Valentines Day

I’ve spent years and years planning classroom parties.  In all honesty, it was just another thing added to my long list of duties that I dreaded.  Who has time to plan a party when there is a mountain of curriculum that I need to get through?  I loved it when I had a super involved parent that took control and planned the party for me, but unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of parent every year.

About three years ago, my friend and I were both in the same boat and we were on our own with planning our Valentines Day party.  We put our heads together and came up with, in my opinion, the BEST party I’ve ever had in my teaching career.  Not only was it the best party, it was the easiest party I’ve ever planned.

We called it…”THE HEARTY PARTY”

Basically, we planned a dance.

A simple dance with our Kindergarten students turned out to be a huge hit with our kiddos.

This is what we did…

1.  Sent a note home and explained to our parents that we were having a dance and to dress their children in their fanciest attire the day of the party.

2.  We had a parent bring a disco ball.

3.  We had our parents donate treats and drinks.

This was on the menu…

Valentine Floats with licorice straws

jello hearts

cupcakes (these are cherry chip cupcakes from Bakindom.com)  YUM!

sugar cookies

and “LOVE POTION”  ( This recipe is from Eclectically Vintage )

4.  In a note home to parents, we also asked parents to send in board games for the children to play.

That’s it!!!

  Remember high school dances when you and your friends had your pictures taken with a themed background?  This is what my friend and I did.  We created a heart backdrop and hung it up in the hallway.  During the party, the kids could get their picture taken alone or with friends.  We had a parent sit in a chair next to the backdrop and had her take pictures of the children the entire time.  They loved this!  Since they had their super fancy clothes on, they were so excited to have their pictures taken.  This was also a great keepsake for parents!

I used the 10 inch and 6 inch Happy Heart cut outs from Creative Teaching Press for a stunning backdrop!

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For “The Hearty Party” letters, I used Dot-to-Dot Letters from Creative Teaching Press

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The day of the party, their was such an excitement buzzing throughout our classroom!  Both Kindergarten classrooms were asked to wear their fanciest clothes and they didn’t disappoint.  The girls came in with their prettiest dresses and the boys wore sweaters, khakis, and even suits and ties!  They were so cute!

The party started in the afternoon, so during our lunch, my friend and I moved tables and created a dance floor including a glitzy disco ball in the center!  We set up a table with snacks and created another table with Love Potion and Valentines Day floats.

In my friends classroom, we set up board games for the children to play in case they didn’t feel like dancing.

We hung our backdrop in the hallway.

WE WERE READY!

We explained to our students that they could move back and forth between the two classrooms.  We even had a parent stand in the hallway the entire time to make sure that children were supervised between the transition of classrooms.  They loved having the freedom and being allowed to visit the other Kindergarten room!

So, we dimmed the lights and turned on some Kidz Bop and WE HAD A PARTY!

Nothing makes me smile more than watching children dance.  I find that my quietest students come out of the woodwork the minute the music starts playing!  Kids LOVE to dance!  Most of the children chose the “dance room” as opposed to the game room.  We laughed and had so much fun!   They danced, I danced, parents danced…it couldn’t have been better.   The children stopped occasionally for a yummy treat, but for the most part, it was dancing non-stop for two hours.

This was the party that I will remember forever.  This was the party that I saw a different side to my students.

My party was planned with my Kindergarten class, but would be perfect for any grade level.  It involved very little planning and preparation.  I would definitely recommend a dance party if you find yourself in a pinch and need to plan something FAST.

I guarantee, this will be a party your students will never forget!