Having Fun with Parents

One of the most difficult things to do while teaching our students, is to also have our parents involved. This is difficult for all of us for a number of reasons. As difficult as this is, I try my best to keep parents involved whenever possible.
This past week, my Principal allowed me to have a whole day dedicated to family traditions. The parents were allowed to come in at whatever time that was available to them.  They would help their child explain a special tradition that their family would do around the Holiday season.
When I first had the idea, other teachers were skeptical.  They were not sure how successful the day would be with parents coming in and out. Not to mention that I was not giving the parents a certain time limit to stay. I told everyone "the more the merrier!"


So how did the day go?

I can't say enough how GREAT the entire day was!!! The kids loved their parents their, the parents loved seeing their kids in school, and everyone loved sharing about their families!! We had pictures, ornaments, recipes, Italian fruit cake (baked for us to share), Menorah's, dreidels (enough for the kids to play with), reindeer food (everyone made some), latkes (cooked for us to try), decorations, and we even had a parent share a gingerbread house making kit for EVERY student in my room!!
I posted some of our pictures on our class wiki space.  I received so many "thank you's" from the parents. They had just as much fun as the kids!
Now it's your turn... please share a wonderful idea that you had to keep parents involved!