So last week I had my Valentine's Day Party for kids in grades K-2 and, while I only had three kids in attendance, it was awesome! Here's how it went:
I started with story time and dragged it out a bit in the hopes that my group of two would get a little closer to the 18 who were signed up. I read Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger first, then followed it up with Smitten by David Gordon.
After the books we moved onto our game of "Love Bingo." I made these for a Valentine's Day Party about 3 years ago and they look like this, for example:
I was clever and got candy hearts as Bingo markers too. The kids marked off boxes on their boards as I held up corresponding full-sheet pictures at random. Between rounds, I told them to keep the pieces on their boards so they could just continue to fill them up until everyone eventually had Bingo. As the kids won, I let them pick from a basket of assorted prizes--which were things leftover from programs and reading clubs that we had in the library basement. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.
Next, we played "Blinded By Love" (which is a game I borrowed and modified a bit from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games"). Basically, each kid got "blinded" (using a paper mask I cut out and drew heart eyes on, and, when that got annoying and I realized that these were three really fun and honest kids, was replaced by just eye closing), and one by one, they had to try their best to draw a heart on the oak tag. There are no winners or losers in this game. It's just fun for a good little giggle. And giggles it got!
Last, I told the group that, if we could either spend the last 10 minutes playing one more game, or they could use the last 10 minutes to finish their valentines and snacks. The two girls chose game, which was totally enough to play if I modified it a bit, while the one boy of the group finished decorating his valentines. Also from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games," I modified a game called "Heart Hop." The original game calls for the kids to split into two teams and race across the room to a pile of pre-written-on hearts. Each kid picks up a heart, reads what it says--something like "hop like a bunny"--and makes their way back to their team, doing whatever the heart instructs. The first team to use up their pile wins.
In preparation, I made two identical piles of hearts with commands written on one side-- hop like a bunny, walk backwards, crab walk. etc. But when I found out we were playing the game with just two kids, I just used one pile and had them play just to be silly. No racing.
What worked least: The size of my group was the only thing that kept this program from being as good as it could have been. However, the QUALITY of the three kids I got couldn't have been better! If had to have a party of only three, these were the three to have!
What worked best: The games, by far. I was surprised! I always expect the crafts and snacks to be the highlights of my programs, but the games really shone for this one. In fact, these kids were barely even interested in the cookies! Crazy!
I was clever and got candy hearts as Bingo markers too. The kids marked off boxes on their boards as I held up corresponding full-sheet pictures at random. Between rounds, I told them to keep the pieces on their boards so they could just continue to fill them up until everyone eventually had Bingo. As the kids won, I let them pick from a basket of assorted prizes--which were things leftover from programs and reading clubs that we had in the library basement. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.
Next, we played "Blinded By Love" (which is a game I borrowed and modified a bit from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games"). Basically, each kid got "blinded" (using a paper mask I cut out and drew heart eyes on, and, when that got annoying and I realized that these were three really fun and honest kids, was replaced by just eye closing), and one by one, they had to try their best to draw a heart on the oak tag. There are no winners or losers in this game. It's just fun for a good little giggle. And giggles it got!
Then we took a craft and snack break. I put out a whole array of things for them to make valentines with: heart-shaped doilies, pink, red, white and purple hearts in two different sizes, conversation heart foam stickers, glittery heart foam stickers, love bug foam stickers, markers, and glue sticks. Then I let them just go to town. I also served delicious Entenmann's Valentine's Day cookies + water bottles.
In preparation, I made two identical piles of hearts with commands written on one side-- hop like a bunny, walk backwards, crab walk. etc. But when I found out we were playing the game with just two kids, I just used one pile and had them play just to be silly. No racing.
What worked best: The games, by far. I was surprised! I always expect the crafts and snacks to be the highlights of my programs, but the games really shone for this one. In fact, these kids were barely even interested in the cookies! Crazy!
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