Creative Ways to Ask to a School Dance


High School Homecoming season is just around the corner, which means it’s time for our kids to start thinking about how they’ll ask their date to the big dance.

Studio 5 Party, Holiday and Ideas Contributor, Alisa Bangerter shares creative ways to ask to the high school dance.


With a little creativity, you can impress your date with a fun and memorable invite to the school dance.

Tips:

· Be creative and think outside of the box. Look around your home or at resources you could use from family or friends to come up with a great invite.

· Try to find out the likes and interests of the person who is to be asked and determine if any of those things could be incorporated into the invitation. Do they love sports, music, candy, old movies, etc.?

· Thrift stores are great sources for interesting items and things that might help keep costs down when giving an invitation.

· Don’t do anything that is really messy, dangerous or no fun for the recipient – like having to dig through really gooey items for a clue or having to go somewhere really far and out of the way. Keep it classy.

· Utilize the season or upcoming holiday in your invite. There are great options using decorations or items available during certain seasons.

· Food is a great option to use when asking a date. Just go to the grocery store and look around at all the options you can use to create fun sayings with. Teens love food!

· Keep it simple. Some of the best invites are not complicated and done with very little expense – you don’t have to break the bank to impress.

· Incorporate technology. Use You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, texting, Photoshop, etc. Digital media using photographs or video can make great creative and personalized invites.

· Remember that many ideas can be adjusted to become a great way to answer a date.

Ideas:

· Take a whiteboard (they come in a variety of sizes) and attach a sign or write on the top of it in permanent marker: “Will you go to the dance with me?” Write your name somewhere on the white board in permanent marker. Then take dry erase markers and write the names of others in the school who could be asking covering the board. Attach an eraser. The recipient will then erase the board to find out who is asking. This is fun especially with a great big board. (A cute saying might be: “Erase the board of all the names, the one who’s asking will remain!”)

· Create a crossword puzzle with clues to who is asking to the dance (class I have with you, color of my hair, street I live on, where I work, etc.). This is a link where you can create a free puzzle in minutes http://www.puzzle-maker.com/CW/ There are many free options online – just do a search for free crossword puzzle makers.

· Place an old bike wheel or tire on the porch with a sign that says: “Wheel you go to the dance with me?”

· Fill a large tub with sand (or dirt) and place small trinkets in the sand. Place a shovel in the sand with a note that says: “I would DIG IT if you would go to the dance with me.” The recipient then must dig through the sand to find the name of the person asking.

· Set up a bunch of green plastic toy army men on the porch with a note that says: “Not even an ARMY could keep me from asking you to the dance.”

· Place a lamp (a floor lamp would be fun!) on the porch with a sign that says: I would be de-Lighted if you would come to the dance with me!” Check out thrift stores for a lamp. You could even plug it into a porch outlet if there was one available.

· Write an invite to the dance in a foreign language. Cut up the words and place them in an envelope. Include a dictionary to translate the message.

· Purchase (or make) an inexpensive corsage and leave on the doorstep with a bunch of now and later candies. Place a note that says: “A corsage for you now and you will get one later if you will go to the dance with me.”

· Fill a garbage/leaf bag with dry leaves and place one laminated paper leaf with your name on it inside. Tie up the bag with a big bow and place a sign on it that says: “It would be a big re-LEAF if you would go to the dance with me!”

· You will need a bunch of whole unshelled walnuts for this idea. Gently crack open several walnuts making sure they open along the natural seam. Remove the nut meat so the shells are empty. Write a message/invitation on several pieces of paper. Roll up the messages and place inside the empty shells. Carefully glue back together the halves. Fill a bag with walnuts including the “glued” together nuts. Attach a nutcracker with instructions to crack open the nuts to find a message.

· Purchase an inexpensive copy of a good book or a book that would interest the recipient. Go through and underline or highlight words to create a message/invitation. You should be able to find simple words in most books that can spell the invitation. If not, circled letters will work fine.

· Decorate a pillowcase with a fun message and invitation painted on with fabric paint or written on with a permanent marker. Have the parents or family member place it on the pillow of the recipient.

· Have a friend or group of friends serenade your date (violin, guitar, etc.) when she answers her door. Then have them give her a formal written invite to the dance.

· Change the words to a popular song so it is an invitation and is personalized. Have a group of friends sing and serenade the recipient with the song. This is fun if done in the middle of school lunch, a ballgame or where there is an audience.

· Place a note inside a big ball of string (or yarn) that says: “Sorry to string you along but will you go to the dance with me?”

· Have a friend dress like Santa (this is especially fun if it is out of season). Have “Santa” deliver a large bag of wrapped gifts to the recipient. Have many dollar store type gifts wrapped that must be opened. Have one wrapped gift be the message and invitation.

· Make a homemade video interviewing friends, family and teachers stating why it would be fun attending the dance with you. Make it similar to a news interview and be creative with props, etc.

· Leave a big tub filled with ice and a variety of soda and small tea-light candles on the porch of the recipient. Leave a big sign that says “I would be SODA – LIGHTED if you would go to the dance with me.”

· Make a cake that has messages wrapped in foil and placed throughout the batter before baking. Cupcakes could also be made this way by placing a note inside each one.

· Put together a puzzle that has about 50 pieces. Gently turn the completed puzzle over and write the message and invitation on the back of the puzzle. Take the puzzle apart and deliver to the recipient.

· Purchase a dozen roses. Create a message/invitation with about 12 words. Write one word per tag and attach one tag to each rose with a ribbon. Have a friend(s) deliver a rose every 10 minutes or so to the recipient (making sure the message will be in order) until the dozen are delivered.

· Fill the recipient’s car, bedroom or locker with pink things such as balloons, feathers, candy, flowers, confetti, crepe paper, etc. Leave a big pink poster that says: “I would be tickled pink if you would attend the dance with me!”

· Place Saran Wrap all around the recipient’s car with a note that says: “You can’t turn your key unless you go to the dance with me!”

· If you have access to a machine that seals metal cans, place a message in a can that must be opened with a can opener.

· Purchase a small tool box or box that has to be unlocked with a key and place the invite inside. Give the box with another box or ring of keys. The recipient has to go through all the keys to see which one will open the box to the invite.

· Create a big castle out of cardboard boxes and place it on the recipients lawn. Have a messenger dressed like royalty come out of the castle and read the royal proclamation (invitation to the dance) to the princess or prince (recipient). Have the messenger present the invitation along with a crown or flower or something similar to the recipient.

· Everyday for a week mail a letter with part of a message or invitation. Make sure to do this in plenty time ahead of the date so the recipient can receive the entire invitation before someone else may ask them.

· Place several Healthy Choice brand food items in a basket with a note that says: “It would be a healthy choice to ask you to the dance….will you go with me?”

· Place an invitation on a remote-control car and have a friend guide it to the recipient while they are in class. (Make arrangements with the teacher first.)

· Purchase a big cardboard cut-out of a famous person and place on the doorstep with a sign as an invite. You could also replace the face with a photo of yourself. (Available at Zurchurs party stores).

· Boxes of cold cereal are an inexpensive way to ask to a dance. There are many options you can use, for example: place a note on a box of Honeycomb cereal that reads: “Honey Comb your hair because you are being asked to homecoming!” or us a box of Lucky Charms: “I would be charmed and so lucky if you would go to the dance with me!” etc.

· Cover the entire car or locker of the recipient with post-it notes. On each note have something written – quick messages, thoughts or anything fun. Have the invitation written on one of the notes.

· Wrap a bow with the recipient’s name around a package(s) of butter and leave on the recipients porch (freeze the butter first if it is a hot day). Approximately 30 minutes later leave a huge bag of popcorn with the following note: “Since you have been buttered up, I want to pop the question – will you go to the dance with me?”

· Make a candy bouquet by using floral tape, candy bars and wood skewers. Place some silk greenery among the candy bar “flowers” and wrap with cellophane and a bow. Attach a tag that says: “It would be so sweet if you would come to the dance with me.”

· Remove the fortunes from a bunch of fortune cookies (put them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them or gently steam them to open them slightly). Attach a tag that states: “I would be fortunate if you would go to the dance with me.” If possible, find someone to write your invitation in an oriental language on several slips of paper and insert them back in the fortune cookies. Place them in a Chinese food paper take-out box. It would be fun to have someone dress in traditional oriental dress and deliver them speaking no English to the recipient. The recipient must have the fortunes translated to find out the message.

· Create a wanted poster of the recipient that has info that says they are “wanted” as your date to the dance. Have someone dressed up like a western sheriff deliver it. (There are numerous free wanted poster templates online and sites that all you do is add the photo and info. and print.)



Check out this link to another segment filled with great ideas for asking to a dance:
http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=58&sid=7767791

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