Our team helps colleges across the country to facilitate and execute exciting welcome week events! The right welcome week entertainment can create an unforgettable experience for new and current students, and help them kick off the semester with a bang! Today on the blog, we want to help Student Activity Directors, Student Engagement Specialists, and other college event planners out there with a few ideas for their fall Welcome Week!
Icebreakers for Students to Get to Know New Friends at Welcome Week
One of the most important aspects of welcome week is introducing new people and helping to break the ice amongst students. Here are a few ideas that can help create conversations and allow students to interact with each other as much, or as little as they want!
DIY Make & Takes like Create-a Creature & Stuff-a-Squishie
One of our most successful make-and-take programs is our Create-a-Creature program. Students get to take their own little stuffed animal home, but only after they stuff it. As we’ve seen, stuffies have become more popular, so you can also consider an event like the Stuff-a-squishie program to allow students to work on something together and spur new conversations.
We also have other fun activities for students to do themselves, and with each other, like The Creative Engagement Package, Paint Social, Sandscapes, Tie Dye T-shirts & much more!
Blacklight Events
If you’re hoping for a little fun in the dark, whether it be outdoors at night or inside with the lights off, we have GLOW Blacklight events like GLOW Mini Golf, GLOW Pickleball, and GLOW Bowling to help your students have some fun and get active. We can also ship you everything you need for your own DIY Silent Disco!
All Kinds of Tag Games
We’ve got so many different types of tag games that can help your students break the ice of welcome week: Laser Tag, Arrow Tag, Water Tag, and more! Laser tag has certainly become much more popular among college students in the last few years.
Live Caricature Artists
One of the funniest ways to break the ice is by getting a caricature done by a professional artist. Whether you’re sitting down with someone you’ve known for 10 years or 10 minutes, having students pair up for their caricature is a hilarious way to bring a laugh in a somewhat uncomfortable new environment!
Virtual Reality Gaming
We have some seriously cool VR options that allow students to suit up and go into the metaverse using virtual reality. Beyond Reality offers unique experiences and games that allow players from just 1 up to 6 players simultaneously. Games run from 10-15 minutes in length at a time, allowing students to mingle and compete together for a fun memory of their first welcome week.
LIVE Welcome Week Entertainment for a Performance to Remember
Amaze Students with Shockingly Funny Hypnosis
Nothing creates as big of a buzz as our talented roster of hypnotists. Students are wowed, and the ice is broken as they see their constituents be hypnotized as a group up on stage. It brings hilarious laughs and off-the-cuff humor that is truly mesmerizing and comical. Be sure to check out Mind Games – Music is Hypnotic, a new program where the audience takes control and is polled to choose the genres of music that define the night!
Hold a Fun Competition with a LIVE Game Show!
Much like our live hypnosis programs, Game Shows are almost guaranteed to entertain and engage your welcome week guests. With live comedian hosts, lights, sounds, and a full production, game shows are always a hoot. Whether you’d rather play a classic “As Seen on TV” game or one of our interactive music bingo games, we can help you pick the right show for your event. We have all sorts of unique games that have proven again and again to provide a unique experience for everyone in attendance. Everyone gets to participate using their mobile devices, but lucky contestants will get the opportunity to compete up on stage too!
Create Gut-Busting Laughs with a Live Pop-Up Comedy Show
You can create an arena comedy show using your auditorium, or we can create a smaller, more intimate pop-up comedy atmosphere right on your campus! We have the comics to be sure to connect with your students, who have experience working on college campuses and know how to keep things clean, but also keep them connected to the college experience!
Bring the Party with a Live DJ Show
Whether you want to consider having a silent disco for your first week or just want to kick things off with a huge party, we have DJs for every budget. Check out Electric Life Tour, DJ Ravidrums, and Diversity Disco! We also have a program called What the Dance, which features a dance party surrounding a specific artist that your students love!
Teach Valuable Lessons with a Live College Orientation Speaker
Including a college speaker in your Welcome Week is something you should always consider. There are plenty of speakers to help break in your new students, and we have an incredible assortment to choose from here at Neon! One of the most important topics to cover is alcohol awareness, and that may not seem like a fun concept, but we have some seriously fun speakers who create an engaging and exciting atmosphere for younger students!
Great Add-ons to Any Welcome Week Event!
360 Photo Booth
No matter what events you’re planning, incorporating a 360 photo booth in your welcome week extravaganza is something we highly recommend. It brings the students’ event to life and provides them with a memory they will always remember. You can also consider other options like the classic photo booth or multiple options with the pop-up photo op package!
Turn to Neon for Welcome Week events and entertainment! We are your go-to provider for all things college events all year round! If you have any questions about your event, need a quote, or want to go over your options, let’s talk!
