School Dance Party for Gift Exchange: How to Organize the Perfect Celebration

A school dance party is a night filled with dancing, lively conversations, contests, and flash mobs, favorite snacks and confetti, crafting memories, and cherished gifts.

How do you plan a school holiday event so students have time for everything — singing, dancing, chatting, and exchanging gifts? Let's find out in this article.

Decide the Event Format

To start organizing your celebration, decide on the type of party you want to host. 

Will it be a formal ball where girls and boys dress in gowns and suits and learn a slow dance? Or do the kids want to participate in a costume party, emulating their favorite movie characters? 

Some groups might prefer a more laid-back approach, opting for a casual dress code, with the event's theme chosen spontaneously and informally, if at all.

We have several fresh ideas you can use for your school dance. 

1. Glow-in-the-Dark Dance Party

Highlight: Fluorescent style, glowing accessories, and a mystical atmosphere.

How to Organize: When the classroom goes dark, decorations should be ready: neon balloons with festive designs, glowing tableware and stickers, fluorescent bracelets, and glow sticks. 

Dress Code: Kids dress casually — in light cotton clothing that stands out under UV lighting. 

Entertainment: Use fluorescent paints and markers to customize each other's outfits. Kids can write messages or draw designs on t-shirts. Prints dry quickly, letting them continue to have fun in their updated attire.

Another fun activity includes making glowing bubbles by mixing a fluorescent dye into the soap solution. Kids can carry out this experiment even without adult help. 

Perfect Gift Exchange Format: Treasure Hunt 

All gifts are hidden around the school, and participants receive clues. To find their gift, they need to solve riddles or complete tasks.

Students can look for glowing clues on neon paper in the classroom and start the hunt for surprises around the school.

Draw arrows guiding the way to gifts on evacuation plans using a phone flashlight. They are made with luminescent paint, which can glow in the dark for up to 20 minutes once charged with light. 

Notes with the locations of hidden surprises can be placed in jacket pockets in the cloakroom. They can read the text written in glowing ink by lighting it with the prepared UV flashlights.

2. School Movie Night Party

Highlight: Host the dance party at a cinema. 

How to Organize: Take the celebration to a unique location — a cinema with a kids' game zone. The cinema staff can assist in organizing the school party by providing a dedicated hall with a big screen and a play area after the movie. The students can unwind from their classroom environment they have been in all semester and see their teachers enjoy themselves in a casual setting. 

Organizing a children's party at a cinema in the U.S. can cost from $200 and up, depending on the chosen cinema, city, and additional services.

Dress Code: Jeans, shirts, skirts, sweaters, comfortable shoes — essentially what students would typically wear to a cinema on any other day. It's crucial that their attire is suitable for participating in active games. 

Entertainment: Many cinemas have game zones. Laser tag, arcade games, children's pool table, VR entertainment, and more are available for your class when booking the cinema. 

You can also create your own contest. Host a movie or cartoon quiz — let the kids answer questions of varying difficulty about their favorite films. You can even hold an acting talent competition. Encourage your students to divide into interest-based teams and enact scenes from movies. Evaluate performances on how well they capture the movie atmosphere and creativity.

Perfect Gift Exchange Format: Secret Santa

"Secret Santa" is a holiday game where participants give gifts anonymously. Its main thrill is the secrecy until the moment of exchange. No one knows who their Santa is until the very end.

The classic game format can be labor-intensive, so a modern solution is the online game on MySanta, offering a one-click draw, custom game interfaces, remote play, and more.

• Registration and Draw. Use email or create a game via the Telegram bot. Registration is simple and quick, and you can invite participants via email newsletters.
• After everyone has joined, conduct the draw with one click — players, regardless of number, will pair as "Santa-recipient" and can start selecting gifts for each other. 
• Budget and Wishes. A suitable gift budget at school is $10-$15. Participants can fill out brief wish lists to avoid unnecessary gifts.
• Wishlists. Besides wish lists, the service features built-in wishlists. Students can find gifts they'd like on major online marketplaces without leaving the game page or attach links to favorite items from other sites. This way, Santas won't go wrong with their choices.

Try Hosting a Secret Santa Game

Play at the office and home, with family and friends. The game suits in-person gatherings when everyone lives nearby and for online draws if loved ones are far apart.

Try Now

3. Culinary Workshop

Highlight: Instead of dances and songs around the Christmas tree, enjoy a cooking show where students learn to cook together.

How to Organize: Invite a skilled chef or engage parents and teacher-cooks to organize a children's team-building cooking session. First, teach them to make something simple to boost their kitchen skills, and then something complex — like burgers or seafood pasta. Kids will develop an interest in culinary arts and lose the fear of making mistakes in a friendly and fun atmosphere. 

Dress Code: It’s best to wear fitted clothes under aprons, with bulky chef hats or caps looking great with any hairstyle. Short sleeves or clothes that can get dirty without worry are recommended to avoid a trip to the dry cleaners. 

Entertainment: Enhance the traditional workshop by inviting a chef who can teach kids carving, basic decorative cutting of fruits and vegetables, or food art — when ordinary dishes are presented as artistic compositions or take the shape of favorite characters. 

An excellent entertainment idea is learning how to skillfully and attractively arrange lunchboxes. This practice is not widespread in our schools, but balanced meals throughout the day significantly impact children's academic success. Teach kids the technique of styling bento boxes with lunch, a popular ritual in Japan, usually filled with fish, rice, meat, vegetables, and eggs. Though ordinary ingredients at first glance, the preparation method and arrangement in boxes are specific and traditional. Bento even has its own emoji — 🍱 

Perfect Gift Exchange Format: Lottery

Each participant brings a universal gift, and organizers assign them numbers.

The host draws numbers from a bag, and the lucky number holder chooses any gift.

All packages should look the same to maintain the mystery.

You can vary the rules: allow swapping for an already opened gift with another participant.

How to Prepare for the Party?

Here's a brief plan to follow if you're organizing a holiday party for students.

1. Gather a Team of Organizers

To ensure everything runs smoothly, assign people responsible for different areas: music, decorations, gifts, contests, and snacks. It's best if students, teachers, and parents join in the organization. 

It's best for a teacher to lead the gift exchange. They serve as an authoritative and trusted figure not involved in the gift exchange directly, unaware of who gifted whom, and uninterested in revealing students' secrets. The teacher can be in contact with the game's creator to not only facilitate the gift exchange, distributing them to participants but also to supervise the game's progress, ensuring everyone buys surprises on time and matches students' wishes. 

2. Create a Timeline

Plan the schedule so children don't get tired or bored and don't return home too late. It's essential to stick to the time allotted, leaving enough energy for the gift exchange so everyone can truly enjoy their surprise.

The party duration in our example is 5 hours. Each child views a school dance differently: some eagerly anticipate it, while others might prefer more time at home during the holidays. 

Additionally, the party's length generally decreases with the younger age group of its participants. 

3. Decorate the Venue

Proper decoration of the school party venue is one of the pillars of a successful event.

Center of the Hall. Dedicate a central spot or stage to the gift zone — place tables or a Christmas tree, under which participants can stack their gifts in advance. 

Perimeter. Decorate the venue's perimeter with garlands, balloons, and posters that active students make ahead of time. 

Photo Area. Another great decoration is a photo zone with signs displaying funny captions, flags, or balloons. 

Lighting. If you're not hosting a dark disco, soft and warm lighting works best: garlands create coziness, while colorful projectors with stars or hearts add a dancing mood. 

Sound. You'll need an audio system or a rechargeable speaker for sound, so you can play holiday music for contests or spin playlists with the kids' favorite tracks. 

4. Organize the Gift Exchange Correctly

To ensure a smooth process free from misunderstandings, plan details ahead.

Gifts should be brought in advance and placed in a designated zone. This way, the planned exchange proceeds smoothly and no one is left without a surprise. For unexpected emergencies, the parent committee can purchase a few universal gifts as backups. 

All packages should be uniform. Nothing should hint at the package's content if the celebration's goal is a surprise exchange.

The host conducts the distribution in a style matching the party theme. For instance, in a scavenger hunt, lottery, or Secret Santa format. 

Concluding the Gift Exchange. Take class or parallel-wide photos with gifts and have the students share their impressions with the school blog editors. This way, you’ll know if they enjoyed the gift exchange format and the party style.

Choose the appropriate format and create an unforgettable atmosphere! The key is to plan the details in advance and accommodate all participants' preferences. Then the dance party with gift exchanges will truly become a magical event.

Gift Ideas for Classmates Under $15

Allocate a week before the event date for gift searching. Any of these gift ideas could be just right for you. 

Counter-Strike Stickers

Bright, stylish, and durable stickers for fans of the game CS:GO. Many boys and girls love spending hours online, talking with each other and defeating foes. Stickers featuring favorite characters, logos, and skins can adorn computers, laptops, or notebooks. 

Freeze-Dried Berries

A trendy edible treat and healthy snack without added sugar. These crunchy berries are enjoyable on their own or added to oatmeal, tea, or ice cream. 

Lapel Microphone

A miniature microphone for clear voice recording without background noise. Connects to phones or laptops, perfect for podcasts, video shoots, and online gaming chats. 

Hair Mist

Choose a mist with a sweet trendy scent for a stylish classmate. It’s care, perfume, and glitter in one bottle. The mist refreshes hair, making it soft and shiny. It's also handy to carry — consider gifting a small container for on-the-go application. 

Voice Recording Cassette

Record a message, song, or shared memory to cherish in a unique format. If you're not close to a classmate, you can simply give them a blank cassette, so they can create an original gift for one of their friends in the future. 

Minecraft Toy

An excellent gift for gamers, collectors, and those who enjoy decorating their room and gaming area. A soft toy or figurine might spark a new hobby, so it could be an exciting surprise even if you’re unsure of your classmate’s pixelated world fandom. 

Hair Claw Clip

A stylish and convenient accessory for quick hairstyling. It securely holds hair without leaving marks. Perfect for school, workouts, and everyday hairstyles.

Shrek Mug

A mug with a fun design to lift spirits in the morning before school and delight in the afternoon after classes. Use it for coffee or cocoa while watching favorite cartoons, or display it as a keepsake.