Valentine’s Party Hacks and Ideas for Prechool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten
Happy February, friends (or January for those of you who plan ahead)! It’s time to plan the class for the Valentine’s Day party or Friendship party. It can be fun but oftentimes stressful to party plan! So I’m here to help with tips, hacks, and my go-to party activities. Trust me, with these ideas; you will be prepped and ready for the party in no time! You will find yourself excited about the party instead of being stressed.
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Party Prep
Party prep may be the most important part of making the party run smoothly! Prepping ahead of time will enable you to enjoy the party too (yes, that can happen, promise)! Prep the activities on trays or tubs, making one for each table. For example, if you are making friendship bracelets at two tables, you will have two trays or tubs with the friendship necklace supplies. This way, you can quickly grab what you need during the party.
Decorations
Decorations make the party festive and fun! Let the students make gorgeous party decorations like these hearts in the art center or table time. Now you have the art center planned and party decorations done all at one time!
To make these gorgeous hearts, place a giant piece of butcher paper on the table with paint cups (red, purple, pink) and squirt some paint on the paper too! Then place some fun tools at the table like shower loofas, rubber balls, or any other tool students like to paint with. You can see my littles had a blast making this giant painting and painted themselves too! I wish you had seen the joy and curiosity that were beaming on their faces as they painted. It’s a fun activity to develop friendships and community in your classroom too!
Once it was dry, I cut big hearts out from the painting to decorate the room!
Setting the Table
Cover the tables with colored butcher paper or those plastic tablecloths from the dollar store. This makes the room pop with little effort, and it makes cleaning up a breeze! Grab some plates, napkins, and cups from the dollar store, too, or have a parent send them in. Place some flowers on the table if you would like. I keep these colored plastic vases with flowers in the cabinet for various classroom events. The supplies are all from the dollar store.
Delivering Valentines
That statement makes me so stressed because our students are so small. I typically ask families NOT to put names on the valentines, but some always do. But no worries, place a name card by each bag to help students deliver their valentines. You can make a boy and girl section to make it easier, too, if you have a larger class. Have a teacher or family member guide and help the child deliver the valentines, so a handful doesn’t end up in one friend’s bag. Yep, that has happened in my classroom! Throughout the party, have students take turns handing them out with an adult so all students are not doing it at once.
Snack
Party snacks can be quick and easy. Have families sign up to send in specific things, or you will have a billion cookie trays, cupcakes, brownies, and sugar-filled kiddos. For the Valentine’s Day party, I typically do a red fruit like apples, pretzel bags, and a cookie with water.
Gross Motor Games
Yes, you need to do a few gross motor games to get them up and moving! Make a heart or a few if you have a large class on the floor with tape. Grab some roses from the dollar store and pull the flowers off the stems. Then have a flower toss which is basically just like a snowball fight but with flowers. Play some fun music and have fun!
Flower Balance is another game you can play. Turn the music on; then students have to slowly walk on the heart with a flower balanced on their head! Other games you can play are a fun freeze dance, by starting and stopping the music.
Candy Heart Math Game
So now that they have moved and danced, have everyone sit and the table to create candy heart graphs. You can have the candy in baggies if you would like to make it easier to hand out. Now you are showing families that learning and playing can happen at the same time!
Friendship Bracelets
The last activity for the party can be to create friendship bracelets using pipe cleaners, straws, and beads! By this time, the party is almost over, so something quick and fun is the perfect way to end the fun! Plus, as students lace and cut the stars, they are strengthening those fine motor muscles and developing hand-eye coordination. They can make one or two for themselves, their friends, or their family. It’s totally up to them!
Look at all the bracelets they made me at the party! My heart melted!
