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I'm looking for a unique idea for my son's kindergarten class. Something that he can help with, is unisex, and that is also a little more creative than the standard card. No food/candy can be attached. I'd love to do a hybrid type project. I have a Pazzles Inspiration, tons of stamps and punches (of course!). Any thoughts?
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but my 1st grader and classmates are really into origami (it does require paper). There are quite a few designs that are relatively easy for smaller hands and easy to follow with a peer demonstrating
Last year for my nieces preschool I go cheap valentine plastic cups (like 4 for $1) at hobby lobby and then went to Target hot spot and they had boy and girl themed pencils (10 for $1) filled the cup with tissue paper, stuck the pencil down inside and then used scalloped nesties to put a "flower" on the end of pencil, stamped happy valentine day. It was like $1 a kid and they got to take home a cup and leave the pencil at school. I am sorry but I didn't take pics :( but trust me they were cute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctychick
I'm looking for a unique idea for my son's kindergarten class. Something that he can help with, is unisex, and that is also a little more creative than the standard card. No food/candy can be attached. I'd love to do a hybrid type project. I have a Pazzles Inspiration, tons of stamps and punches (of course!). Any thoughts?
__________________ Samantha Crafty Chick's Corner Store Blog
What about some punch art book marks? There is a lady that sells them on Ebay (eBay Australia Store) and either do a valentines themed one (maybe a little cupid ) or just some of them?
I know this isn't very creative, but could you give them crayons or something artsy. This is what I'm doing for my son's spring party at school.
Towards the end of August this past year Walmart was selling their school supplies and I stocked up on some of them for my son's kindergarten class. I bought 25 packs of Crayola brand (24 count) crayons and they were only .25 cents each. They even had the Rose Art brand (24 count) crayons that were .20 cents.
I think glue sticks were like 4/$1 and there were a few other great deals- these are the only ones I can remember at the moment anyway, I thought I would mention this in case anyone wanted to look for these deals this coming August.
Your son could help you make homemade play-doh for his classmates in Valentine colors - pink, red, and white/plain.
This is the recipe I like: (from: While She Naps)
Ingredients:
3 cups flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
food coloring
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large pot until no lumps remain. Whisk in the wet ingredients (except for the food coloring) and stir until no lumps remain. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes until a dough forms. Separate into several portions and add food coloring, kneading until uniform in color. Store in airtight containers.
__________________ Marcy Wolf Creek Crafting
I just love the smell of Stazon in the morning!
they also sell tiny washable markers called Pip-squeaks. They are packaged 50 together for just $10 or so. Put 2 in a little plastic baggie w/ a topper that says "you color my world"!!
STICKERS!! Always a big hit w/ my kiddos!!
hope that helps
__________________ We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.
My girls are in 4th & 5th grades and we have a no-candy rule too. They're tired of pencils, erasers, and other "party favors"! We're totally stuck. Thinking of making bookmarks (personalized with each classmate's name). Other than that, my 4th grader loves dogs and found some dog tattoos at Oriental trading that she likes....
Someone's blog (no idea whose, sorry) - they had made red & white play doh, rolled it into 'sausage' like lengths, and twisted them - like candy cane stripes - and popped them into little containers . They looked really cute!
Here's a link to a cute poem (I gave a hundred valentines) and valentine using bird seed (does that count as food?).
Reminds me of the Christmas reindeer food idea.
I made these cute magnetic bookmarks for my son's 3rd grade class to celebrate the completeion of their 1st CMT tests (last 4 days). The kids thanked me whenever they saw me for weeks!
I have done several things in the past - Valentines day I have to out-do our classmates mom! My favorite I think has been when I made simple valentines colored fabric bags and added hot chocolate mix and some kisses to go with them. We have also done the glasses they are usually on sale at Walgreens and filled them with pencils and treats, this year we have been saving our peanut butter jars and put a cute paper around them and cut out oval with each child's name and put it on a scalloped oval. Inside we went for chocolate again with brownies and some bubble gum and a valentine. Last year we went for lic a stics and put them in a cute valentine.
__________________ Kyloe
The lesson from Charlie Brown: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
In regard to the homemade playdough. At our preschool, we put the food coloring into the water before adding it to the mix. The color gets all through the dough this way.
Family Fun has great valentine idea in their magazine every year, and also on their website. We made "You Rule" valentines from their idea. Each one requires a 6" ruler, which gets pricey. We went to the hardware store and bought yardsticks for $1 each or so. Then we cut them into 6" pieces. Much cheaper, although not everyone gets the 1"-6" piece then.
We're also using an idea from Family Fun. We cut out flower pots and hearts from cardstock. We bought seed packets and assembled it all with double-stick tape so the seeds and hearts were poking up out of the pots. Then we wrote "Let's watch our friendship grow!"
One year I made recipe cards for the kids in DS' class. One side had a play-doh recipe (non-edible) and the other side had a sugar cookie recipe. Then I punched a hole in the corner of the card and tied on a cookie cutter. They could make either recipe and have fun cutting out shapes with their cookie cutter.
I know I got the idea off of here from somewhere......
It could get a little pricey depending on how many cookie cutters you would have to buy.
Love all the clever ideas on this thread!
__________________ Lorraine
Wife to an awesome DH, Mommy to an adorable DS who is on the spectrum for autism, and Twin Sister to Linda
I don't have anything to add, even though I am a children's librarian. I just want to say I am glad my kids are not in school now. Seems all the creativity with treats are gone. How borrrrring...... No candy on Valentine's day. That's like no snow on Christmas. Baaaa humbug!
I'm thinking about making matchbook-style coloring books for my son's preschool friends. I will cut white copier paper into about 3x3 squares, stamp a different image on each sheet, then staple the pads together at the bottom adding a matchbook cover around the pads. I'll also include a 4-pack of crayons.
I may use the computer to print the message "You color my world, Happy Valentine's Day. Love Ben"
Hope this helps!
__________________ -Krissy www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com Daily creativity keeps a Mommy sane!
If you put in "valentine" in a gallery search, you can find lots of great ideas. If you refine your search to something like "pencil" you'll come up with specific, non-candy ideas. There are a couple of ideas that come up where people made long bugs with the pencils - very cute.
I must be showing my age, because when I was little, all we ever did was exchange those cheap little paper valentines in the little envelopes. There were never any candy items or crafty things or pencils - only the cheap store bought paper valentines.
thanks for sharing so many great ideas! we've just moved so I think the flower pot with the seeds and "watch our friendship grow" would be great for my 2 daughters!!
We're also using an idea from Family Fun. We cut out flower pots and hearts from cardstock. We bought seed packets and assembled it all with double-stick tape so the seeds and hearts were poking up out of the pots. Then we wrote "Let's watch our friendship grow!"
We're also using an idea from Family Fun. We cut out flower pots and hearts from cardstock. We bought seed packets and assembled it all with double-stick tape so the seeds and hearts were poking up out of the pots. Then we wrote "Let's watch our friendship grow!"
Really like this. My kids are all in their upper 30's and I only have one grandchild who is only 17 months old. She lives across the country, or this is one I would do for sure.
I'm a teacher, and we've also done non-food items. One that the students loved was a deck of cards (Go Fish, Crazy Eights, etc.) which came in a package of three decks at a local Dollar Store. There was a variety, and they played cards during the party. Another cute gift is a personalized pad of paper with their name printed on each page (and perhaps a stamped Valentine image, too). These can be cheaply made and bonded together. Given with a pen, these pads are fun for girls and guys...especially if you suggest a few games that can be played on them.
I love the creative ideas ya'll are coming up with for those who don't want to give candy.
I WANT to give candy (LOVE those little conversation hearts!) but the school has prohibited it! It's even harder at Halloween! No candy for Halloween?! What's up with that?! :confused:
One year I made recipe cards for the kids in DS' class. One side had a play-doh recipe (non-edible) and the other side had a sugar cookie recipe. Then I punched a hole in the corner of the card and tied on a cookie cutter. They could make either recipe and have fun cutting out shapes with their cookie cutter.
I know I got the idea off of here from somewhere......
It could get a little pricey depending on how many cookie cutters you would have to buy.
Love all the clever ideas on this thread!
I LOVE this idea -- my girls take cooking classes and they just made play-doh at Girl Scouts so this is perfect! Thanks!
Make big hearts and then use the slot punch to make two slots for a pencil to go through. You can find Valentine's Day pencils at dollar stores 10 or 12 for $1. My nephews and I made punny valenties and then put pencils through the hearts. The boys were 8 and 5 year old at the time.
I just wanted to add something for those of you who may not have school-age kids in your lives right now: many school districts are prohibiting the kids/parents from giving each other candy. Usually has to do with either allergies or obesity... Just FYI.
Love all the ideas here, btw! Trying to figure out something quick & easy for my 2nd & 5th graders to swap at school.
__________________ ~ Laura
I have CDO. It's like OCD, except all the letters are in order like they should be.
I did small bags with bird seed a few years ago with the poem below
I gave a hundred Valentines,
a hundred, did I say?
A gave a thousand Valentines
one clod and wintry day
I didn't put my name on them
or any other words
because my Valentines were
seeds for February birds
How about making mini coloring books? Or for kids who are a little older, mini books with riddles or jokes? Among my kindergarten kids "Name Three Things" is popular, with each page a challenge to "Name three colors" or "Name three farm animals" or "Name three things with wheels".
I do all my buying in September when school supplies are CHEAP.
This year I did a pencil with a heart topper saying "You've the WRITE stuff."
Next September, I've already got the primary teachers to pitch in to volume buy rulers. They're normally about $0.25 in the fall and I figure I can get a volume discount since I'll be buying over 100. It will have the heart topper saying "You're beyond MEASURE."
Class Valentines ideas - no food/candy
