon colored clothing.
10. Holiday Party – With limitations on types of treats and time limits for holiday celebrations, many students are left wanting more on important days of the year. Turn your next holiday bash into something those kids would never expect! Trick or treat in foam, blast green bubbles on a warm St. Patrick’s Day, dance for Earth Day on some foam filled earth!
Tips for teachers and school staff:
It is important to notify parents before the event that you will be including foam. Kids will get wet if they go into the foam. If they hang out on the edges of the foam or don’t play in the foam they won’t be very wet. If they spend their time living it up in the deep foam they will be soaked. It may be beneficial to inform parents to have the students bring an extra pair of clothes, shoes, and socks. Make sure that there is a logistical plan to have students change clothes in orderly fashion if necessary. Students must be properly supervised while playing in the foam. Maintain an adequate student to staff ratio. Staff should be on the lookout for students who are running in the foam, ingesting the foam, roughhousing, or diving in the foam.
What should kids wear to a foam party?
When attending a foam party, kids should wear clothes that they don’t mind getting wet and soapy. Swimsuits or lightweight, quick-drying clothes that will be comfortable in the foam. A towel would be beneficial to dry off after the foam party and to wipe any foam off of your face during the foam party. After the party a change of clothes is generally necessary. As with any outdoor event, it’s also a good idea to apply sunscreen to protect kids’ skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. If the weather is cold students will want to consider additional layers to stay warm.
Reasons why you should hire a professional foam party company to put on your event rather than try a foam machine rental for your event:
Hassle-free: Hiring a professional foam party company to run your event will take some of the burden off of event planners and decrease the stress of making sure things run smoothly. A foam party company will handle all of the setup and cleanup. You won't have to worry about transporting or setting up the foam machine or cleaning up afterwards. You'll get to sit back and enjoy your event or attend to other aspects that demand your attention. If you attempt a foam machine rental one or more of the staff members or volunteers will be occupied and not able to help in other areas.
Safety: A foam party company will be familiar with the proper safety measures to take when hosting a foam party, which can provide peace of mind and lower the risk of safety issues. A reputable foam party company will have insurance. Make sure when hiring a company to ask about and have them show proof of insurance. If you try a foam machine rental, you are putting safety in the hands of an untrained staff member or parent volunteer and may be liable for any safety issues.
Expertise: A foam party company will have vast experience hosting foam parties and will be able to handle any technical issues that arise. Hosting a foam party is like many niche fields - there are various intricacies that can make the difference between an enjoyable experience for the attendees or things going awry. If you go with the foam machine rental and have a technical issue, the foam machine rental company may not be able to solve the issue in time for your event. You may also owe money to cover the damages to the foam machine to the foam machine rental company. This may cause the foam party to be delayed or postponed altogether.
Cost: Depending on the scope of your event, it is often cheaper to hire the professional foam party company compared to a foam machine rental.
If you have any additional questions about how to make your school foam party a success or if you are interested in booking a foam party for your next event, give Foam Party All Stars a call at (630) 296-6676. We are based in Oswego, Illinois, and we service the surrounding suburbs including Batavia, Downers Grove, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Homer Glen, Lemont, Montgomery, Naperville, Oak Brook, Plainfield, Saint Charles, South Elgin, Sugar Grove, Western Springs, Wheaton, Woodridge, Yorkville, and more!