A neighborhood block party is a great idea for a couple of reasons. First, they provide an opportunity for neighbors to socialize at least once a year. Second, even if you don’t become best friends with everyone, it becomes a little easier to distinguish neighbors from strangers lurking in the neighborhood.

Remember, you will need to check with your local or county government if you want to close a street or part of a street. To get you started on planning your own party, here are some basic guidelines:

• Invite one or two others in your neighborhood to help with the planning
• Hand-deliver invitations or place them in the newspaper slot (don’t use the mailbox!)
• Ask everyone to chip in a nominal amount for beverages and table/chair rental (or have everyone bring their own tables and chairs)
• Ask everyone bring their own meat to grill, a dish to pass and table service for their family.
• Dress up the block with streamers, balloons and other decorations.
• Tie balloons to the trees, fences and mailboxes and create a party area using streamers.
• Ask each family to make a family banner to display on its front lawn – this is a good craft to have the kids do during the party.
• Depending on your budget, entertainment can be as simple as piñatas and yard games or as elaborate as pony rides or a mobile petting zoo.  Asking the kids to decorate their bikes for a parade is a very low cost and entertaining activity.

It may sound corny, but name tags are an essential part of the block party’s success. You may have waved at the couple across the street for the last six months and be too embarrassed to say “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name,” and therefore avoid talking to them.  Name tags are also great for kids — in large families with kids close in age, it can hard to distinguish between them.  In very large neighborhoods, it is fun to put pictures of each family’s house on their name tag; people can then associate a face with a house!

These tips should get you started.  After your first successful event, a  block party might just become an annual tradition in your neighborhood. How PERFECT is that?

Have you had a successful block party in your neighborhood? Come visit our forum for a block party discussion!

Kathy Strukel is the owner of The Perfect Solutions, LLC, a private and corporate event planning business in northern Indiana.  Kathy works with brides, families and busiensses to create events that are PERFECT in every way.  When she’s not blogging or planning a party, Kathy loves to spoil her four grandkids and her Maltipoo, Sophie.