• Fill a jar with candy and place it near the front entrance so that they have to go past it. Have each guest write their name on a piece of paper, with the number of pieces they think are in the jar. The one with the closest number to the actual number wins the candy.
• Place a number of items in paper bags or boxes and let each guest feel inside and guess what the contents are. You could use items such as plastic toys, jelly candies, rubber balls, sandpaper, marbles and anything else you can think of.
• Ask everyone in attendance to supply baby pictures of themselves and then try to match up which photo belongs to whom.
• As each guest arrives, give them a small card and the name tag of another person at the party. The idea is to circulate and ask questions about the person on the name tag, jot down the clues you’ve collected. At the end of the activity each person will use their notes to introduce the person on their name tag.
• Use a dictionary and use an unfamiliar word and ask each guest to write down what they think the word means. Everyone then takes turns to read out their definition. The closest one to the correct meaning is the winner.
• Ask each guest to write down three things about themselves. Two will be the truth but the third one is a lie. Each person reads their own statements and it is up to the guests to figure out which one is a lie.
• Gather in a circle and have everyone take off their shoes, tie them together and place them in the middle of the circle. One at a time each guest comes forward and picks up a pair of shoes and makes statements about the owner of the shoes based on the condition or the characteristics of the shoes. The owner of the shoes then stands up and either acknowledges that the information is correct or refutes it. They then pick up the next pair of shoes.
• Play a variety of songs and ask the guests to identify the title, artist and date it was from. You could total up the number of correct answers and the person with the highest number wins a prize.
• Pick a selection of dates or years and give each person a chance to tell everyone what they were doing at the time.

There are many different games you can use as ice-breakers and it’s a great way to meet your new neighbors while you’re all having fun.

1. Decide on the date and time and organize an invitation to either send to your neighbors or hand deliver them. Be sure to mention whether your dancing party has a theme so that your guests will dress appropriately.
2. You have to make the decision of where in your house you’re going to hold your party. If you have a substantial sized house you may want to hold it indoors in a room large enough to fit all your guests. Make sure that you have plenty of room for a dance floor. You may decide to hold it in your backyard and this is a great idea especially if the weather is great. You can set aside an area of your yard for dancing and another area for food and drinks.
3. What about music? Most people these days hire a juke box or they have a decent sized CD player which can hold many cd’s. Maybe one of your neighbors plays in a band or knows of a band who would be willing to play for you. It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you have music. You cannot have a dancing party without music!
4. If you are having a rather large party, you may need to hire chairs, crockery, cutlery and glasses, so don’t leave it until the last minute to source these items.
5. As for food, you may decide to cater yourself, or you could ask each of your neighbors to bring a plate of food. This would cut down the cost and not take up too much of your time. The other idea is to have the party catered. There are many mobile catering services available these days and they can take the hard work out of preparing food for such an event. They bring everything you need for the party and clean up and take it all away with them when the party is finished.
6. Not all of your neighbors will want to attend and decide instead to stay at home. It is up to you to approach them and let them know that there will be noise coming from your dancing party and you are being courteous by informing them. As long as you let people know what is happening then they are usually okay with it.

Once you have everything in place and the evening has arrived, all you have to do is wait for your guests to arrive. As long as you have put the effort into creating a night of fun for everyone, the end of the evening will see you with a satisfied smile on your face!

So what do you need to organize a car wash in your neighborhood for charity?

• You need to know how many people you want to participate. The minimum number you will need is around 10 people.
• Look at a long-range weather forecast to choose the day and time that you want to hold your car wash. You will get far more people to pay for a car wash if the weather is great.
• Make sure that the date is okay with everyone you have asked to help you. If you find that some people can only be there during certain hours, then why not do up a roster so that they’ll only be there for a couple of hours at a time.
• It is not a good idea to hold a car wash in a parking lot, because the suds and water, along with dirt and grime, will run off into the storm drains which then feed into rivers, lakes and the sea. Instead try to get your local car wash involved so that you can make use of their environmentally friendly facilities.
• Make sure that you fill them in on all the details of the charity that you are working for and ask them to advise you if you will need permission from your local authority to hold your charity car wash.
• Is the car wash that you choose in a prominent position? You need one either on a main road or one that is frequented by a lot of customers. Choose a car wash in your local neighborhood, so that you can let as many of the locals know as soon as possible.
• Determine a suitable price for your car wash, because you don’t want to price yourself out of the market, and if people can get a car wash cheaper down the road then they will bypass you.
• Try to get your local neighborhood newspaper to support you by placing an ad in their paper so that people know where you are and what time you will be there.
• Make some big signs and posters and put them up all around the car wash so that they are in a prominent position for prospective customers to see. Make sure that the lettering is large enough for the motorist to read. Be sure to mention on the posters or signs, the name of the charity you are working for, because people are more likely to support you if they know you are working for charity.

Organizing anything in your community is a great idea to get the whole neighborhood involved and it’s also a great way to meet your neighbors. Just make sure that you are having fun while you’re making money for others who are not as privileged as you are.