Classroom Party Ideas

Class Parents Classroom Party Inside this eBook: Guide Tips for Class Parents!Fun ideas for the whole year! Classroom party check-lists Easy seasonal party ideas for the whole school year Class party games, snacks, crafts and other fun stuff A FREE VolunteerSpot eBook

VolunteerSpot for Class Parties We know the most time- consuming and fun part of being a Room Parent is planning class parties and organizing helpers. Our free online sign up sheets make this part quick and easy (without reply‐ all emails). It’s our goal at VolunteerSpot to save you time {and sanity} and make it easy for you to get the help you deserve www.VolunteerSpot.com this coming school year! Please check out our FREE online signup sheets and volunteer calendars. Simple Please feel free to post this ebook on your blog signups (even on-the-go from or email it to whomever you believe would smartphones) make it easy for benefit from it. more parents to get involved! Click in viewing tray to Take a live demo or tour View full-screen and share. today: THANK YOU! www.VolunteerSpot.com ~ Team VolunteerSpot© 2011, VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

Kids Love Class Parties!Class parties are a great chance for parents and teachers to worktogether to create fun, kid‐friendly, and memorable events for children.Class parties can be simple and easy but still be a ton of fun with someorganization and structured activities. Class parties give parentvolunteers an opportunity to get to know the students, buildrelationships with other parents, and support classroom teachers. Kids love class parties, and they deserve to celebrate special times of the year for their hard work and effort! This e‐book includes ideas on how to plan, organize, and structure parties as well as how to delegate and communicate with parents and teachers. We also provide tips for using VolunteerSpot ’ s free online tool to quickly and easily organize your classroom parent volunteers. Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Class Party Sign Up Sheet: Make it Easy to Help! “Do not be shy about giving parents specific jobs or asking them to bring party supplies and treats. Most are relieved you’ve made it so easy to help and asking with VolunteerSpot’s sign up sheets makes it extra easy!” ~Lori R Room mom of 2 Roswell, GA Class Party Sign Up Sheet Example VolunteerSpot’s free, online sign up sheets make class party planning a snap! Simple invitations and one‐click signups make it easy to ask for help, and even easier to sign up to help – so more parents do! Automated confirmation and reminder messages help everyone keep their commitments. Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Class Party Game Plan• Before the party: Check with the teacher about the party timeframe, student allergies, if younger siblings can attend and his or her party expectations. • During the party: Keep it simple, keep it moving, and keep it light. It’s a party—it doesn’t have to be perfect but it has to be planned! • After the party: Drop your parent volunteers a quick ‘thank you’ note. An email even means a lot. And it may mean that you’ll get guaranteed help the next time! “It’s always fun for me to volunteer to come in with a small themed‐craft (or snack) and get to be a fly on the wall in my girls’ classrooms. I love watching them with their friends and I always get some cute photos for their scrapbooks. By the way, photos taken at class parties are great end of the year teacher gifts too!” ~ MaryLea Harris http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Successful Class Party Checklist Craft Projects: Ensure the craft parent  Decorations: A colorful tablecloth adds festivity and volunteer has EVERYTHING needed – e.g. a plastic ones are inexpensive. Balloons, streamers, and trash bag for clean up. Don’t assume the curled ribbon also go a long way to transforming a teacher will provide all items. classroom into a party room.  Kids under 10: Divide them into small groups,  Memories: Ask a parent to volunteer to take photos rotate them through activity “stations” (10‐15 or videos of the party and share with the parents who min each) and have at least one parent per could not come. station.  Relax: Remember to relax and have fun! The  Prizes: Hand out pencils or other school elementary years go by quickly. Celebrate these supplies as favors. moments with your children. Snacks: Plan extras for the teacher, staff and parent helpers. Wagon: Hands‐down the best way to tote party supplies to/from the classroom! Our school restricts food at the parties to a drink, one salty snack, one sweet treat, and a goodie bag without candy. Looking back, this change is a good one as most elementary schoolers wont eat more than two snacks at class parties. ~ Jill Berry www.musingsfromme.com Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Class Parties Throughout the School Year September: Back to School Kick-Off page 8 October: Halloween page 9, 10 November: Thanksgiving/ Fall Harvest page 11 December: Winter Holidays page 12, 13 February: 100th Day, President’s Day page 18 Valentine’s Day page 14, 15 March: St. Patrick’s Day page 18 May: Spring Celebration page 16 June: End of the Year page 17 Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Back‐to‐School PartyCrafts:• Decorate brown paper lunch bags or plastic lunchboxes with stickers and colored permanent markers. Games: • Play “Candy Apple” (instead of “Hot Potato”) • Don’t Miss the Bus Race – Have the children pack a lunch, grab homework, collect milk‐money from mom, put it all in their backpack and hop on the “bus” • What I Did on My Summer Vacation Charades‐‐ Give each child a turn to act out their favorite summer memory • Scavenger Hunt for school supplies • Show & Tell– Invite children to bring something to share with classmates • Play “summer yard games” like Red Rover, Freeze tag, hula hoop or Kickball Snacks: Thank you to • Apples Kami Buchanan Custom Designs • Popcorn for these great party ideas! • Carrots & dip For more, visit: http://kamibuchanan.blogspot.com • Fruit Kabobs

Halloween Party Ideas Crafts: • Mummy Treat Container – Fill a toilet paper roll with treats. Wrap white crepe paper from a roll around the toilet paper holder to keep your goodies in (at least three times around). Glue two eyes on the front. Fold the crepe paper in half and wrap the mummy. • Halloween Thumb Prints – Thumb prints make great spiders (use black ink and let kids add legs and googly eyes), and green make great witch faces!Tootsie Pop Pumpkin snack: Ghost on a Stick snack:• Wrap orange tissue paper around • Melt white chocolate or almond a Tootsie Pop and secure the top bark and dip a half of a banana or with floral tape. Then draw a Jack‐ pear into the chocolate. Use small O‐Lantern face! chocolate chips for eyes and make sure you use a strong stick to keep Thank you to Cindy of Skip to my Lou for these great party ideas! fruit on! For more, visit: www.skiptomylou.org Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Halloween Party Games Witchs Stew You will need at least one cut out shape‐‐spiders, black cats, owls and frogs‐‐for each member on each team and two plastic cauldrons. Divide the class into two teams. Each member needs a 3 inch piece of straw. Give each team a pile of shapes (ingredients for the stew). One at a time a team member, using a 3 inch piece of straw, will suck up a shape, keeping it on the straw, walk quickly to the other side of the room and drop the shape in a black cauldron. Once the shape is in the cauldron the next team member can go. First team to have all members take a turn wins. Blow the Ghost Make a ghost by covering a cotton ball with a tissue and tied with a piece of thread around its neck. Tape a one inch piece of straw to the top of the ghosts head. Make two of these so you have two teams playing against each other in a relay. Thread a very long string through the straw. Attach each end of the string to a chair. Pull the chairs apart until the string is tight. Divide class into two teams. Each team member will get on their knees and with a 3 inch piece of straw blow the ghost to the other side. Next team member will blow the ghost back until all members have had a turn. Sweeping witches Each team needs a witchs hat, a broom, and a large sheet of newspaper crumpled in a ball. Space three or so chairs apart in a line for each team. Each member will have to sweep the crumpled ball of newspaper in and out through the chairs while wearing their witchs Thank you to Cindy of Skip to my Lou hat. They go down and back and then give the hat and broom to next for these great party ideas! For more, visit: person until all members have gone.http://www.skiptomylou.org Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Thanksgiving/ Fall Harvest Party Crafts Bubble Wrap Corn Cards Paint layers of orange, yellow, and red paint on bubble wrap. Press bubble wrap onto sheets of brown, orange, yellow construction paper. (Brown paper grocery bags would be cool too!) Trace child’s foot to make corn cob and then cut out. Rip green paper for husks, and glue onto cards! Tissue Paper Pumpkin Leaf Prints Cut a pumpkin shape out of Collect leaves and press the cardboard, and cover the top part painted leaf onto sketch paper with glue. Pinch the bottom of a or construction paper. Remove small tissue paper square, about the leaf to reveal a beautiful 2” x 2”, and glue to the pumpkin. leaf print and repeat the Repeat until the pumpkin is process with different leaves or covered. different colors! Thank you to MaryLea of Pink and Green Mama for these great ideas! For more, visit: http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Winter Party IdeasCrafts: • Marshmallow Snow Structures– using marshmallows and toothpicks, students ‘build’ snowmen or snow forts.• Snowflakes– fold a piece of white paper into an isosceles triangle and cut shapes out of the edges of the paper. When unfolded, it becomes a snowflake! • Snowman Decorating– cut out basic shapes Snacks: from construction paper and students • Snowman Cupcakes– using toothpicks and decorate their own snowman. marshmallows, put snowmen on top of a white • Snowman Ornaments– using cotton balls or frosted cupcake. white pom‐poms, glue black felt circles for • Snowmen Cookies– using sprinkles and tubed eyes and an orange triangle for a nose, and tie icing, decorate a snowman sugar cookie. a ribbon on the top. • Gingerbread House– mix a tub of white icing with powdered sugar to make a icing ‘glue’ that you can use to stick graham crackers to a paper milk carton Thank you to Shannon of Mommyapolis (pint‐sized). Use candy to decorate! for many of these great ideas! For more, visit: http://mommyapolis.wordpress.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Winter Party GamesGames: • Toss the Snowball– Kids toss cotton ball ‘snowballs’ into container and the winner is the first to make the most into the bucket.• Move the Snow– Kids stand in two lines and transfer cotton ball from spoon to spoon from one end of the line the other. Winning team has the most ‘snow’ in bucket.• Get Dressed– Two groups race to be the first to dress team member in full winter gear—snowsuit, boots, coat, scarf, hat, gloves. One of my favorite holiday parties was [my son’s] 2nd grade holiday party. We took a survey of all the religions represented and celebrated each one as a learning center. There were four classrooms ‐‐ one room was Christmas, one Hanukkah, one Ramadan, and one Kwanza. The kids rotated through each room where they heard a story explaining the meaning of the holiday along with a related art activity and snack. I loved that it was a celebration of different ways to mark the holidays without saying one was better than the other. ~ Robin www.mylifeasitis.blogspot.com Thank you to Shannon of Mommyapolis for many of these great ideas! For more, visit: http://mommyapolis.wordpress.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Valentine’s Day Party IdeasCrafts:• Stained Glass Heart– Cut out the outline of a heart and place it on a piece of clear contact paper. Put small squares of pink, red, and white tissue paper inside the heart, and seal with a second piece of contact paper. Trim edges and hang in window.• Thumb Print Cards– stamp finger with ink and have students create animals, hearts, patterns, and more! Snacks: • Love Kabobs– strawberries, cherries, pink marshmallows, and red gummy candy on a skewer. • Candy Heart Patterns—create quick and easy color patterns by sticking pastel post‐it notes on ½ sheets of pink paper. Once students have correctly matched color pattern using candy hearts, they eat the candy. • Paint‐on icing– Add red food coloring to a mix of powdered sugar and milk. Use paint brushes to decorate sugar cookies. Thank you to Amy of teach mama for these great ideas! For more, visit: www.teachmama.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Valentine’s Day Party GamesMitten Munch Matchmaker• Players stand in two lines, and the first person • Print out pictures of partners (Mickey in each line begins wearing a pair of adult‐ & Minnie/ Mario & Luigi) and tape sized ski‐mittens. Player tries to unwrap a one character on each student’s back. piece of wrapped candy as fast as possible Players search for their ‘partner’ by then puts it in his mouth, passes mittens to asking yes/no questions to classmates. person behind him, and that person unwraps Consider doing this with hearts and candy. Team that is the first to have each matching patterns, too! player unwrap and eat candy wins!Traveling Hearts• Students use chopsticks or tongs to transfer candy hearts from a central bowl on the table to their own small cup or dish. Player who moves the most wins! * Valentine’s Party Tip: Send home a class roster 10 days before the party so kids can prepare their Valentine’s cards. Thank you to Amy of teach mama for these great ideas! For more, visit: www.teachmama.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Spring Party IdeasCraft: • Tissue Paper Flowers– Cut tissue paper squares and layer 3‐5 pieces of paper. Pinch the middle of the squares, making the center of the flower. Secure with tape and pipe cleaner.• Butterfly Snack Bags– Fill small, snack‐sized ziplock bags with Fruit Loops or snack mix. Pinch the center of the bag and secure with clothespin. Glue googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae on clothespin. Snack: • Bumblebee cupcakes– cut the ears off of a bunny marshmallow Peep and make stripes and eyes with black icing. Place gum drop fruit slices on sides for wings. • Ants on a Log– Spread peanut butter on celery sticks, and place raisins and nuts on top. Thank you to Amy of teach mama for these great ideas! For more, visit: www.teachmama.com Class Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

End of School Year Party Ideas Show Time!‒ Host a mini talent show Go Hawaiian Party‒ Play the limbo, and ask each child to share a trick or hand out leis (or make your own as talent with the rest of the class like a a classroom project), create ‘Island’ song, gymnastics trick, juggling, or snacks like pineapple skewers and even timeless kid skills like burping and coconut treats, and dig for beach knuckle‐cracking on demand. finds in a sandbox‐filled with Encourage everyone to participate and shells. bring a joke book along for those who claim they don’t have a skill. Post Card Grab Bag‒ Keep kids in touch over the summer and encourage them to practice their writing! Each child writes their address on 3 post cards and drops them into a big cloth bag. One‐ by‐one, kids choose 3 cards (not their own) and agree to mail their classmates silly summer news in the coming months.Find more ideas at http://www.cozi.com/live‐simply/8‐end‐year‐classroom‐party‐ideas Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Mini Classroom Celebrations100th Day Celebration (usually February)• Have each child bring 100 objects in a bag to demonstrate the number then do a 100 Day Gallery Walk.• Create a 100 Things We Love poster for the class.• Make 100‐bead necklaces to wear.President’s Day (February)• Make Abe Lincoln hats using black construction paper and George Washington apple necklaces.• Hold a Classroom Coin Battle where teams of students compete to sort and count piles of coins. The team with the most of each type of coin is the winner.St. Patrick’s Day (March) You can also celebrate: • Make rainbow cupcakes or Jell‐O. Columbus Day• Go on a scavenger hunt for gold coins, hidden by New Year’s Day leprechauns. Follow leprechaun ‘footprints’ or read clues to Read Across America Day find each treasure.• Hide shamrocks around the classroom, with lucky 4‐leaf April Fool’s Day clovers for the luckiest students to find. May Day Cinco de Mayo Mother’s Day/ Father’s Day/ Thank you to Amy of teach mama for Grandparent’s Day these great ideas! For more, visit: Memorial Day www.teachmama.com Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

A New Spin on Class PartiesConsider a different approach: Remember: • Be Inclusive• Limits: Cut snacks to one sweet, one Students with special needs or salty, and one drink! allergy restrictions must be • No Snacks: Make the craft (or game) considered when planning for the focus instead of the snack. the party!• End‐of‐unit parties: to celebrate • Be Prepared learning and subject mastery. Always have coloring sheets on • Student‐planned parties: to teach hand, a bingo game, or know a classes cooperation, teamwork, and few easy, on‐the‐fly games to math and literacy skills. play when you have 5 minutes to • Traveling centers: allow for fill. Human tic‐tac‐toe (girls are movement and learning—groups of x’s, boys are o’s) or Whisper volunteers can be in charge of each Down the Alley (one person center and students move from whispers a sentence to the center to center throughout the person next to him and so on party. until the secret travels through the entire class). Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Simplify ALL Parent VolunteeringHelping Room Parents, teachers and volunteer leaders coordinate activities and events simply and easily all year round! • Classroom Readers • Soccer Snacks • Walk‐a‐Thons & Fun Runs • Swim Meets • Sports Tournaments • Vacation Bible School • Carnivals and Festivals • Girl Scout Cookie Booths • Neighborhood Clean ups • Coat, food and toy drives and more . . . Class Parent Class Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Additional ResourcesSee our other free eBooks with ideas andbest‐practices for: • School Carnivals • Teacher Gifts • Family‐Friendly Volunteering • Fundraising with Kids • Bake Sales • Talent Shows and more . . . www.VolunteerSpot.com/ebooks Class Parent Room Mom Survival Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

Take a live or video tour at www.VolunteerSpot.com Get Started NOW! Check out our BLOG for ideas, tips and stories about volunteering Please visit VolunteerSpot and http://blog.VolunteerSpot.com get started today! It’s FREE! Follow us on Twitter www.VolunteerSpot.com @VolunteerSpot Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/VolunteerSpotClass Party Guide / www.VolunteerSpot.com DOING GOOD just got easier!

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Classroom Party Ideas

by VolunteerSpot on Jul 31, 2011

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Classroom Party Ideas — Presentation Transcript