9 House Celebrations Guaranteed to Motivate Your Students

Most schools in the LiveSchool Community choose to do a House Cup, which lasts the entire school year, and then shorter competitions which typically last a month or quarter. 

A House Celebration is the reward for the shorter competition. As I mentioned before, these don’t have to be extravagant events, but they do need to be motivating for your students. 

Below are some suggestions from the LiveSchool Community that would work for any grade level.

Dance Party 

Two words that most people love: dance and party! So bring them together and get funky with your students! You can choose to have a decade theme or just play the hits to ensure your students have a blast!

Learn more about running a dance party celebration here!

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Free Time/Extra Recess

Whether you’re a Kindergartener or a Senior in High School, everyone loves free time! On the playground or in a classroom, allowing students to choose how they spend their extra free time is always a crowd-pleaser. 

We suggest highlighting that the House that wins this prize will get to have free time while everyone else is still in class, making this a true motivator!

We have more details about utilizing extra recess time as an incentive in our Rewards that Rock Database here. 

Root Beer Float Social

Kick your ice cream social up a notch and make root beer floats. You could have different types of root beer or even change up the types of soda for an added twist! I guarantee you’ll have students mixing every type of soda they can. 😎

Pizza Party

A tried and true reward that students always enjoy…I mean, it’s pizza, what’s not to enjoy? We suggest hosting the pizza party in a specific room to continue having students cultivate relationships within their House.  

Pajama Day

Because who doesn’t love to wear pajamas to school? The House that wins this reward will love showing off their PJs with their Housemates! 

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It doesn’t have to be Homecoming Week to have a dress-up or dress-down day! You can find additional details about utilizing this reward here!

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Out of Dress Code Day

If your students adhere to a dress code, this is always a huge motivator! And the best part is that it is free. 

Popcorn and Movie Party

The smell of popcorn in a school will make everyone wish they won this reward! Consider having students all get together in the gym or auditorium for the movie or have them split up into teacher’s rooms for a special screening. 

Learn more about running a special screening here!

Field Trip to the Park

No matter what age, students getting to venture off campus is always a popular reward. If you have a nearby park, community center, or even just a field, the students will be looking forward to the free time and new scenery!

Pie a Teacher 

Another reward that creates lasting memories. The students from the winning House are given the opportunity to pie a teacher in the face. One option is to only have the teachers from the losing House eligible for the pie in the face. 

Additional information about this reward can be found here!

The Power of Student Voice

These 9 rewards are sure to get motivation from your students. We, also, recommend surveying your students throughout the year for their feedback and ideas to help keep engagement in the House System strong.

If you’re looking for additional ideas, check out our Rewards that Rock database and filter for the Class/House, Group Size, or cost at the top. Want to supercharge your school culture? Check out our guide to developing House spirit within your House system.

For more resources on Houses check out the magic happening at our partner school: Antioch Middle School.