It’s almost time for Valentine’s! This means some of us will be planning a class Valentine’s Party. If this is you, I have some great tips and tricks for creating a celebration that is well-planned and chaos-free!
Options for Your Celebration
First, let’s talk all about planning out your class Valentine’s Party. There are a few different options for your personal, perfect class party. And these all depend on what works best for you and your class! You could…
- Run Centers
- Create Arts & Crafts
- Complete Valetine activities
- Watch Movies
Try to remember that this is your party! So, you can decide what you’re comfortable with. My favorite holiday celebrations always started with 5-6 centers (with a few easy crafts and activities in there), followed by a snack break, then we ended with a video or read-aloud!
Get Started Planning Your Celebration
First things, first: Request parent/guardian help! Parents often want to be included in class activities! So, if it is safe and you have access to parent support, this can be so helpful! Not only are parents/guardians valuable as volunteers, but it is also a huge help with donating supplies and with material or snack prep!
I like to use SignUpGenius for parent involvement! It makes everything so easy to manage. Create a form with your volunteer requests or supplies needed. You can send the link directly to parents through Class Dojo or your other communication portal. Or, you can send home a QR code or link in your class newsletter. Parents will be able to easily sign up to volunteer, send in supplies, or prep something for your party. *You can even link ideas for the supplies.
Plan it Out: You will want to start planning out what you need. These two free checklists can help you outline and plan your classroom party. You will receive this freebie if you sign up for my email list. Jot down any ideas you have for what you want to do, what you’ll need to collect, prep, etc.
Link: Organizational Freebie
After you get all of your ideas and supplies are written down, create that Donations form and get it out to parents! This will help reduce the number of things you are prepping and buying. Once it is closer to the party, you will be able to figure out what still needs to be done.
Valentine Party Activity Ideas
What To Do: Planning what to do during a class party is so important. They can very easily become hard to manage if they aren’t planned and prepped well. Choosing the type of activities that you’d like to do will help you plan for time and supplies. Are you a centers and crafts type party teacher? Or do you love the simplicity of a class movie time? Either way, you can make your party work for you! I’m going to share eleven ideas that I created or found on Pinterest to help spark your ideas. Now, these ideas can be used within centers or, they can be completed on their own. How you’d like to manage your party is up to you!
Crafts to Make at the Party
Spinning Rainbow Mobile: This cute craftivity is from The Twitchetts! Students will create stacked rainbow hearts out of paper strips and glue or staples. With simple prep and easy-to-follow instructions, this activity is perfect for your class Valentine’s Party. You can even send construction paper home for parents to prep for you (if they volunteer for this). This is also a great whole-group activity if you don’t have a parent volunteer for a station!
Heart Friendship Bracelets– A class Valentine’s party is a great time to create a gift for someone! I love this idea from Make and Takes! Students will have so much fun making these bracelets for their loved ones. Foam sheets and yarn can be on your donations list or picked up from the dollar store! This is a good activity for a station with a parent volunteer. If you are rotating through activities like centers, it will make it easy for the volunteer. When they arrive at the station, the volunteer will help with instructions and assembly.
Easy Valentine’s Bags: These cute paper sack Valentine Bags are easy to make and make exchanging Valentine’s cards and treats easy to manage! The tutorial comes from Kids Activities and can be completed quickly and easily as a whole group. You can even send supplies home in the days before your party and have kiddos bring their bags to school ready to go.
Valentine’s Games and Activities
Valentine 4-in-a-Row FREEBIE– This Valentine’s 4-in-a-Row is a freebie that you will receive when you sign up for my email list. It’s set up a lot like Bingo but it’s simply picture matching. The teacher will call out a Valentine’s item and students will cover their cards. The best thing about this game is that students have to be quiet to hear their items! Download it for FREE here.
Candy Hearts Activity- This sweet activity will have your kiddos sharing the love! Each student will get their own box or pouch of candy. (Conversation Hearts, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, or M&Ms will work!) Create a key for each color of the candy you choose. Students will create a Valentine for each color candy they get. For example, if they have 4 red candies, 2 green, 1 blue, and 1 orange: they will write a valentine for 4 friends, 2 classmates, 1 family member, and 1 teacher or staff member!
Valentine’s Pictionary- Another easy activity for your class party! Write a bunch of Valentine ‘s-themed topics on cut-out hearts or popsicle sticks. Partners or groups will take turns drawing a topic and drawing them out to get their classmates to guess the correct topic! No sounds, no words, just drawing!
Valentine’s Directed Drawings- Directed drawings are great time fillers and fun for everyone! These are my favorite Valentine-directed drawings from Art for Kids: A Valentine Robot, and A Valentine Envelope.
Printables and Coloring
Valentine’s Day Flip Book- Students love these fun and functional reading flip books! Not only will they be learning by reading and writing about Valentine’s Day, but they will also be having fun creating this cute craftivity!
Valentine Reading Sets- These are another set of activities that can be done before or during your class Valentine’s Party! Add them to a center or use them for morning work or reading activities for the day. Students will read about Valentine’s Day topics and show their understanding through writing and comprehension activities!
Valentine’s Coloring– Something as simple as a coloring sheet can make kiddos happy. It’s not something they get to do a lot, so coloring sheets on a party day can be a lot of fun. Plus, these coloring sheets have students practicing sight words!
Click here to purchase each of the low-prep resources:
Movies and Videos to Watch
If you’re looking for a low-key, low-maintenance Valentine’s Day celebration, there are a few videos that you can put on for your kids. Students love the opportunity to watch a movie in class! They can grab a Valentine’s snack and watch one of these short movies/episodes (or another of your choice).
Each of these videos below are affiliate links to Amazon!
- If You Give a Mouse a Valentine’s Cookie
- Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
- Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine for You
REMEMBER– Check your allergy lists. This year, when I send in snacks for my niece’s class, I have to avoid all nuts, honey, and pumpkin. Please send that in a note to parents, too, before asking for any food donations.
Hope you were able to find some ideas for your Class Valentine’s Party! Happy Planning!
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