Fun With Kids: Have A Presentation Party!

Quarantining and lockdowns have presented us with countless challenges. With many children and adults working and studying from home, it’s more important than ever to prioritize self-care and leisure not only as individuals, but also as a household. But what can you do for fun when you’ve made every single jigsaw puzzle in your closet, played every board game you own countless times, and your children have memorized every single trivia answer in that one trivia game you own?

Here’s one suggestion: Get creative and host a Presentation Party!

If you’ve never heard of a Presentation Party, it’s a simple idea that’s been popularized throughout the COVID pandemic, when social contact and leisure activities have been hard to come by. The premise is simple: every participant prepares a simple slide show presentation on a topic of their choosing. It could be anything from something you know nothing about, to something ONLY you could present on! Presentation Parties are an excellent opportunity for a household to get to know each other’s interests and knowledge, and for children to connect with family and friends they haven’t been able to spend time with due to the ongoing pandemic.

Here’s some helpful tips to have a great Presentation Party!

1. Create guidelines for the presentations. How long/short should they be? Do you want to set up a theme or prompt, or do you want people to present on whatever they want? Are you using a slideshow, or any visual aids? Will you need to set up a video call? 
2. Select age-appropriate expectations. A toddler won’t be able to give you a presentation on their love of neuroscience, but they can talk a lot about their favorite truck. Make sure younger children have an adult buddy to help them make a presentation. Also keep in mind that, the younger your children are, the shorter their attention spans tend to be. Make your presentations short and snappy to keep toddlers interested, and add more complexity as they get older!
3. A theme can help people get creative: Here’s some suggestions. Set the presentations up as a show-and-tell and take an opportunity to explore the history behind your household objects (especially with family heirlooms; children love learning stories about the things around them). A theme like Favorite Superheroes can allow everyone to delve into a specific shared passion. Alternatively, you can learn a lot about each other by having no theme at all and seeing what creative presentations everyone comes up with!
4. Have fun. 

Presentation Parties are great for children who are just about to enter schools, and can help demystify the process once they are asked to give their own presentations in class. For children with social anxiety, presentation parties with family and friends – with the assistance of an adult, if needed – can be excellent opportunities to practice public speaking in a welcoming and familiar environment. Presentation parties also help families learn about each other; by giving a child a moment to discuss a topic of their choosing, you are showing interest in their interests, and allowing them space to express their joy.

Interested in learning about more fun activites you can do right from you home? Check out our Therapeutic Play Groups! These intereactive live groups happen on Thursday evenings and are held virtually, so you can join from anywhere.