Successful Home Party

Tina - posted on 01/24/2009

You are very welcome! Have a great time!

Tina

Bethany - posted on 01/24/2009

Tina-
Thank you so much for taking the time to share all those great ideas with me! I will take a closer look at them when I have a longer minute (ha!) but I'm sure there are some there that will work great! I like giving out a door prize based on tickets- I know the presenter usually does a draw anyway...I'm sure she would go for something like this.

There isn't a lot of product demonstration at this type of party- mostly just browsing through the catalog so I wanted to try to up the "interaction" time. And I'm not sure how many of the ladies will know each other so ice breakers are a great idea! (And I LOVE m&ms- so it's a good thing I'll know the trick- otherwise I'd probably take like 10!)

Thanks again for sharing!

Tina - posted on 01/24/2009

Hi Bethany!

Home parties are so much fun ~ especially for moms who don’t get out much! There are so many fun themes and games you can do! I actually demonstrate home parties so I have some experience in presenting and attending some great home parties! Here are some suggestions:
1. Let everyone come in their pajamas and slippers and call it your “Cozy up with a book” party OR “Girls Night In”

a.Have a pajama contest: (1) Most ridiculous (2) Most elegant (3) Most cozy You could pass out index cards to have everyone vote on their choice for each category (if everyone wears name tags that would make it much easier in case not everyone knows each other!)

b.You could also have a door prize! Perhaps the presenter would be willing to provide a door prize for you, or you can purchase an inexpensive book. I did a party once where the guests earned tickets for each of the following categories: Being on time (1 ticket), Bringing a friend (2 tickets), Bringing their invitation (1 ticket), and 1 ticket was awarded to a guest for each question asked about the products! This worked well for me as the demonstrator and for the guests! Their questions were authentic to them, and I felt good giving them information that was meaningful to them! We awarded the door prize to the guest with the most tickets.

2. Ice breaker games:

a.Get to know each other with M&Ms. Pass around a bowl of M&Ms and tell guests to take as many as they would like and then have them count their M&Ms. Then the guests each take turns telling that number of things about themselves (Ex: 4 M&Ms = 4 things about yourself!)

b.Introduction game using only nouns! Since your party is based on education this might be a good one for you! Have a sheet handy for guests to pass around at the beginning of your party with the following three items: 1. State your name 2. Favorite Book 3. Who or what the book reminds you of (I say to have a sheet handy because after the first person answers, everyone forgets what they are supposed to say!). I give the guests an extra challenge however stating they can only answer this question using nouns (review just in case that this is a person, place or thing). This always brings out laughs because the game is meant to shorten up the introductions by using less words, but everyone stumbles as they do it!

c.How well do you know your hostess? A question and answer game all about you! Whoever knows you the best wins a small prize! The more ridiculous the questions, the better!

Other Themes:
1.Books & Baked Goods ~ everyone bring their favorite baked treat!
2.Color theme party ~ everyone could come dressed in red for Valentine’s day!
3.Mom & Daughter party ~ encourage special bonding time btw moms & daughters!
4.Death by Chocolate ~ fondue + yummy chocolate treats! Download a stress test question game offline and give it to your guests…the person with the highest score can win a small prize and the person with the lowest score NEEDS some chocolate!
5.Creative hat party ~ contest involving self-made hats!
6.The Literary Café’: Provide coffee + sweets Café’ Style!

I hope this helps! Obviously I enjoy this kind of stuff so this list was easy to come up with! Let me know how it turns out! Have FUN!

Thanks,
Tina