Valentine Classroom Party Game: Twister!

This game was so popular and fun at our party! We played it like the typical twister - where I had cards for the colors and cards for left hand, left foot, right hand and right foot. We pulled one color card and one hand/foot card out per turn and the kids had to follow the instructions. For example, if I pulled out a green card and the right hand, they put their right hand on the green heart. {We pulled the color and hand/foot cards out of Valentine lunch sacks, but it could be in any container}.  We continued until someone fell or it got too hard. I had 3 kids at a time on my board as it was small. Since my groups for the class party had 5 or 6 kids in them, whoever wasn't on the board, got to draw out the color cards and hand/foot cards.  They loved it! If I were to do it again, I might try to create a board on white butcher paper and laminate the whole thing for longevity as this was perfect for one day, but wouldn't last past that. It was very enjoyed.

For all of our Valentine Ideas, click here!

Thrift Store Treasures: Homemade Halloween Costumes! Smartie Pants, Anne of Green Gables, Gypsy, Ghostly Girl and Mad Hatter

 In recent years, with 5 kids, we have moved towards trying to come up with cheap, creative homemade costumes. Because Halloween can add up! Here are a couple fun ones we did in recent years. Most everything was purchased from a thrift store OR found in our own house!

Smarty Pants: We bought glasses from the thrift store and popped the lenses out. The suspenders and red generic converse were also from the thrift store! Once we pulled out my daughter's jeans and a white button up shirt, all we had to do was throw in some pony tails and tape smarties to her pants. Super fun and easy!

I have got an AVID reader who was so excited to be Anne of Green Gables.  Other than the wig that we purchased at Halloween Costume shop (it was an Anna wig from Frozen), everything else was from the thrift store!

Straw Hat

Black combat boots

Floral Jumper

Tea Dyed underdress

Green sweater

This one got TONS of complements from all of the readers out there, especially the girls!

Gyspy:

Other than my pink shirt underneath and multiple long necklaces/bracelets from my jewelry box, everything here came from the thrift store:

Skirt

Belly Dancing skirt topper

Vest

Scarf

Handkerchief

Shawl

To top it off, we wrapped a plastic baseball in tin-foil to give me a crystal ball

Ghostly Girl

Not sure why my daughter wanted this, but she did. We went to the thrift store and found this dress and then cut it up and added fake blood to it from a costume shop.  Simply by buying a cheap makeup kit from the same costume shop, we were able to give her a ghostly look. Then we ratted her hair and added leaves to it.

One of my all-time favorite thrift store costumes.  My daughter was the Mad Hatter. If you notice, it's the same vest and scarf from the Gypsy costume.  Complete bonus was that we found the Mad Hatter hat at the thrift store.  She had her own pink boots and crazy patterned tights. Everything else was a thrift store find:

Scarf

Jacket

Vest

Skirt

Hat

I loved this Mad Hatter costume far more than any commercial bought one I found. Just goes to show you that you don't have to spend a lot for an adorable costume!

Happy shopping and Happy Halloween! For more Halloween ideas, click here!

Edible Icecream Bowls Made with Balloons!

My daughter made these the other night and I loved how simple, but cute they were!  A perfect treat for Valentine's Day, Birthday Parties, After School Snack or Summer fun!

1. In a bowl mix 1/2 bag chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil and melt in the microwave 30 seconds at a time. Then stir chocolate and put in microwave another 30 seconds until fully melted.
2. Blow up mini water balloons.
3. On a cookie sheet, lay wax paper down.
4. With a spoon, put a circle of chocolate for each ballon you have (number of bowls you are making).
5. Dip each balloon in bowl of chocolate covering the bottom of the ballon entirely.
6. Place balloon in center of one of the chocolate circles on the tray.
7. Repeat process with all balloons.
8. Leave out to dry for 1 hour or until they are hard.
9. Pop balloons and throw all pieces away.
10. Serve ice cream and toppings in bowl and there you have it!

Enjoy!!

Cute Valentine Box Idea #19 - Vending Machine!

This Vending Machine was a huge hit - I had better pictures but lost them when my phone crashed! 

Supplies:

Large box

Light Red cardstock paper or wrapping paper.

Dark Red Cardstock to cut child's name letters out of and for hearts.

Saran Wrap

Tape

9 small boxes of candy

Glue

Knife or Scissors.

How to make:

1. Cut a large square out of the front of the box.

2. Cut a piece of Saran wrap the size of the front of the box and tape it to the inside of the box - make sure to tape it very well so it will hold up.

3. Glue or tape the 9 boxes of candy face out so that you can see all 9 of them from the front of the box.

4. Once the candy is laying down, cut another piece of saran wrap and put it behind the candy boxes. Secure this second piece of saran wrap very tightly to hold the boxes of candy in. Tape all around the saran wrap edges onto the inside of the box.

5. Close the box lid with tape or glue.

6. Wrap the box with red wrapping paper or red cardstock paper. Ideally entirely around the box if you have enough! Make sure not to cover the saran wrap area!

7. Cut a slit out of the top or side of the box to insert valentines.

8. Decorate the box with darker red, pink and/or purple hearts.  Cut out the letters of your child's name if desired and glue to the box.  Decorate to your hearts content!

This was a fun, unique box that my son was so happy about.  

Check out our other Valentine boxes, crafts, treats and party ideas HERE!

Valentine I "Chews" You Craft!

This is so SIMPLE, and so cute. You can do it to hand out as Valentines or as a craft in class or at the party.  Students cut out their heart out of red cardstock or red posterboard.  Then used zig-zag scissors to cut the heart in half.  Glue the top half to the top of the clothespin and the bottom half to the bottom of the clothespin.  Then glue two eyes on top and voila - you have a fun craft.  Valentine I "Chews" You!!

Check out our other Valentine ideas for boxes, crafts, parties, treats, etc. HERE!

Creative Valentine's Box #16 -#18 French Fries, Hot Air Balloon and Rubix Cube

These are too cute to not share! My friend, Ivey, made these with her kids last year and I fell in love with them.  Such cute boxes to add to my collection of favorites! A McDonalds French Fry Valentine Box, A Hot Air Balloon Valentine 'Basket' and a Rubix Cube Valentines Box...

Pretty sure we will be doing at least one of these this year! Happy Valentine Box Making! Check out all of our boxes and Valentine ideas HERE!

Creative Valentine's Box #15 - Batmobile

 Here's a cute Batmobile box my sister did with her son!

Supplies needed:

Shoe Box

Cardboard

Black Spray Paint

Yellow Spray Paint

Yellow Vinyl shapes or yellow paper

Yellow and Red Tissue Paper

Toilet Paper or Paper Towel empty tube

Optional: Batman Ducktape

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun/Glue

Directions: 

1. Cut cardboard to desired shapes to make top of the car, wings and wheels. Trim paper towel tubes down to desired sizes for tail pipe and bottom of the propeller.

2. With hot glue gun, attach all the parts of the car EXCEPT the propeller and stand to be in the shape you desire. Cut a hole out of the back of the shoe box and slip paper towel tube in for tail pipe. (Optional, if you have batman ducktape, wrap the tail pipe with this instead of spray painting it. If you do this, don't attach it until you have spray painted.)

3. Spray paint the entire car/wheels/top with black spray paint.

4. Cut 6 cardboard strips of cardboard for the propeller.

5. Spray paint propeller strips with yellow spray paint and let them dry. Also spray paint toilet paper tube for the base of the propeller.

6. Once propeller parts are dry, hot glue together and affix to the car.

7. You can either make batman yellow shapes with a vinyl cutter or with yellow cardstock paper.  Affix these to the car where desired.

8. Cut an opening flap out of the front of the box to drop Valentines into.

9. If tail pipe still needs to be put on, do so now and then hot glue red and yellow tissue paper coming out of the tail pipe to look like fire.

This box is sure to make a super hero fan's day! See our other Valentine Boxes and Ideas!

Creative Valentine Box #13 - Valentine's Wii!

My 4th grade daughter made this Wii Valentine's Box all herself and I thought it was a fun idea! This is about as easy and simple as it gets and I loved that she was able to do it 100% herself...

Supplies Needed:

Smaller Sized Cereal Box

Scissors

White Butcher Paper/Wrapping Paper (Regular Paper can work as well)

Tape

White or Red String

2 Rectangular wooden blocks (or empty boxes)

Marker

Paper Hearts, Foam Heart Stickers or other Decor

Directions:

1. Wrap the Cereal box and 2 Rectangular Wooden Blocks with white paper

2. At the end of the cereal box, cut a rectangular opening for Valentines to be able to be inserted.

3. With a marker, draw the buttons and words on the Wii remotes to match.

4. Tape or glue paper hearts and foam stickers on the Wii and remotes as desired.

5. Tape String to the end of the remote to symbolize the cords.  My daughter did it in a big loop.

Simple, make it yourself, and cute!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out our other Valentine's Day Box Ideas and TONS of Valentine's Party, Craft, Game, Treat and Book Ideas!

Cute Homemade Valentines for School Kids

Last year I realized we had moved to a very creative area when my son received 4 homemade Valentines that were adorable and fairly easy {Although not nearly as easy as those Dollar Store Valentine Boxes!}.  Had to share with you all!

 "I Chews You!" with a bag of gumballs

 "You are one in a Minion" with a Minion Twinkie (Some of the cutest, but way more intricate, Minion Twinkies I've seen were here!)

 "Valentine of all the fish in the sea... You're the one for me!" with a baggie of goldfish

"So Glad We're In The Same School!" With a baggie of Swedish Fish. Notice that the card is designed like a fishbowl to represent a "School of Fish"

Don't miss out on our huge selection of Valentine Party Ideas, Gifts, and Valentine Boxes! And please comment below any fun ideas you have seen!

Halloween Balloon Pumpkin Faces

Last year for my son's Halloween party, we made these little gems!  The kids loved them and they were incredibly simple!

Supplies needed:

Orange Balloon

Black Sharpie

Green Sharpie

Green felt cut in the shape of leaves

Scissors

Instructions: 

1. Have children blow up the balloons to preferable size.

2. Decorate balloon to look like a Jack-o-Lantern with balloon tie on the top of the pumpkin.  

3. Cut a slit in the end of the leaf with scissors to allow balloon tie to snugly fit through.

4.  Enjoy!

See our other very fun Halloween Ideas, Crafts, Treats,and Games PLUS creative Costume Ideas!

Creative Valentine Box #11 - Toilet

You are seeing it right.  My daughter requested to make a toilet Valentine's box.  So we did!  As I've said in the past, she loves to think outside of the box {If you remember, she was a refrigerator for Halloween!}. Here's our step by step instructions:

1. Take a cardboard box and wrap it in white butcher paper or wrapping paper.

2. Use a white bucket {this could be a kitchen bowl, empty ice cream bucket, etc.} and with clear tape {I used packing tape} tape it entirely around the box forming the toilet bowl.

3. Decorate toilet bowl to your desire.  It's easiest to use Foam Heart Stickers as they will stick to the packing tape and bowl easily. We put a simple row across the top as shown.
4. Cut out a large heart out of red poster board for the toilet lid and tape this to the back of the bowl only, allowing it to still be opened.
5.  To insert string through the center of the box, tape string to the end of a long chi-ca-bob stick.  Poke the entire stick through the center of the box clear to the back.  Pull the stick through leaving some string on the front of the box.  You should now have string at the front and back of the box. Take the chi-ca-bob stick off, leaving only the string. {You can also use a YOYO   string as I did.  I found cute Valentine YOYOS and my string for the toilet WAS the YOYO string.  This allowed for a fun handle at the back of the toilet as shown.
6. At this point for aesthetic reasons, I poked a hole through the center of 2 red foam hearts, one for the front of the box and one for the back of the box to try and hide the holes in the white box.  You can let them hang or tape them to the box.  See picture below.

7. With scissors or chi-ca-bob stick, poke a hole in the center of the cardboard heart toilet lid. Put the string through this hole and tape it to the inside of the lid so it will not slip through.
8. If you did not use a YOYOS , attach some sort of 3d or paper heart to the end of the string on the back so the string will not slip through to the center of the box.

9.  At this point, the string from the back of the toilet should work in a way where you can lift the lid of the toilet by pulling on it.  Then just manually put the toilet seat lid down to try again.
10.  The final step was sprucing up the toilet.  I added a foam heart to the inside of the toilet lid to hide my string hole.  I added a fun red and white ribbon around the box.  I put red cardboard on the top of the box so it had more red accents. Do whatever spruces it up for you!
11.  Hot glue a VALENTINE YOYO to the side for a toilet flushing handle.
12.  Finally, I added some pink tulle inside the white bucket for some pink accent.

This was really fun to try something different.  My daughter got lots of attention on Valentine's Day for having something different.  And we had fun in the process. 

Check out our other 10 Valentine's Boxes from previous years with step by step instructions.  There are some fun ones!!

And don't forget to check out our other Valentine ideas.

New Years Games and Fun for kids and adults alike!

I've never shared our New Year's Traditions - so here's the scoop in case you want some fun family fun:

New Year's Eve is sometimes a challenge for parents who want to celebrate with their kids and with their sweetheart.  So here's an idea to make both happen!  Early New Year's Eve Day, we change the clocks back 2 or 3 hours allowing the kids to celebrate "midnight" at a reasonable hour (9 or 10 p.m). 

Here's how we celebrate:

For us, New Years Eve would not be the same without Chinese Food.  I even had a New Year's Eve baby one year and ate Chinese take-out in the hospital!

The early evening is filled with games for the kids.  Ours happen to be rather funny traditions that we've done since I was a child.  But any games will do!

"Under the Broom"

With a stack of 10-15 books, kids try to slide under the broom.  Eventually books are moved down one by one to see who can carefully slide under the broomstick the easiest.  You'd think it would be the tiny 4 year olds each time, but you would be surprised how clever everyone gets.

"Dime in the Flour"

Using a cup of flour, turn it upside down in a pie tin.  Then place a dime on the top.  Each child takes turn slicing a way a piece of the flour stack until the dime falls. Whoever makes the dime fall, has to pick it up with their teeth.  Quite comical!

"Categories"

Everyone sits in a circle with one person in the middle with a spray bottle.  The person in the middle announces a category. Perhaps it's cereals or  Disney movies.  Then they progress around the circle and each player guesses something from the category. The person who guesses correctly gets a spray and then moves the to the middle.

"Memory"
 Take a tray of miscellaneous objects.  Make them random.  These could include a penny, a safety pin, package of kleenex, candy cane, spoon, toy lego, pencil, scissors, deflated balloon, etc. etc.  Bring the tray in uncovered and reveal it for everyone to see.  Give them a set amount of time (3 minutes?) to study the items.  Then cover the tray back up and leave the room.  Remove one item from the tray and come back.  Game players must guess what is missing by writing it down on a piece of paper.  Continue doing this until all items are gone. Sometimes I take away 2, just for variety.  When all items are done, go down the list and see who remembered the most items.  This is a great memory game that makes you think!

After some silly games, we culminate the evening with Karaoke and Dancing to Music, which always includes Aud Lang Syne.


At "midnight", we count down and release a crepe paper net of balloons to be popped along with the kid's blowing noise makers to celebrate.



We finish the evening off with homemade trifle and still get the kids to bed at a reasonable hour.  The great thing is, you can still have the rest of the evening to go out on a date with your sweetheart or watch the ball drop in New York together as a couple.

What are your New Year's  Eve Traditions?

Thanksgiving Eve

Did you know the holiday exists?  No it isn't official, but it's been an unofficial tradition for our family and with Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I wanted to share a few fun Thanksgiving Traditions.

Whether  you have lots of family in town or just your own little family, this is still a fun way to kick off the holiday.  On Wednesday evening when school is out and the family is all gathered, we always have a yummy evening of soup and rolls.  For us, it is usually Clam Chowder and He-Man Soup {fondly named by my Grandma in a way to convince the little boy cousins to eat it so they could be strong like He-Man!}.  We gather with cousins {although last year it was just our own little family and we still loved it} and play board games or our favorite card game, Rook .  An epic Rook Tournament takes place each Thanksgiving Eve. My sweet grandma always made her infamous chocolate chip cookies and my Aunt Leah had ice cream with HER infamous chocolate sauce.  The evening usually rolled into watching a movie and as much family time as possible.

Some other fun weekend traditions were renting an entire rollerskating rink with all of our cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles; going to a movie every Thanksgiving weekend; Our Annual Turkey Bowl (Football Game) at the park; A trip to the local penny candy store {That over the years creeped up to more than a penny}, and shopping with the girls.  This year, my heart strings have been tugged a little as I am missing grandmas and aunts who have passed on. But the traditions live on, luckily.

I hope you are gearing up for some great family time this week.  Please share your traditions back in a comment!  We'd love to hear. And in the meantime - here are the recipes for some of your favorite "Thanksgiving Eve" foods.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Clam Chowder
2 cans minced clams
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups finely diced potatoes
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 quart milk or half and half
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar

Chop vegetables.  Drain clams and put juice over vegetables plus enough water to cover and cook in liquid.  Simmer about 20 minutes.  Make white sauce by melting butter and adding flour.  Then add milk and stir until hot and thick.  Add vegetables with liquid, clams, salt, pepper, and sugar.  Don't let it boil after it's all together.

He-Man Soup
Break up 1 lb. extra lean ground beef (raw) into little chunks and put into 2 quarts boiling water.  Add 1 large can tomato or vegetable juice; 1 pkg dry onion soup mix; 1 bay leaf; and ome savory, vegetable spice, or Mrs. Dash.  Add sliced carrots, potato cubes, and chopped onion.  May also add 1 pkg frozen mixed vegetables and 1 cup frozen peas.  Cook until vegetables are done.  Optional: Add 2 cans Campbells minestrone soup.

Grandma's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields 3 dozen
3 c. flour
1 TB soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups chocolate chips
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups coconut
2 cups nuts (Optional)
1 TB baking powder
1 TB cinnamon
1 1/2 cups soft butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 TB vanilla

Mix together.  Use hands to mix chocolate chips, coconut and nuts.  Mix until dough is stiff.
Bake in 350 degree oven approximately 15 minutes.


Hot Fudge Sauce
1 cube margaine
1/2 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix first 4 ingredients in sauce pan and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes.  Add vanilla and serve.

Check out our Thankful Turkey and Gratitude Tree for other fun Thanksgiving Ideas!

10 Favorite Halloween Picture Books

One activity I love to do at Halloween class parties is have a story corner for one of the stations.  Sometimes I have had the story corner combined with a snack or refreshment, so while they are eating, they are still engaged and calm.  There are so many fun Halloween books and some of them are quite interactive as well.  So here I share some of my favorites.  Please comment below and share some of your favorites back!

Halloween Bugs

by David Carter

I love David Carter's creative and silly popup books with colorful and unique bugs!

 

Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat

by Doreen Cronin

By the author of the famous, Click, Clack, Moo!  This is a fun Halloween spin on the book kids love so much.

Five Little Pumpkins

by Dan Yaccarino

Most children and parents have heard the poem, Five Little Pumpkins.  Here's a fun way to let the kids enjoy the poem to pictures.  And here is a link to a fun game you can play in conjunction with the book.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda Williams

A delightful book about a lady walking through the woods at night.  What makes this especially fun for youngsters is the repetitive chants throughout the book that they can learn and repeat with you as you go.  A perfect book for a story corner at a Halloween Party! I even found a fun game that goes along with this book with free printables! An another site with arts on crafts to go along.  I must not be the only one who loves this book!

10 Trick-or-Treaters

by Janet Schulman

A colorful and fun book that teaches children numbers and counting at the same time as the Trick or Treaters disappear one by one.

Inside a House That is Haunted

by Alyssa Capucilli

A great interactive book with lots of repetition as one by one spooky things are added.  Similar to "This is the House that Jack Built" format.  Young children do very well with repetitive books like this that keep them engaged and allow them to interact.

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

by Ed Emberley

A cute book that not only teaches kids not to worry about those nighttime monsters, but also reviews colors in a bright and fun way.  So many cute crafts go along with this, including these cute handprint monsters and paper plate monsters and other activities!

Room on the Broom

by Julia Donaldson

A fun Halloween story about a witch who has to decide if there is room on her broom for unexpected guests.

Humbug Witch

by Lorna Balian

A Halloween story with a twist at the end.  A witch just can't get her magic to work until at the end you discover she is actually a little girl dressing up!

By the Light of the Halloween Moon

by Caroline Stutson

A book I found recently that builds upon itself as spooky things happen by the light of the Halloween Moon.  A great one for young learners and interaction.

See our other Halloween Party, Craft, and Treat Ideas!

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