Let the Valentine’s Day Games begin…again! I just love holidays in Kindergarten. They can be a bit stressful because there is some pre-planning and shopping involved as well as calling in the cavalry of parents and organizing everyone so that the week and the party run smoothly and most of all is FUN! Everyone should have fun-the children, the teacher and the parents involved. No one should get stressed out at all! So is you are reading this best, rest assured-I will not allow you to get stressed out! I promise! Read on and see for yourself. I will show you step-by-step how I made my party fun (with the help of parents of course-because I am not a superhero!) I am looking forward to doing so again this year!!!!!

Several years ago…this is what I wrote….”Oh my goodness- Valentines Day is next week and I haven’t even planned the party yet! So, what’s a teacher to do after deciding to not just do the same thing that I did last year? Me-I searched the internet and Pinterest, of course, and found some amazing inspirations for crafts, games and activities! Here they are! Enjoy all the free stuff! Just click and print. If you like it, share with another parent or teacher or leave me a comment-it would just make my day!”

…It is the day before Valentine’s Day. Honestly, I have enjoyed this holiday more than Christmas! We made our card baggies, I made the heart puzzles and hershey kiss game. I printed out the Conversation Heart Bingo and had it laminated. I plan to add the final touch to my classroom by adding pink and red butcher paper table coverings with heart die-cuts sprinkled on top. My “plan” is to do this before school, so that the students can write Valentine messages on their tables to show off their writing skills to each other and to any visitors that my come by. Send me some good vibes that I can get this done….and Happy Valentines Day!”

Valentine Card Bags (from: mrsleeskinderkids) This is my inspiration.

These are the party bags my class made on Friday. I showed my students how to fold small pieces of paper and draw a half a heart, so they could cut out their own hearts. They had so much fun making these card holder bags. Aren’t they cute?!! I think they look just as cute on brown lunch bags (this kept me from having to buy the white ones, which are very hard to find at stores, days before the big V-day). I like saving money!

Parent Letter to ask for Learning Station materials and Party items Parent Valentine letter

Color by Letter-Free Printable! The cupid printable below can be printed by clicking here: http://www.reading-with-kids.com/images/valentine-cupid-color-by-letter-coloring-page.jpg

Color by Sight Word! Free Printable! Just click here: http://teachersnotebook.com/product/MoffattGirls/valentine-color-by-sight-word# follow this link then click the BLUE download button. You do have to enter your e-mail address.

Teacher Valentine Gift to my Students

Ok, this is my idea-now I have to make it come to pass. My plan is to cut out heart puzzles from red and pink poster board. Then I will cut the heart into a puzzle, put into a ziploc bag and then label it: “I love you to pieces! Love, your teacher!” This will be special, fun, inexpensive and memorable. Now, I have to do it. I will post a picture when I do….I have less than 5 days to go…. Here is a picture of this puzzle made on construction paper (http://www.makeandtakes.com/valentines-day-classroom-party-ideas) Keep scrolling down to see the one I made after all this inspiration!

I just found a link online, where you can print out a heart-shaped puzzle that says, “I love you.” You can also customize it for free to say what you want it to say. Here is the link: Printable Heart-Shaped Puzzles

Here are the Puzzles that I actually made…. I bought 3 hot pink poster boards at Wal-Mart @ .77 each. I was able to draw 6 hearts on each one. Then I randomly cut each heart into a puzzle then placed it in a ziploc bag. Next, I printed out the label. You just fold it lengthwise and staple. I think this is the inexpensive way to go!

Ziploc Bag label-I LOVE YOU TO PIECES

Hand-made Valentine Heart cards for Parents – I bought a 24 pack of 8″ doilies at Dollar Tree for $1. I showed my students how to cut out a folded paper to make a heart. Then I gave them a white doilie and tissue paper squares along with glitter. The rule was: write a Valentine message to get your glitter. Kindergarteners love glitter, I must say!

Conversation Heart Writing Station– I cut these hearts out of pastel tag-board paper and wrote simple sentences that contained our sight words. Under the document camera/projector, we looked at real conversation heart candies and noticed how they had words on them and not sentences. I then gave the students pink die-cut hearts (a whole basket full) so they could write their own Valentines for anyone that they wanted to. It was so cute to see several boys race to write as many as they could. They made some for me and for their friends in our class and other Kindergarten classes. Love and friendship is in the air!

Heart Concept Web – After reading several books and viewing short movie clips on Discovery Education video’s, the students took turns telling me what they learned about Valentines Day. I use a large piece of butcher paper for this. This is a great way to see if they remember what was just taught. Any time I have students dictate their words to me, I write down their words and then put their name in parenthesis. Then, later the students are able to write what they said.

Love Poem for Mom: Poetry Station – This is a little poem I wrote because I would rather think of a short and simple poem instead of searching the internet for half an hour to find a short, Kindergarten friendly poem. As a class, we took turns using a highlighter to color the sight words. In the Poetry station, the students grab a mini-poem and do the same thing, then paste it in their poetry notebook journal. Next, they decorate it with hearts. Love Poem Printable- Free Click here Here is a poem I wrote, entitled “Cupid.” Click to print: Cupid Poem

Sight Word Matching Game: Word Work Station – I bought these cute little plastic heart-shaped boxes from Dollar Tree (10-12 to a pack). I write one sight word in the inside of the box and the same word on the top of the matching lid. Before placing these into the Word Work Station, I introduced the activity whole group by passing out two to each student. They had to find their matching word partner and then sit down. They loved it!

Iphone/Ipod Valentines – (from: livinglocurto.com)

These are so cute and smart looking. They are made with a free printable from: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/01/iphone-valentine-free-printable/ and it is then wrapped around a mini-box of conversation hearts. It is a larger file and takes some loading time.

Heart Subtraction/Addition – Here is my inspiration….The students roll a dice and count the dots, then they roll another dice that has + and – on it. By rolling +3 they add three blocks to the heart. By rolling -2 they subtract 2. The first one to fill up their heart, wins!

Hershey Kiss Addition and Subtraction Game – This is what I made. Look at the cute Hershey kiss flag! I drew a hershey kiss on gray construction paper then drew 10 circles and added the flag label. I used a foam block to make the dice and used a snap cube and a Sharpie to add the + and – sign to each side.

Cupids Arrow Party Game

“Basically what you do is you set {heart-shaped if you have them} bowls across the room and place some tape on the floor so the kids will know where to stand. The kids then load their “arrows” (straws) with a Q-tip one at a time and blow them out, aiming for the bowl across the room. The team or person with the most Q-tips in the bowl at the end of the time is the winner!” This super idea from: http://room-mom101.blogspot.com/ *Suggestion from a reader-Please be careful that children do not suck in the q-tip! Also, children must not share straws!

Valentine Party Station Games – A New Twist on the Traditional “Valentine’s Party”

My school gave us an hour time frame for our party. I got this great idea of rotating students through these activities from a former room mom, Mrs. Hollyday. Although I was skeptical at first, she showed me how to pre-plan and assign a parent to each station. It worked so well and I got so many compliments from visiting parents. I think it just makes the party more exciting, compared to doing everything whole group. So, my stations were: 1. Cupid’s Arrow 2. Hershey Kiss Subtraction/Addition 3. Conversation Heart BINGO 4. Picture Frame Craft 5. Craft #2 (I had a parent bring in a surprise craft-butterfly hearts).

Here are the direction signs for each station: Valentine Party Station Games

I added large butcher paper-cut hearts to each table. The morning of the party, the students wrote their own messages on them!

This is the Cupid Game that I created. My students played this game at the Valentines party (with a parent to help assist-whew!). They liked it so much that I made it be a Math learning station for the remainder of the week. So, I decided not to use the straw and q-tip idea from above (germs!). The kids loved this so much! I used pipe cleaner arrows and the students had 5 turns in a row to aim and fire. The Parent in charge of the game, had a sticky note with each child’s name on it, to record their score. They were able to compare numbers to see who had the largest number. Yes, some of the children were competitive, but the adults just reiterated that this is just for fun!

CUPID’S ARROW GAME

Conversation Heart BINGO – I like this blank template because each year the conversation heart candies have new messages. I think I saw one that says “text me.” That didn’t exist when I was a kid! I plan to dump out my bag of parent donated hearts, read the messages and then write them into the BINGO boards. (Update: I have these printed…yeah! I am making progress!)

Print this for free from this site: http://tinyurl.com/4c3ww5o

Here is the Conversation Heart BINGO game. I printed and laminated them.

HERSHEY KISS GAME

PICTURE FRAME STATION – These were made by putting foam stickers onto little red framing mats.

Below are some other fun activities we did before Valentines Day

These ladybugs and flamingo’s (made from heart shapes) turned out so cute! I found the free printable at enchanted learning. The children colored and cut out hearts, very carefully and meticulously!

Valentine Cards Alternative – I have 3 children of my own (ages 6, 8 and 11) and I want them to be able to take a special treat along with Valentine cards to their classmates. However, I do not want to bake or buy cookies or cupcakes. I don not want to buy erasers or bubbles either, because all of those cute and sweet little things add up to big bucks for 3 children! So, this year, we (well, my and my daughter-because my boys could really care less!) decided to make a “Treat bag Valentine Card” combination.

Print out the heart label above. There are a few variations on 2 pages: Valentine Smore Cards

Shopping List for the above “Valentine Card Alternative”

Target Brand Graham crackers: $1.70, Marshmallow’s .99/bag @ Target, Hershey’s Mini Nugget Chocolate’s $2.96 @ Target, Heart Decorated Mini-Ziploc Bags $1.00 @ Dollar Tree/50 count.

For you Mathematicians, here are some more logistics…1. Each Graham Cracker Box= 18 rectangle crackers 2. Each bag of chocolates-33 pieces 3. There are 40 Marshmallows in each bag (So, for my 3 children, with 20 children in each of their classes, I was able to make 60 Valentine card bags by purchasing 2 marshmallow bags, 2 ziploc bag packages, 2 bags of chocolate and 3 boxes of graham crackers for about $15-wow! So, it was a card and treat in one! My daughter is so excited!

This is a visual that I use to help my Special Needs students. It also helps everyone, honestly! I put a heart die-cut on our class calendar to show students WHEN the party is. Each time they ask, I point to the calendar! During the calendar, we count down how many days until the party! I use this visual strategy for anything different or any important event that will be occuring.

MATH Station- I found heart shaped jewels at Dollar Tree (50 for $1.00) My children love these. First, we counted them! Then, we used these ten frames from TpT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Common-Core-Math-with-Hearts-10-Frames-and-Word-Problems-1106930

There is more to come…stay tuned!!!!!