Class Valentine's Party

Well after much cutting and pasting last night, I'm all set for Jack's class party today... volunteers to bring in food and drink are in place, crafts and games are prepared, and 24 Valentine cards are finished. 

We were planning on making this card last year but right after I had taken the photo, our computer crashed... we decided to try again this year. I got this great idea from my very clever friend, Maryfrances - you can see her super cute cards here. 

We started with this photo -

 

and with a little photoshop magic, plus some Scrapper's Floss to hold the tootsie pops in place, we wound up with these

 
pretty cute, huh? I think this is a great "boy" Valentine - not too frilly or mushy :)  

It makes me sad to think that this is the last time we'll be making Valentines together - my boys don't do a lot of crafty things with me, but we do have a tradition that started when my oldest was in preschool of making class Valentine cards by hand each year (wish I had the foresight back then to take photos from each year - wouldn't that make a cute mini album?!) Now that my older two are in all boys schools, Valentine's Day is pretty much a non-event and this is Jack's last year in elementary school... sniff...

Here is my pile of party paraphernalia...

The puffy paper heart in the photo is the prototype that Jack made last night - you can read more about the class craft project here. I have added a Loopy Brad at the top threaded with Pink Scrapper's Floss so they will be easy to hang as a decoration. 

I have found that it is nice to have a mix of games the whole class can play as well as "stations" set up around the class where smaller groups can work on different activities. 

For the whole class games we are doing a Heart-2-Heart Relay and Buzz Bomb Balloon:

Heart-2-Heart Relay (idea from Kaboose.com)

Supplies:

• 2 Large construction paper hearts per team

How To Play: Divide children into teams. The first person of a team takes the 2 hearts and lays one of the hearts out on the floor. The child steps on the first heart and then places the second heart in front of them. The child steps on the second heart, reaches back and picks up the first heart and then places that heart in front of them. Continue to the end of the course and then run back and tag the next team member. Variation: Divide the teams in half and have the person walk on hearts to the other side.

Buzz Bomb Balloon (idea from Amazingmoms.com)

Supplies:
1 balloon per player, not inflated
Tape or string to make a target 
Formation: line or circle

All players inflate their balloon. Some players may need help
When the adult helper says "1,2,3,GO!"
The players release their balloons in the direction of the target. 
If you are having a theme party, use a picture from the theme as 
the target center. Score 5 points for the closest balloon and 15 points 
for a direct hit. This game works well with teams - each team gets their own colored balloons; red, blue, green etc. Or, you do not need to keep score at all and just have fun playing the game several times.

(for our variation the boys all get red balloons and the girls get pink; instead of string, I have a poster board and I drew a large red heart in the center (15 pts) and small hearts around the outside - if it lands anywhere outside the center heart but still on the poster board they get 5 pts. I think they will have a lot of fun with this!)

While some kids are eating, others can wander around to the two stations - one will be a Donut game and the other will be the Stacking Hearts game.

The Donut Game (idea from priceless-teaching-strategies.com)

My students loved this game - The day of the party, I would buy a couple of dozen donuts (depending on how may students in my class). Ask the students their favorite kinds and please be aware of any allergies.

Divide the students into groups of 3 and give each group a 3-4 foot long piece of strong string/butcher cord.

While two students hold each end of the string, the third student places a donut through the string and with hands behind his/her back, tries to take a bite of it, as the other two students slide the donut from one end to the other by moving the string gently.

Once the student takes a bite he/she switches places and the next student gets a chance and the game continues. TONS OF FUN.

Stacking Hearts Game (idea from AmazingMoms.com)

Making a tower of hearts isn't as easy as you think.
This racing game creates shouts, cheers and laughter.
You'll need to buy plenty of small conversation hearts,
I recommend a few bags. The object of the game is to
build the tallest tower in the allotted amount of time
(30 seconds should do). When the time is up, the kids 
count the hearts to see who is the winner. Then the 
next players have a turn. This game is usually a big 
enough hit for each player to request another turn.

(I bought 3 bags of the larger candy hearts and found that 60 seconds was better for older kids)

That should keep everyone happy - I hope! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone - I'll post the winners of the giveaway over the weekend - good luck!

Comments

[Jing-Jing]

That photo is ENTIRELY too clever, I need to borrow that idea for next year :) TFS!

[Alice Golden]

thanks Jing-Jing - you need to check out my friend Maryfrances take on the photo - I think I like that pose even better.

Happy Valentines Day!

[Maryfrances Fabbri]

Hey Alice, the valentines came out awesome. Just love the pose you chose. And the heart is super cute....so how long it take the kids to make them?

[Jamaica Rice]

I love the picture idea! Was there an app that you used?

[Alice Golden]

Thanks Jamaica! I created this several years ago - before great iPhone pics and apps - so I used Photoshop. I know there are several apps around that let you add text to a photo but I don’t have one to recommend. I would google it and see what the latest ones are - they change all the time.

Best,
Alice