The fifteenth annual Sibs N’ Kids Weekend will welcome hundreds of students and their siblings to the University starting at 4 p.m. on today.
Sibs N’ Kids is a weekend designed to showcase the University to the families of current students through free food, games and activities, said Kristin Pikunas, University Activities Organization’s director of the Sibs N’ Kids Weekend.
UAO organizes the weekend every year and hopes students leave their dorms to join the festivities, she said.
University students are invited to join in, regardless of if they have a sibling or not, said Samantha Beane, a UAO member helping plan the weekend.
“It’s a great opportunity for BG kids to see the campus,” Beane said.
Every year UAO creates a new theme to reinvent the atmosphere of the weekend from past years. This year a camping theme called “Camp Falcon” was chosen which will have corresponding flags, blow-up dolls and mess halls to complete the camp atmosphere, Pikunas said.
“It helps build a better campus community,” said Janay Williams, a UAO member helping plan the weekend.
The “Camp Falcon” theme is only presented through UAO sponsored activities because of the difficulty of trying to coordinate the large number of planned activities, she said.
At least 21 campus services and organizations, such as the Sweet Shoppe and the Elem3nt dance team, will join UAO in hosting activities throughout the weekend, according to the Sibs N’ Kids schedule.
Almost 50 activities are planned for the weekend like cornhole games, karaoke with root beer floats and laser tag in the Union multipurpose room, according to the Sibs N’ Kids schedule.
While the Sibs N’ Kids weekends have traditionally been geared towards a younger audience, the UAO is attempting to branch out to teenagers, possibly to help show the University in a positive light to potential future students, Pikunas said.
“We’re trying to develop the weekend for all age groups,” she said.
That development lead to a Hunger Games training session, which starts at 10 p.m. Saturday night and runs until 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning in the Union ballroom, Pikunas said.
The Hunger Games is a night-based event for teens and is considered one of the biggest activities of the weekend, she said.
UAO is hoping that by branching out to more age groups the guest population will grow larger from previous years, Pikunas said.
More than 1,000 people attended last year’s Sibs N’ Kids weekend, and more than 600 are registered for this year, she said.
“It’s definitely worth it for students to come,” she said. “It’s all free and college students live that up.”
