Christmas Parade Ideas

[GiGi]

Hi All!

I just found out that I'm going to be in our local X-mas parade. Does anyone have any good Christmasy ideas. It seems that every couple months or so I end up doing something that I've never done before and a parade is one of those things. I'm excited though. I think it will be alot of fun!

GiGi

[saphireSue]

Are you walking or riding?

[Sassafras]

Good topic, GiGi!

I will be in my first parade for Thanksgiving and then we'll be doing one for Christmas. I could use some pointers, too.

[GiGi]

It's actually up to me whether or not I walk or ride. There is a float/truck I can ride on if I want or I can walk along with it. I'm not sure which one I should do.

GiGi

[saphireSue]

Well Ashes if the one that's done alot of parades. But depending on how long the route is and comfortable shoes. I couldn't walk ours in clown shoes, I'd be to slow. Most parade now will not let you give out candy as this encourage cliildren to run into the parade and could possible be hurt.
I list some of the things I've seen written

a suitcase with grandma's bloomer written on it in big bold letters, ask the crowd if they want to see them, Open and you have big stuffed flowers [bloomers].

sit on the back of a float with a fishing rod, with a large #1. 'you caught the big one.

If you can move around, try to gift wrap some thing moveable, or a rubber chicken. One we rode in a truck and shot bubbles out into the crowd,

red noses are good give aways but depending on crowd may cost to much

or walk along the route and greet people, bounce on feet when shaking hands or have a sqeeker, pass out stickers, make them squeek,

Go to wal-mart get the circular colored stickers in the office supplies area, 3-500 a container, cheep these make great noses [you will not think so I didn't when first told to try it]but kids went nuts for them.

[Jamz]

You will need a bottle of water and a small sponge to this one
Wet the sponge and hide in your hand then ask people if they want to see your snowball squeeze the sponge so water drips out now start crying it melted
This should work good in Fla

[saphireSue]

That's a good one Jamz

[Scruffy]

Yep. That one gets my vote.... Especially in florida!

[ashes]

Cute, Jamz!

Add a carrot and a couple of black buttons or lumps of coal
and you have a melted snowman, or a snowman kit.


I find that it is very hard to walk fast enough in a parade,
and it is most likely due to the big shoes. However, we
usually follow right after some fire equipment and the firemen
aren't very good at going slow enough for a parade, either.
We've been chastised for going too slow, so these days we don't
get to work the crowd much other than waving.

Comfortable shoes are a must, and our parades are only a couple
of miles long. But when we're done, I'm always whooped!!

I like the "shoe shine" gag -- I carry my doctor's bag with
a sign on the side that says "Free Shoe Shine" Then I stop
and pull out a flashlight and shine it on a spectator's shoes.

Build a big telephone pole out of foam. Have a telephone
connected to it by a long string of uninflated 260 balloons.
You walk out in front, talking on your "mobile phone" while the
other clown struggles with the telephone pole.

For our western days parade, I glue a small western hat on
my (bald) head. It's a doll-sized plastic hat and I use nose
glue. We then ride stick horses. I usually dump small
handfuls of sawdust, and we have one clown following up
with a broom and dustpan. He has thought about a sign
that says "I'm just glad they're not stick elephants."
Everybody has stick horses on brooms, but I have mine on
a mop, and have training wheels on it. It's my horse in
training. Periodically I'll stop and mop an area of the street.

Christmassy - my wife has bought several feet of Christmas
garland and wrapped it around her. Wrap up in a string of
christmas lights and "jingle bells" around your wrists and ankles
as well.

Radio and I wanted to carry a ladder between us and have strings
of lights all wrapped up around us and the ladder. A huge tangled
mess. Use battery-powered lights so they can be all lit up.

If you have a radio-controlled model car, put a santa hat over
it so you can have a santa hat that rolls down the street with
you. You or someone can control it and make it circle back around
and between your legs, etc. My only concern there is how long a battery charge would last.

Well, you can see we have done some of this stuff and thought about
doing other bits.

good luck!

Ashes

[ashes]

Sorry about the duplicate long! post -- the board
stopped responding as I posted all that...

Ashes