Valentine's Day Party

For some reason, over the course of my life, Valentine's Day has moved up the holiday ranks and landed in a comfy spot near the top. I just really enjoy it! Maybe it's because I'm partial to "girly stuff" like hearts, pink, flowers, and chocolate. Or maybe it's just that I will just cling on to anything at all that breaks up the monotony of winter. I'm not sure. But whatever the reason, every year I find myself getting more and more pumped about Valentine's Day. And even more so at work! I think Valentine's Day with kids is the ultimate cutest and most fun thing. I look forward to it and, more or less, call "dibs" on it every year.

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!

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.

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!

Valentine's Day Party 2016

As a whole, I don't think of myself as a person who particularly enjoys things that are super lovey-dovey or overly-affection-showy, yet for some reason, I really enjoy Valentine's Day. Maybe it's because I like hearts, pink, flowers, and chocolate. A lot. Or maybe it's that I will just cling on to anything at all that breaks up the monotony of winter. I'm not sure. But whatever the reason, I get kinda pumped about Valentine's Day, and even more so at work. I think Valentine's Day with kids is the ultimate cutest thing.

So tonight I had my Valentine's Day Party for kids in grades K-2. It was awesome! Here's how it went:

I started with a quick story time, where I got to try out a new (to me) book. I read A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger, which everyone (including the grown ups) liked a lot. I even pointed out that the endpapers at the start of the book showed candy hearts with all negative phrases and the endpapers at the end of the book showed candy hearts with all positive phrases! Pointing out the endpapers always makes me feel super accomplished as a librarian, I have to say.

After the book we played three games.

First, we played "Love Bingo." I made these for a Valentine's Day program last year, so even if I never use them ever again, I've already gotten two-years worth of game play out of them and I like those statistics! They looked like this, for example:

I was clever and got candy hearts as Bingo markers this year. 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 gave out mini heart stress balls (these, from Oriental Trading) as prizes. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.

Next, we played "Candy Heart Relay." This took a lot of explaining but the kids totally loved it. I separated them into two teams and had each team get into a line. The goal of the game is to take one candy heart from your team's cup on your fork without using your hands (although this was not a strictly enforced rule), carefully walk it across the room (on the fork), and then drop it into your team's other cup. Then you pass the fork off to your next teammate. The team with the most hearts in their across-the-room cup wins! I gave them two minutes on the clock and off they went. Here they are mid-play:

Everyone was a great sport here. Nobody lost their patience; nobody called anyone "slow;" nobody got sad about losing; and nobody got mean about winning! This was a wonderful group and a fun game!

Last, 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 the mask shown below [I just held it on them.]), 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. Here's a picture of me holding the blindfold on our last competitor and a picture of the final results:

 

After the three games ended, we moved onto valentine-making and snacks. 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, crayons, popsicle sticks (why not?), glue sticks, and tape. Then I let them just go to town. I also served really delicious and soft (store brand!) Valentine's Day cookies + water bottles.

Here are a few of the adorable valentines that were made (plus some visual cookie enjoyment):

What worked least: Nothing! This program ruled! (In case this your first time visiting this blog, let me apologize for not being a little more modest and also point out that my last blog post includes more misses than hits. Also in my modesty defense, I want you to know that I realize that at least 80% of this program's success is due to the super-great group of kids I wound up with.)

What worked best: All of it! I know this answer is a total cop-out, but everything--even down to the flow of events--worked in this program. I wish they could all be this wonderful!