In response to PTAJUDY - do a search on this site for "movie night" - you'll get hundreds of responses on your question. To show a movie, you need an LCD projector (your school library should have one), a dvd player, and a sound system. Hook them together with the correct cables and voila - movie night. You don't need a screen - just use the wall of your gym. And don't forget your movie license to make it legal to show the movie.

Movie Nights are probably our easiest family night as well. We don't charge admission but ask for a specific grade to donate 12 packs of soda the 2 weeks before the event. We sell popcorn (cheap), cotton candy (cheap), pizza, nachos, hot dogs, all kinds of candy, and sodas (donated). We make between $500 and $1000 for each movie night - depends on the movie.

Next week, we are having our first Holiday Open House. Our 5th graders are performing a Christmas play (program). The art teacher has students performing a show with puppets that they made in art. Our Librarian has times set up for holiday story telling. Our 4th grade Orffestra (drums, xylophones, etc) will perform throughout the evening. Chick-fil-A is bringing in sandwiches and nuggets (we won't make any money off of this...it's just for convenience for families!) And then we have invited about 20 vendors (all kinds) to set up booths and sell holiday gifts in our main hall. They are all going to donate 10% of sales back to the school. Our 5th graders are taking a trip to Washington, DC...they are setting up a room to take "holiday portraits" and we have talked to Sams Club about developing these quickly for us. Money that they make off of that will go toward the trip for the kids. The pictures and holiday gifts are optional purchases for families. We too were looking for a fun night that parents can come enjoy themselves and see what their child has been learning in the cultural arts classes without hounding them for a donation!! Our next family event will probably be a movie night! Good luck!

We used a projector hooked up to a DVD player and ran our sound through the PA system in the gym. I, too, am a dummy when it comes to electronics, so I can relate. [img]smile.gif[/img] Our prinicpal talked with someone at our administration building who knows all about that stuff and he got us the equipment we needed to get the sound going. Basically it is just a cable that runs from the projector to the PA mike hookup. Now...don't ask me about the audio/video in/out hook-ups. We just played around with them until we had sound and a picture.

[ 11-28-2005, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: Melissa Constantine ]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...tell me what device you use to show your movies! I truly love this idea, but I'm an electronic dummy. *L* I've also heard that sometimes hearing the movie can be difficult when you have so many people. Please..anyone with any idea, I'd truly appreciate it.

Thanks.

Judy

I would say the movie night too. Real easy to run and the kids and parents have a good time. If they choose to buy food they can but they don't have too. And popcorn is cheap to do for .50cents. We dont charge for admission either.

Cindy

We just did our first movie night, and had a great response. If you know someone who can sew, just purchase 4 twin-sized white sheets to make your movie screen. If you have a Sam's Club close to you, you can get popcorn bags for about $.01 each, and you can check with the food distributor your school uses to see if you can get a good deal on popcorn. Of course, this is assuming you have access to a popcorn popper. Another thing you can do is ask parents to donate 2-liters to help offset the cost of refreshments.

If you order the movie night kit from PTOToday, you will receive a $5 coupon toward movie rental. You can either use it to cover the cost of renting the movie or use it as a doorprize.