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How to Fit Drama into Your Homeschool
Have you ever participated in a progressive dinner? They can be a lot of fun if you have at least three families to join in.
Hi, I'm Danielle! After homeschooling my kids for 20 years, we have found a lot of fun ways to fit drama into our homeschool and love to share what we've done with you.
Through the years my kids have been a part of several different types of progressive dinners. They’ve had large groups of students who have traveled from one house to another doing different activities or having really creative ideas for how the progressive dinner was put together. They’ve also been a part of some that have allowed them to be a little more dramatic.
What is a progressive dinner, you may ask? A progressive dinner is where you start at one house for appetizers, another house for dinner, and then a final house for dessert. If you want more courses, you can add more locations. Just remember to consider the distance between houses as you plan for transportation from one to the next.
One creative idea a family had for dessert one year was to place ice cream in a gutter system spread out like a buffet for the kids. Yes, it was a brand new cleaned out gutter and a ton of fun for the kids to see all of that ice cream!!! This progressive dinner did not have a specific theme, but a dramatic theme can really add to the entertainment of the evening.
If you only have seven people, then they can all fit in a larger vehicle like my daughter had when she hosted a group of teen girls for an Hawaiian themed evening. If you have more kids, then just make sure you have more drivers. With transportation concerns out of the way, it's time to have all the kids dropped off at the first location.
For the event my daughter hosted, at the first house they received the traditional Hawaiian Lei and enjoyed some delicious appetizers with Hawaiian rolls. They also enjoyed some Hawaiian music throughout the evening. At the next house they were given flowers for their hair and enjoyed Hawaiian pizza, a veggie tray with a carrot and pepper palm tree and some Hawaiian Punch. Okay, maybe our version of Hawaiian Punch is not truly authentic, but it was a fun addition. Lastly, they finished up at the final home receiving tropical pineapple cups as a take home gift and enjoyed Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert.
One Hawaiian themed party my daughter went to they went all out with a pig roasting on a spit to serve for dinner and a luau. (Tip: Keep in mind how many courses are being served and that the dinner portion of the evening may not have to be as big as you would normally serve. Many kids get filled up quickly on the courses beforehand, especially if there are heavy appetizers.)
Maybe you have to keep it simple or maybe you have the means to go all out. No matter what you do, the kids will have fun enjoying the evening with your chosen theme. (Tip: Save your decorations for another party in the future. 😉)
One year we kept transportation super simple as we used only the neighbors’ houses. We could easily walk from one house to the next experiencing the different themes from every house. As it was in the fall and around Halloween, the themes took a different turn at every corner with everyone dressing as a different character. One set of friends dressed as flip and flop. They actually wore giant flip flops that covered their whole body. One couple dressed as Fred and Wilma Flintstone with their Basset Hounds, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm. We included neighbors with kids and some with grandkids, so it was a great mix of ages for the event.
This event had many stops, so our house only served soup. We decorated our garage in the theme of Medieval England and our kids dressed up as historical figures from that time. We used blankets and curtains to hang in the garage as tapestries. We made shields to go on the walls and had plenty of tables to accommodate our royal table setting as we served a brothy soup that we sipped from the bowl.
We decided to use the theme of “Who am I?” to pass the time while we enjoyed our soup. My kids would each say something about themselves to give little clues as to who they were portraying, while our guests tried to guess who they were. In doing this, we learned a lot about our neighbors including one neighbor who was a real history buff. She thoroughly enjoyed the clues and finally figured out who my kids were dressed up as.
My kids chose their characters based on the history we were studying that semester and found costumes that worked well to fit each role. They learned a lot about these particular historic figures and about the events surrounding their life. What a great way to integrate history with a fun party idea. The kids do the work learning about a character as they prep to present their role and have fun in the process.
In case you can’t tell by the picture 😉, my daughter was Eleanor of Aquitaine, and my son was Richard the Lionhearted.
Playing “Who am I?” could be a way to experience each stop or you could just allow each person in your group to create their own unique experience. Either way, everyone enjoys traveling from one house to the next and no one person is left to do all the cooking and cleaning up. If you plan ahead well, and if it is nearby like in your neighborhood, then you too can join in on the entertainment instead of slaving away in the kitchen while everyone else enjoys the party.
Another theme idea for a progressive dinner (or lunch) is to dress up as the characters from your favorite book or play. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an entertaining story that can lend itself well to this idea. Each house is a different location that Alice comes upon in her journey through Wonderland. How about after following the White Rabbit through the Rabbit hole into the first house, you have a little “Drink Me” bottle to start the evening out with a little cake for dessert at the end of the evening to shrink back to your normal sizes. Petit Fours could work wonderfully for this. Of course, it’s a must to include the comical Mad Tea Party for one of your stops! You could include little finger sandwiches at this stop and maybe a game of croquet before the next stop.
Being in character as you travel through the progressive dinner is an interesting way to experience the evening. Having a theme to go along with the roles helps to keep the drama flowing from one house to the next. It’s fun for kids to dress up and everyone enjoys eating, so why not host a progressive dinner for your next dramatic get together.
Maybe you don't want to worry about costumes or major decorations, but still want a dramatic progressive dinner. One creative game idea that my daughter and her friends played, was to tell the story of what their lives would be like in 20 years - a day in the life. They had the storyteller telling her story of her future life, while the rest of the friends played the main character and all the other people involved in the story.
This can be a really great way to get to know your friends and to have fun acting out different roles. It doesn't have to be 20 years in the future, it could be five. But, since most of these kids were younger teens, 20 years allowed them to include spouses, kids, jobs and favorite activities in their stories. Some were really short, while one lasted 30 minutes! This could happen at one of the stops, or it could continue from stop to stop until everyone gets a chance to tell their story.
This is a great activity as it doesn't require any preparation beforehand. It can be done spontaneously at any point and can fill the time and entertain the kids for hours. Therefore, you can keep it simple and still have a dramatic progressive dinner.
You do have the time to fit drama into your homeschool with a dramatic progressive dinner. There are many benefits besides the fun you will have:
Kids get to dress up and play a role
No one person is left to do all the cooking and cleaning up
Get to know your neighbors and friends better
A creative way to spend the evening
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Maybe you’re struggling with a theme idea, but like the thought of hosting a progressive dinner as a way to add a little more drama to your homeschool. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with Places Everyone! - drama game fun for the whole semester. You can use these games throughout the semester or pick some out to play at each house for your progressive dinner. These games are flexible to accommodate your needs.
Thanks for joining us!
Danielle at homeschooldrama.com