School dances are exciting at any age, from a spring sock hop in elementary school to a winter formal in high school. There are so many options for decor and dress code at any budget and these school dance themes will give you ideas for any dance you may be planning for your community!
We’ve rounded up unique themes by decade, season and just for fun so you can narrow down the exact theme and get a few ideas to get you started on planning, too!
School Dance Themes by Decade
Choosing a decade is a great way to pick a cohesive dance theme that everyone (or at least, all the parents!) will know! Time period themes give great opportunities for dress codes and costumes which can make for a fun costume contest element to your school dance, too! Here’s a few jumping off points:
Roaring 20s
Sparkles, fringe, fascinators and fedoras are on the dress code for a roaring 20s party! Decorate with plain table clothes but add sequin runners to save money, and hang up all the fringe curtains you can find. Think one of Great Gatsby’s infamous parties for this one!
50s Sock Hop
Get out the black and white checkered tablecloths and serve diner food at a 50s sock hop dance! Pink, blue, black and white is the iconic color palette to choose here along with an inflatable (or cardboard) Cadillac, fake milkshakes as decor and poodle skirts on the dress code list!
Peace, Love and Dance Party
Tie dye, peace signs and retro flowers abound for a 60s inspired school dance theme! Turn pool noodles into giant peace signs and cut out flowers for brightly hued poster board. Glue tiny daisies to balloons. Tie dye a white drop cloth for a photo backdrop, or create a cardboard VW van to pose with! Have a smaller school? Offer up a tie dye station for kids to dye their own shirts!
Disco Fever
Get down to Abba tunes at a 70s themed disco! Disco ball balloons and oversized cardboard records to hang from the stage or DJ booth and bell bottoms are required (or at least, strongly suggested)!
80s Dance Party
Ask everyone to don their leg warmers and head to an 80s dance party! Decorations in bold, neon colors, boom box balloons and big hairdos are all you’ll need for this exciting bash!
Saved By The Bell – 90s Throwback Dance
Decorate with posters of popular 90s boy bands, use graphic 90s shape elements cut from cardboard and pair it with turquoise, pink and yellow streamers and balloons with 90s phrases on the tails! Set up a photobooth with 90s style phones and props and you can even find CDs as plates!
Through the Decades Dance
Why choose one decade when you can choose them all? Have different stations featuring icons from each decade (one for food, one for a photo booth, one for an activity) and have students dress in the decade of their choosing. Have a costume contest, with one prize for each decade!
Themes by Time of Year
Are you having a winter formal? Spring Fling? End of the year bash or holiday event? These school dance themes lean into the season , making it even easier to find decorations for your event!
Winter Wonderland
For a winter dance or formal, a winter wonderland theme is magical. Stick with a color palette of white and silver. Cut out hundreds of paper snowflakes and fringe garlands for the ceiling, put up battery powered twinkle lights and cover any walls in silver fringe curtains. Bonus points if you can procure a snow machine!
Sweetheart’s Dance
If your school is planning a dance in February, go with a Sweetheart’s theme and embrace the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday! Get dozens of heart shape balloons (or make your own heart out of balloons!), make a path of hearts leading to the dance floor and pass out heart shaped sunglasses. Ask everyone to wear pink or red!
Flower Power
Spring Fling? Go for a flower theme! Make a photo backdrop out of faux flowers, make giant tissue paper flowers to hang from the dance floor ceiling and set up a flower crown stand!
Enchanted Forest Dance
Celebrate Spring ushering in a burst of greenery, foliage and flowers with an enchanted forest dance. For the entry to your school or venue, create an archway draped in greenery and faux flowers. Use mushroom motifs as decor accents and place lanterns with faux candles all around the dance floor.
Beach Bash
Closing out the school year? Bring the beach to school before summer arrives! Toss a bunch of beach balls on the dance floor, use surfboard cutouts as decor, make a beach ball garland and play a slew of Beach Boys tunes to dance to! Providing a favor for your students? Beach towels with the school’s name and year!
Camp _____
Summer camp would make such a unique and unexpected school dance theme. Call it “Camp: Fill In Your School Name Here”. Create a faux campfire, cover the tables in gingham tablecloths, pitch a tent and fill it with balloons and even consider incorporating some classic camp games for students who don’t want to dance. Think tug of war, corn hole, horseshoes or Simon Says (for the younger set).
Harvest Ball
If you’re starting the year off with a dance, throw a Harvest Ball. Choose fall shades like yellows and oranges and decorate with pumpkin centerpieces filled with flowers (faux or real), an archway of leaves, bales of hay and plaid tablecloths.
Masquerade Ball
As Halloween approaches, the opportunity for a Masquerade Ball approaches! Guests can wear fancy dresses and suits and bring (or make when they arrive!) a unique mask. Host a contest for the best masks and decorate in dark, moody colors.
Monster Mash Costume Ball
Alternatively, just choose a classic Halloween theme for your dance: a Monster Mash! Guests can come in Halloween costumes and you can choose spooky decor like balloons-turned-eyeballs or festive but cute decor like balloons-turned ghosts! Awards for costumes are a must and for dessert, just serve a candy bar!
Even More School Dance Themes
Below you’ll find a list of even more school dance theme ideas, from color specific ideas to iconography and pop culture references everyone is sure to recognize!
Black and White Gala
There’s nothing more elegant than a black and white gala for a formal school dance theme. It makes the decorating process easier too, everything needs to be just two colors! Think oversized black and white balloons, a black and white dress code and even black and white cookies for dessert!
Let’s Glow
Kids of any age will love a glow in the dark party. This school dance theme is perfect for a gymnasium or auditorium where the lights can be dimmed and signs and decorations paitned with neon paint can be displayed. Keep the decor simple and spend your budget on glow sticks or neon sunglasses for each kid. Have them wear black so the glow sticks pop, or neon so they glow right along with it!
Out of This World (Space Theme)
An outer space theme leaves all sorts of fun opportunities for transforming your dance floor into something out of this world. Turn the ceiling of your school into the sky with glow in the dark stars, foam wreaths and balls turned planets and a giant sparkling moon!
Lights, Camera, Dance Party (Old Hollywood Theme)
Go for a classic walk down the red carpet as the entrance to a Hollywood themed dance party. Set up a step and repeat photo booth, find old movie posters at thrift stores for display, and have each kid write their favorite movie on a giant collaborative bulletin board just off the dance floor! Compile a dance-able playlist of iconic movie songs and hit the dance floor!
Shine Bright
Shine bright with a metallic themed dance! Lean into silver, gold and even rose gold hues by cleaning out those shades at the party store. All metallic everything will make a huge impact on a low budget, and the shiny dress code will be fun too!
Under the Sea
Shades of blue and long balloons turned into seaweed along the stage or bleachers will kick off a great Under the Sea school dance! If you have access to any cool lighting effects or a bubble machine, those will take this theme to the next level. Have guests wear shades of blue and serve themed food to complete the night!
Candyland
A great option for an Elementary school dance is a Candyland theme. Turn long rolls of white paper into Dots candy with colorful paper plates taped on and basic latex balloons (or plastic ball pit balls) into giant candies and lollipops by wrapping them in cellophane. We’ve got the perfect playlist to start you off, too.
New York, New York
Take students to the Big Apple without having to get on a plane! Cut out a city skyline from rolls of large paper and make street signs with some of New York’s most iconic streets! Create a taxi cab Photo Booth with a life size taxi cut from cardboard or wood and serve NYC’s infamous street foods, like pretzels or hot dogs or, of course, pizza!
Color Theme
School colors? The color of the year? A seasonal shade? Throw a dance that has a color theme! Monochromatic decor, food and attire make a big impact!
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Venture to Oz with this movie theme! Turn the path leading to the dance floor into a yellow brick road and make a large rainbow balloon arch. Don’t forget to tell everyone to wear green in honor of the Emerald City, too!
Circus
Step right up for a School Dance Circus! If budget allows, use red and white fabric to turn the school ceiling into a circus tent. If budget doesn’t, choose red and white stripe balloons and a smaller circus tent style Photo Booth! See if a magician can come for a break from the dance floor and get a popcorn machine going to snack on while the watch the tricks unfold!
Tropical Soiree
Go to the tropics with palm frond garlands, balloons and tropical faux flowers at your school dance! There’s lots of fun playlist opportunities with this theme for the dance floor, and you can have fun with the food and drinks too, leaning as far into the tropical theme as you’d like!
Main Squeeze
For a spring or summer school bash, try a fruit theme! Make oversized foam fruit, a colorful balloon garland full of fruit slice balloons and a few giant citrus balloons, too. Dress code can be citrus hued dresses and ties and everyone can dance the night away with their main squeeze!
I hope these school dance themes provide you with exactly what you need to get started planning this fun event to bring your students and school community together. Have fun!
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