Hosting a party and hosting a kickback are totally different things, but the essential items you should have to keep guests entertained and to spice your place up have a lot of overlap. Kickbacks generally are more relaxed and have fewer people. Here are must have household items for hosting a kickback!
There are different types of disco balls you can get, and depending on where you live and what the rules are will determine what you should purchase. If you live in an apartment or are on a lease that doesn’t allow modifications to the place you’re living in, you should definitely get one that you set on tables or the ground. They shouldn’t damage walls, can be moved from place to place, and still spice up the room.
If you live somewhere that does allow modifications and you also don’t mind having a disco ball floating around your living room, go big and get one that can attach to the ceiling.
These are perfect for living rooms or open spaces that you turn into the dance floor or main hang out area of the kickback. They set the mood with the lighting and whatever music you’re playing in the background will make your kickback one your friends won’t forget! They’ll be asking you when you’re going to host the next one for sure.
Get an electric disco ball like I suggested
These are a must for any college house/apartment in my opinion. Even if you’re not hosting any parties, they make your room or living space feel so cozy. They make any party spicy because they set the mood and are an easy decoration you can leave up year round. I honestly think spending 30 minutes hanging them up nicely along the perimeter of the ceiling and wall and leaving them up the whole year is worth the time and effort. You don’t have to worry about decorating for future kickbacks, they’re nice to have up and on when you want to relax and they aren’t distracting when they’re off.
You can either go for the multi-colored lights or go for single colored ones, choose whatever you think represents you more or whatever vibe you’re trying to reach! These are a classic and easy pick for any kickback and don’t hurt the bank.
Get lights similar to this here!
I emphasize the word good here. If you have a nice TV and speakers, great, keep that setup and just use that for your kickbacks. Most people don’t though, especially college students. I highly recommend investing into a high quality bluetooth speaker because it should last a long time so you’ll get many hours of music from it, it will sound great and you can use it for yourself or for hosting.
This is a much cheaper way to play music at a kickback than buying speakers and it takes up much less space. I guess you can invest in speakers too, but the beauty of these bluetooth speakers is that when you’ve finished hosting, you can bring the speaker with you to a different event or activity you go to such as the beach or the park! It will serve you well at the kickback you host and will provide many hours of entertainment outside of it as well.
I’ve gone to kickbacks and parties that have bare walls and I personally didn’t feel too comfortable or really know what to talk about besides the usual, “What are you studying,” and “Why’d you decide to come to this school?” Putting tapestries or wall decorations that have sentimental and personal value or stories behind them provide conversation starters and make your room look cool.
You’d think this would be common sense, but people overlook this simple essential item for hosting kickbacks. If you’re hosting parties often, I’d understand because you don’t want people ruining or stealing your stuff, but kickbacks should have stuff up because there are fewer people and you usually trust and know them. It spices up the room, provides conversation starters, and brings the room together. Bare, empty walls are never fun and feel like you never finished moving in. Put some stuff up before you host your next kickback!
Hopefully your couches and chairs are comfortable since you sit in them when you’re not having guests over, but what I’m talking about here is the seating you break out when you have more than five guests over. Don’t be that person and break out the metal folding chairs or tell them to sit on the floor. If you’re going to host a kickback and chill with friends and your couch seating isn’t enough, invest in comfortable bean bags or folding chairs that have soft linings that also mold to the shape of whoever sits in it.
Usually people will be standing and playing games or drinking at kickbacks, but that depends on the kind your hosting. Most are just that, hang out, dance and talk while drinking it up with buddies. Sometimes though, games are played and people want and need to sit down to play! Grabbing extra chairs that they’ll comfortably sit in is essential to hosting a kickback that people will want to come back to. Also worth it because you can lounge in the chairs if you don’t feel like sitting on the couch or wherever else you usually chill at.
Get a bean bag chair like I recommended
These are essential. They can range from video games to board games to drinking games, but games are a must have item. Part of the entertainment and fun will be in your friends coming over to hang out and in the music, but a much larger part is in what you’ll do. Are you going to be the host who has multiple gaming options like a video game console, card games, drinking games and group party games going on or are you going to rely on conversation all night? And don’t get me wrong, talking is great with friends, but most good kickbacks have games to play at them.
A great party game that anyone can get (and one I recommend) is any Jackbox Party Pack game. You can get them for almost any console, and it’s also available on PCs.
This one will require some thinking on your part, but investing in games you can play at kickbacks or outside of them are definitely worth it!
Get Jackbox games like I recommended
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