Perhaps I am just your average geek but I do like to use stats. In KY the avg volunteer hour is worth $14.08. That is kind of an eye opener. I also like to talk about how comfortable it makes kids to see another mom, dad, or grandparent at school. Sometimes teachers are intimidating to students. I was very intimadated by teachers and most grown ups when I was a little girl. What few times I did see a mom it made me feel better. Personal experiences go a long way. If you put different spins on it, someone will say; "Hey, I never thought of that." Also most people do not know that the volunteer hours logged in help in getting grants.

I've done so much research and reports on this for my classes I use alot of things from there. www.nea.org and www.educationworld.com has some interesting research on this matter. For example:
Students with involved parents are more likely to:

Go to college
Have better social skills
Earn higher grades
Enroll in higher level classes

The list goes on and on. The positive effects are endless.

Laurib's games sound cute. After a quick intro about the importance you could use that game. I did something like that in my Psych class and it was pretty neat.

This idea won't show them how important it is to be involved, but it helps them understand how easy it is.

It is like a baby shower game. I passed out pieces of paper with things like "Find 2 people who remember how much fun it is to dance under a disco ball to YMCA", "Find 2 people who have green thumbs." When it was all done, everyone knew one another and was laughing together, I simply asked "Who had to find 2 people with green thumbs?" Who did you find, when they gave the names, I simply said that those 2 people could help made centerpieces out of the flowers they grow for Muffins With Moms or Teacher Appreciation Luncheons. The people who remember how much fun it is to dance to YMCA, could help plan the Family Dance.

I don't know that this helped you at all, but I hope it gets ideas rolling.

Lauri

P.S. I think I originally got the idea a few years ago for the game here, so thanks to whoever originally posted it. It works great.

I want to open our PTO meeting and show parents how important it is for them to be involved in their child's education, but I'm stuck on what I should do. I'm trying to find an icebreaker or some other activity to get the point across.

PLEASE HELP!!!