2.13.2012

5 last minute cheap and easy valentine party ideas... including Minute to Win-It ideas...


I've posted a bunch of Valentine ideas found here - valentine box ideas, valentine party ideas and more.  But I found a few more last minute ideas I wanted to share here just in case you are in last minute panic mode.  Don't forget to check out the party and box ideas!


1. Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe
Another "Grandma School" find from my mom's weekly lessons.  I thought this was SO cute and so simple.  My style for sure!  You simply need a large pink (or valentine color poster board).  Cut it into a heart and draw the tic-tac-toe board in black marker.  Next my mom sewed 5 red and 5 white hearts out of felt material.  You do this by cutting out 10 red hearts and 10 white hearts of the same size.  Sew a seam around the edges of all of the hearts leaving a small opening to pour beans into.  Then finish stitching up the final hole.  Because it's felt material, you don't have to do anything else because the edges won't fray!  The kids had so much fun with this!

2. Don't Eat Val
Another cute idea I saw was an adaptation on my "Don't Eat Pete" game...I heard the idea to do "Don't Eat Val" instead.  What a cute twist to make it more valentine themed!
3. Paper Heart Pickup
I remembered that one year I cut hearts out of paper and gave each child a straw.  They had to see who could pick up the most hearts by sucking them up with the straw.  It was a perfect activity for younger grades!

4. Conversation heart and chopsticks game
A few years ago, I did a chopstick/Candy Heart game I found on Family Fun...


Finally, for my daughter's class, we are doing "Minute to Win-It" games.  I will take oodles of pictures tomorrow, but here are some fun minute to win-it games we did at our last Halloween/Christmas parties (hence the orange colors/Christmas wreath) that can be converted to valentine ideas...

5. Minute to Win It Games:

Elephant Walk - Line water bottles with conversation hearts in them or red gatorade bottles.  5 on each side, equidistant from a center line.  Use pantyhose with a small pumpkin in them and put it on your head. With one foot on either side of the line, walk down the line and knock over the bottles in one minute or less.

Rings on a Straw - Lay 10 valentine rings on a table in a circle formation or straight line.  Using a straw in your teeth, pick up all of the spiders without using your hands and keep them on the straw at the same time. 

Pencils in a cup  - Bounce 5 valentine pencils into 5 cups. Bounce them on the eraser side :)

Stacking cups pyramid  - see if you can stack a pyramid of cups and take them all down in 1 minute or less.  (Red Solo cups are perfect for Valentines!)

This Blows - Stack 10-15 cups on a table.  Using the air from 1 balloon, blow the cups onto the ground in 1 minute.  You must stay on the other side of the table.

Face the Cookie -  Place a cookie on the forehead. Without using hands, slide the cookie down your face into your mouth in one minute.  This one is hard!

Conversation Heart Hose - player must remove one candy corn from the bottom of each leg of a pantyhose only using their hands.  Hands start at the top of the panty hose at the beginning.  If you touch any part of your body, you're out and if the candy heart falls out, you are out. Harder than it sounds :)


Separation Anxiety - Player must separate a pile of 50 multicolored chocolate covered candies into 5 separate containers in a set color order.

Suck it Up- In one minute, students must use a straw to suck up conversation hearts and stack them in a stack of 10 on top of each other.

Valentine Wreath - In one minute try to get a set amount (or as many as possible) of giant marshmallows through a heart wreath and into a bucket.
Have fun!! The great thing about this post is you will have most everything right at home!

See more fun Valentine Ideas in our Valentine Section, full of Valentine box ideas, games, treats, activities and gifts!!
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