McDole ElementaryRoom Coordinator

HandbookGrades 2-5

MCDOLE HOLIDAY PARTY LISTING:

Halloween— October 31Parade (per school calendar)Parties (per school calendar)

Winter holiday—December (per school calendar)

Valentine’s Day— February 14(check school calendar)

Dear Room Coordinators,

This booklet has been created to give you party, craft ideas and game ideas that may help you with the responsibilities of being a room coordinator. A lot of these ideas have been used in the past and worked well. Please feel free to search for your own ideas as there are many websites that have great ideas that may work for you and your classroom.

First of all, you will be in charge of all of the classroom parties including Halloween, Winter Holiday, and Valentine’s Day. You are also in charge of coordinating teacher appreciation week for your teacher’s class. You are to decide what you want to do at the parties, who will be helping at the parties, and coordinating the clean-up as well. Each teacher should provide you with the list of volunteers that signed up to help with parties from curriculum night.

The Halloween party is longer so you should have around 45 minutes for games, crafts and snacks. The other two parties will provide 45 minutes for you to do a craft and game (or games). Some teachers prefer stations where the students are split into small groups and rotate around the room to the different activities. For example, six students would do a craft, six would be at one game station, six at another game station. Others will prefer group games and more socializing. PLEASE ask the teacher what works best for their class!! Always include the teacher in your plans!! Please ask them if what you wish to do is okay with them.

The classic games are still great for parties—freeze dance, pin the nose or tail on the blank (depending on the holiday!), bean bag toss, bozo buckets, hot potato, musical chairs, and charades for older students. We have tried to include a good mix of new and old games that don’t require a huge amount of work prior to the party. Some of the games and crafts do need prep work so be sure to read carefully. A great way to tell if the kids will like the games and crafts is to ask them! Try playing the games so that you make sure you understand how it works if it is something new for you. Try to mix it up from party to party and year to year to make each party seem fun and different. Around the winter holiday parties the teachers usually have the small sticky-backed class pictures available for us to use on holiday craft projects if you desire. Check with the teacher, but they are great for crafts because of their size and are already sticky.

If you choose to make a craft, do the crafts first during a party to allow time for glue or paint to dry. Please note that Glue Dots are a terrific alternative to white glue and require no drying time. Also, the craft stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics all carry great craft kits for holiday parties. Be sure to check them out! The Dollar Store is a fantastic place to check for craft items. It is best to make the craft ahead of time so you can see where you might run into problems. It is also nice to have an example of the craft made for the students to see. Ask the classroom teacher what she/he has available for you to use such as construction paper, glue, markers, etc. The

older kids are less enthused about crafts (especially the boys!) so please note that I have not given as many ideas for the older grades. Ask the teacher when in doubt.

Teacher appreciation will be the first week in May and a handout will be provided in April as to what the Room Coordinators are responsible for. It is okay for you to ask parents to contribute money ($1-5) towards a class gift for the teacher.

This booklet is broken down by grades and then into different parties with sections on games, crafts and also snack suggestions. Please read through the other grades and feel free to use those ideas but make sure you adapt them for your specific grade. For instance, in kindergarten and first grade you will have a variety of reading levels in students that need to be taken into consideration when playing games where reading is required.

I have provided a list of websites that were used in finding all these ideas if you wish to search for more on your own. This is supposed to make things easier for you so if something is confusing or doesn’t make any sense, please call me and ask!

In addition, the PTO is providing you with money to help with food or crafts at the parties. We will provide up to $1.25 per student per party. It is acceptable if parents want to donate food, craft, or giveaway items for parties. You may ask the parents who signed up to help with parties if they would care to donate something. However, we request that you do not ask for any additional money (the exception is Teacher appreciation) for classroom parties from the parents. Please read the instruction sheets and see the tax exempt form and reimbursement forms included in this handbook. All receipts need to be submitted within one month of the party.

Please send me any crafts, games, or party idea you would like to see included in this document.

Sincerely,

The PTO Committee Coordinator

Helpful Websites for finding game and crafts for classroom parties

familyfun.com---crafts and games

amazingmoms.com---crafts and games

kaboose.com---crafts and games

enchantedlearning.com---crafts

dltk-kids.com--crafts

partygameideas.com---games

party411.com---games

partygamecentral.com---games

childparent.about.com---games

PINTEREST

McDole PTO Room Coordinators

The McDole PTO supports classroom parties by providing funds to the room coordinators for the purchase of items for the parties. These can non-food items or supplies needed for the party. It has been our experience that some classrooms have parents more generous than others and we would like all the kids to have an equitable party.

For this school year, the McDole PTO will reimburse the room coordinators or other designate up to $1.25 per student per party. Your classroom teacher will provide you with the student count.

PLEASE remember the following……………………………………

Receipts and a check request form must be submitted for reimbursement. Reimbursement will only be for the amount documented with receipts and may be less than the allowable amount. Requests need to be submitted no later than one month following an event. Late requests may not be processed.

Please make a copy of the reimbursement form as needed.

Unused funds for one party cannot be used for subsequent parties.

Check requests will only be accepted from the room coordinator. Check may be payable to another parent as long as the room coordinator submits the check request.

Use the PTO tax exempt form included in this booklet. Tax is not reimbursable.

Send your check request and receipts to school in an envelope to:

Attention: PTO Treasurer

$

Is this a budgeted or approved expenditure? Yes No

Leave Check in Committee Box

Send check home with child:

Mail Check to:

Budgeted Item (Y/N)

Date Approved at PTO Meeting Signature

Budget Category

Treasurer's Use

Reimbursement or Payment of Invoice

Kaneland McDole Elementary PTOCheck Request

Name/Teacher/Grade

Date

Amount Requested

Invoice # (If Applicable)

Committee/Budget Category

Make Check Payable To

Purpose of Expense

Instructions for Check Payment

Name of Person Submitting Request Phone Number

Important Note: Tax Will Not Be Reimbursed. Tax Exempt Status Letters May Be Obtained Through the PTO Treasurer or at www.mcdolepto.org.

Address/City/State/Zip Code

Disbursement Date$

AmountCheck #

Second Grade party ideasHalloween Party time /parade

You have time to do ONE craft or game and ONE snack in the time provided.

Game ideas: Witch’s stew, Feed the ghost, Touchy-feely, Halloween Who Am I?, Eyeball bounce, Put a face on the pumpkin, Pumpkin relay, Trick or treat, Popcorn challenge, Old Costume relayCraft ideas: spider webs, create-a-monster, foam pumpkins, bats, or ghosts, pumpkin head pencils, yummy mummies, craft stick mummyGamesEyeball bounce—need ping pong balls, markers, plastic pumpkins, bowls or heavy cupsTake ping pong balls and decorate with markers to look like blood shot eyes. Then place the pumpkin, bowl, or heavy cups at a distance away. Now give each child an eyeball (Works best on bare floors) and have each child toss or bounce the eyeball across to the bowl. The goal is to see if their eyeball bounces into the pumpkin, bowl or cup.Feed the ghost—cut a 2-3 foot long ghost out of a large piece of white foam core board. Cut out a large mouth. Cover ghost with white fabric, gluing material inside the mouth. Add black felt eyes. Prop against a chair or wall and toss bean bags or rolled socks into the hole.Halloween Who Am I?—need names or images of items on index cards or paper Place a name tag or piece of paper is on the back of each student and they are told that by the end of the party they must guess what it says. Note: This game can be adapted for any age group 3 to 93, just increase difficulty with age. This is done by asking other students 'yes' or 'no' questions about what the paper says. They are not allowed to read it themselves, nor are they allowed to ask someone else what it says. Ideas for Halloween items: pumpkin, witch, vampire, ghost, jack o’ lantern, black cat, bat, pumpkin carving, trick or treat, full moon, names of types of candy, anything Halloween related!Put a face on the pumpkin What you need: Pumpkins cut out of poster board, orange, yellow, and black paper, double-stick tape, straws (purchase more than one per child), and scissors. Create the pumpkin ahead of time. Make one for each team. Use double-stick tape on the areas where you want the face to be placed. Cut out the pieces for each of the pumpkins. Create 2 eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, stem, and a leaf for each pumpkin. These will be the pieces that the children will place on the pumpkin. How to play: Child picks up a pumpkin piece with a straw (by inhaling) and places it on the paper pumpkin that is on the wall. Tape is already on the paper pumpkin where the piece should be set. Make it a relay to see which team can create their pumpkin face first. To make it more difficult, try blindfolding the students!

Touchy Feely—What you need: Spiders, webs, wigs, Witch noses or fingers, pumpkins, fake brains, basket or shoebox, paper and pencil. How to play: Put a lot of random Halloween objects in a basket or a box. Make sure the box/basket has some type of cover over it. Have students put their hand inside the basket/box and feel around for the various objects associated with Halloween without telling what they feel! As soon as each person feels around the box, have them write down what they thought was in the box. Witch’s Stew—What you need: construction paper, straws, bowl. Prior to the party, cut out Halloween shapes such as bats, ghosts and pumpkins from construction paper. Each shape should be about the size of a yo-yo. Place the shapes in a pile beside a small bowl. How to play: Using the straw as a suction (remind kids to inhale not exhale!), each child should try to pick up a shape and drop it in the bowl (now they will exhale) to make a witch’s stew. This can be used with teams or individuals.Pumpkin Relay--create teams of 6-12 people then hand each team a pumpkin and explain that the first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line who must then pass it through their legs to the next person in line. This pattern-- above the head and through the legs continues until you reach the end of the line. When that happens, the person at the end runs to the front of the line and starts the over under passing again. This continues until everyone has had a turn at the front of the line and the person who was first in line becomes the last in line.Trick or Treat--before the party cut several strips of paper; about twice as many strips as there are children. Then on half of the strips write the word “treat”. On the other half write “trick” with a trick such as “hop on one foot”, “pat your head and rub your belly”. Then place all of the strips in a Halloween bag. Have the children form a circle. Walk around the circle. Each player will draw a paper out of the bag and perform a trick or receive a treat such as a sticker, Halloween pencil or small prize.The Great Popcorn Challenge--Set out bowls full of popcorn at one end of the room, empty bowls at another. Teams must transport the popcorn from the full bowl to empty using a measuring cup. Old Costume Relay Race--Divide players into two equal teams. For each team have a suitcase or box containing a complete costume, each costume should have the same number of pieces (4 or 5 is fun - Shirt pants, shoes, wig or mask, etc). In turn each player must put on the costume and run to a certain point where they take the costumes off and put them back in the box, then run back to start where the next player repeats the process until one team finishes and wins.Crafts:Create-a-monster—Before the party, trace a large body shape (like the size of your child) onto a large sheet of craft paper. Set out glue sticks, yarn, buttons, plastic bugs, googly eyes, felt scraps, foam sheets, scissors, markers, stickers and ribbons. Let kids work together to make a scary or silly monster. Have them name it and hang it up in the room.

Foam pumpkins, bats or ghosts—What you need: templates for tracing shapes, glue, googly eyes, foam scraps for cutting out pumpkin face. How you make it: Trace the shapes using the templates in the template section. Have students cut out or pre-cut shapes before the party. Glue googly eyes (and triangles for the pumpkin face) on the front and a clothespin or magnet on the back for displaying at home.Pumpkin head pencils—What you need: enough pencils and enough large wooden beads for everyone in the class. The beads should have a hole large enough to fit on a pencil. If you cannot find orange, you can paint them. How you make it: Have kids use fine-point permanent markers to draw a jack o’ lantern on the bead. When the ink has dried slide the bead over the pencil eraser. If the bead opening is larger than the pencil, wrap tape around the eraser for a snug fit.Spider webs—What you need: black construction paper, chalk, glue, glitter. How you make it: trace a spider web pattern onto black construction paper with chalk, go over it with glue and then sprinkle glitter on top.Yummy mummies—What you need: Toilet tissue tubes, white paper, clear packing tape, roll of 2-inch-wide gauze, craft glue, googly eyes, small prizesHow to make it: For each holder, trace one end of the empty tissue tube onto a piece of white paper, then cut out the circle, making it slightly smaller than your traced line. (If you fold the paper into a few layers, you can cut out several circles at once.) Cut the tube in half widthwise (you can make 2 holders per tube) and tape the paper circle to the bottom of each half. Wrap a 2- to 2 1/2-foot strip of gauze around the tube, first taping the beginning of the gauze to the tube. Gently stretch and twist the gauze as you wrap it to give it some dimension. When you've covered the tube, cut the gauze and tuck the end under a nearby layer. Finally, glue on googly eyes (or use the self-adhesive kind), then fill the mummy with prizes.Craft Stick Mummy

What you need: wire snips, wooden craft sticks, wooden craft spoons, glue dots, 1 square yard of muslin torn into 1-inch-wide strips (this should be enough for at least 7 mummies), small googly eyes. How to make it: (You may want to assemble craft sticks ahead of time and have students do the wrapping part.) With the wire snips, trim 2 craft sticks to 2 1/2 inches for the arms and 2 more to 3 inches for the legs. Attach an arm and a leg to each side

of a wooden craft spoon using 1 glue dot per limb. Stick the end of a muslin strip to the skeleton with a glue dot and wrap the rest of the length around the wood, using another dot at the end. Wrap 4 or so more strips around the skeleton in this way. Use glue dots to attach googly eyes.

Second Grade Party ideasWinter Holiday Party

Game ideas: pin the nose on Rudolph (or a snowman), holiday bingo (use winter and holiday words), musical chairs, freeze dance, Rudolph dash, Touchy-Feely, Santa Santa, Santa Says, Snowball relay race, Frosty, Winter Trip, Card TossCraft ideas: cut out snowflakes, felt or foam mitten magnet, shooting star ornament, craft stick snowman bookmark or ornament, juice lid ornaments

GamesRudolph Dash—you need Vaseline and red construction paper circles. Have child put Vaseline on their nose and then put the red circles on their nose. Divide into teams for a relay race and race to the finish with each new person adding their red nose. If nose falls, go back to start and add more Vaseline and reapply nose. Santa Santa (or you can change the name to Snowman, Snowman or Reindeer, Reindeer)—need small sleigh, mini bale of hay for a reindeer or hat for a snowman. Have children sit in a large circle and blindfold one child. Another child will be given the sleigh and all must say: Santa Santa, where's your sleigh (or Reindeer, reindeer where’s your hay), Someone's come and taken it away, Guess who Guess who? (or Snowman, snowman, where’s your hat? Someone’s come and smashed it flat, Guess who, Guess who?) The blindfolded child gets three guesses. The child who has the sleigh(or hay or hat) is next to be blindfolded. Santa Says (or Rudolph or Snowman Says)--Played similar to Simon Says. The leader is "Santa". Leader will say, "Santa says hop on one foot". The children will hop on one foot. Leader will say "Stop". The children are to keep hopping on one foot until player says "Santa says stop". Repeat for additional activities such as take one baby step forward, step backwards, turn around, or sit down. Sometimes Santa will say "Santa says" and sometimes he won't. Touchy Feely—you will need small holiday items, bag or box with a lid, paper and pencils. Put several small holiday objects in a bag or a box (make sure nothing is sharp). Have each child put their hand inside the basket/box and feel around for the various objects without talking or peeking! Here are some ideas for your mystery bag/box: Jingle Bells, Mini Stocking, Chestnut, Small Snow Globe, Christmas Light Bulb, Pinecone, Candy Cane. As soon as each person feels around the box, have them write down what they thought was in the box without talking! Whoever guesses the most items correctly wins.Snowball Relay Race—What you need: styrofoam ball for each team, pencil for each team. How To Play: Divide into teams. First child on each team will be given a styrofoam ball (snowball) and a pencil. On your mark they are to bend over, place the ball on the floor, and push the ball with the pencil across the room, around an obstacle, and back to next child on team. First team to finish wins.

Frosty-- A roll of toilet paper for each team, sheet of orange, black, red and yellow construction paper for each team, hat for each team, scissors for each team (or you cut already have things to put on snowman cut out for younger children.) Have several teams of three to four children. When you say, "GO" they should wrap one of the people on their team up in toilet paper (leaving an opening for nose and eyes). Once they've built their "Frosty" they can use the hat and construction paper to decorate him with. You may want to put a time limit on decorating. Santa Trip--Players sit in a circle. The first player says, "On Winter break I'm traveling with Santa(or Rudolph or Frosty) and I'm going to take (something starting with A )".The next player repeats the first object and adds an object beginning with B continue the game through the alphabet. If there are more players than 26 letters, start again at "A".Christmas card toss- Have you ever tried throwing Christmas cards into a bucket? Gather together a selection of Christmas cards and try to toss them into a laundry basket or bucket placed several feet away. If it is too hard move the basket closer.CraftsMitten Magnet--Use mitten template to cut mitten shapes out of colored foam or felt. If you use felt you will also need to glue it to a paper mitten of the same size to stiffen it up. Have students decorate mitten with stickers or markers. Put a sticky magnet on the back or use a glue dot to attach a magnet to back. If you have time to make two mittens you could attach them together with yarn for a pair.

Shooting Star Christmas ornament—What you need: A small piece of thick paper, felt, or other flexible, easy-to-cut material - one or two colors, scissors, pencil, glitter (optional), markers (optional), glue, ribbon for hanging How to make it: Cut a circle from the paper, felt or other material. A good circle template is a large coffee mug or a small saucer. You may want to trace a spiral

line for them to cut on ahead of time. Starting at the edge, cut a spiral going to the center of the circle. Cut a small star, about 1 or 2 inches wide. Make a tiny hole in the star. The ornament will hang from this hole, so you might want to use reinforcements (these are doughnut-shaped pieces of plastic

used to reinforce the holes in notebook paper and are available at stationery stores). Decorate star with glitter or markers. Glue star to the center of the shooting star. Loop ribbon through hole and tie to use for hanging.Craft Stick Snowman—This snowman makes a nice bookmark or the kids could make them as gifts, signing their name and the year on the back. Add a ribbon hanger to turn it into an ornament. What you need: wide craft sticks, white paint, black marker, scraps of black and orange cardstock, piece of thin ribbon, glue or glue dots. How to make it: Before the part, paint the stick white on both sides and leave to dry. Have students use the black markers to draw on some dots for eyes, mouth and buttons. Cut out a hat from the black cardstock and a carrot nose from orange cardstock and glue on. Finally, tie a piece of ribbon around the stick as a scarf and hold in place with a spot of glue.

Juice Lid OrnamentsUse last year's Holiday cards to make a new ornament.What you need: enough clean lids from frozen juice containers for each student, construction paper, old Christmas cards, ribbon, glueHow to make it: Cut a favorite picture from a card. Using the juice can lid, trace and cut a circle from the construction paper. Glue the picture onto the paper and the paper onto the lid. Have an adult use a glue gun to attach a

paper clip to the lid for a hanger. Or use a ribbon with strong adhesive on the back. Tips: You can spray paint the lids in gold, green or red to add a bit more. Kids can glue other objects or use stickers to decorate the lids. Class pictures would be a perfect addition!

Second grade party ideasValentine Party

Game ideas: Steal my heart, Heart filled candy toss, Heart relay, Valentine Tiddly Winks, I Luv U Bingo, Breathless, Who do you love?Craft ideas: decorate individual cork boards with pre-cut ribbon and paper hearts using thumbtacks and foam stickers to secure ribbons and papers, Heart-y animals, Heart puzzle, Love to Read bookmark, decorate valentine bags or boxes, Conversation Heart Wreath, Kite Magnet

Games Steal my heart—What you need: bowl of heart beads, one pair of chopsticks per team. How to play: place a bowl of heart beads on a flat surface within easy reach of the players and hand the first teammate a pair of chopsticks. Set a timer for about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the ages of your players. At "Go," student starts removing hearts from the bowl using only their chopsticks, placing the beads in front of them. When time is up, the player brings the chopsticks back to the next person in line. When all players have gone the team with the most hearts out of their bowl wins.Heart Filled Candy Toss—What you need: sturdy, large cardboard with heart-shaped candy box drawn on one side, good size hole cut-out in center of heart, or a few small holes for older kids, brown square bean bags (chocolate), bucket to hold bean bags, tape to mark distance line. Place cardboard heart-shaped candy box a little distance from a wall with a paper box lid on floor to catch chocolate bean bags. Mark your distance line according to age and skill of children. Line children up behind the line and place a bucket of chocolate bean bags beside them. Give each child three tries to get their bean bag through the hole.Heart Relay –What you need: 2 large construction paper hearts per team—works even better on cardstock or with hearts attached to paper plates. How to play: Divide children into teams. The first person of a team takes the 2 hearts and lays one of the hearts out on the floor. The child steps on the first heart and then places the second heart in front of them. The child steps on the second heart, reaches back and picks up the first heart and then places that heart in front of them. Continue to the end of the course and then run back and tag the next team member and give them the hearts to race on. Valentine's Day Party Tiddly Winks--Before the party cut a medium - large paper heart.Provide each player with 4 plastic disks (Tiddly Winks or Bingo markers). Form a circle at a table or on the floor. Place the heart in the center of the circle. When you say "Go"

the players "shoot" their disks onto the heart by pressing the edges with another disk . How many can they get to land on the heart? If you have a large group of children, divide players into smaller groups and make more heart "targets".I Luv U Bingo—See Extras section for cards to copy and cut out for playing bingo. Only call out numbers rather than numbers and letter. Print a page of BINGO numbers. HINT: Print off on cardstock or glue to cardboard to give the numbers stability. Cut the numbers apart on the lines. Place the numbers in a bowl. Give each child a BINGO card and a handful of markers (bingo chips, dried beans or buttons). Reach into the bowl, call out a number and the children place a marker on the number if it appears on their card. Play the game just like regular BINGO. Play for 5 in a row across, down, diagonally, or even play blackout by covering all the numbers on the card. Valentine’s Relay—Cut one heart for each child. Write instructions on each heart for the relay race such as crawl, hop, walk backwards, skip, etc. Divide the children in two groups. Determine a line to where the children will turn back around. Put the hearts at the end of the line. The first player on each team runs up to the pile and takes a heart. Each player does what it says on the hearts. When the first player gets back the next player goes. Whichever team is first to finish wins the game.Breathless--What You'll Need: Several sheets of pink and red tissue paper, a pack of straight straws (non-bendable), a few small plastic bags (2 per team), scissorsPrepare by cutting out small, tissue paper hearts. Cut straws into 2" or 3" sections. You will need at least one straw and one paper heart for each child. How to play:Divide the class into even teams, preferably with 4 to 6 children on each one. Have each team line up one behind the other. Hand each player a straw. For each team, fill a plastic bag with tissue paper hearts (1 heart per player); give a filled bag to the first player in each line. Give the last player in each line an empty bag. When you say, "Go," the first player in each line must take a heart out of the bag using only their straw and the suction of their breath, and pass the heart to the next person in line. The heart can only be transferred from straw to straw by suction. When the heart gets to the last player in line, he/she drops it into the empty bag. Play continues until one team passes all of its hearts down the line, winning the game.Who do you love?—You will need one less chair than number of players. Arrange the chairs in a circle so that the seats are facing inside. The player who is “it” stands in the center of the circle, and the other kids sit in the chairs facing her. The “it” approaches one of the seated children and says, “Who do you love?” The player who is approached must come up with an answer, such as “I love everyone wearing pink” or “I love everyone who has a dog,” and then anyone wearing pink or who has a pet dog must stand up and scramble to find a new seat. Players cannot shift to the seat next to them, should it become vacant. They must move at least two chairs away from their original spot. In the meantime, “it” should try to sit down in one of the vacant chairs. Once everyone finds a spot, the one player left standing becomes the new “it” and must then approach a seated player and ask, “Who do you love?” There’s no definitive end to the game and no winner. Repeat it as long as the children are having fun.

Tips: As you explain the instructions, be sure to tell the kids that pushing and shoving or pulling players out of their chairs isn’t allowed. You may want to have a list of things “to love” such as I love crocs, or I love brown hair, or I love ponytails, etc.

CraftsHeart Puzzle What you need: colored construction paper or cardstock, plain white paper, scissors, pencils, glue, envelope to hold pieces. How to make it:

1. Cut a heart shape (nice and big) out of your construction paper. 2. Take the heart shape and write a message on it. Cut it apart. Don't lose track of

the pieces because you will be putting the heart back together again. A good idea is to lay your pieces down in order as you cut them away.

3. You can either stop here, and put pieces in the envelope to use as a puzzle or continue to next step.

4. Arrange the pieces of the heart back together on a white sheet of paper. But this time, leave small spaces between each piece.

5. Glue the pieces down and you have a "broken mirror" effect. Love to Read--This bookmark is a really fun and easy craft that won’t take too long to make. Each child will need a large craft stick or use colorful cardstock and cut to size. Have lots of supplies for the children to use to decorate them. They can use markers, tiny stickers, foam shapes, sequins or anything flat. Have them add googly eyes at the top to make a “Little Love buddy” at the top of their bookmarks to hold their place in whatever book they are reading. Heart-y Animals--What you need: construction paper in red, white, pink , scissors, markers, heart shaped stickers, optional, yarn, buttons or other trims; optional, pre-cut

hearts (recommended for younger kids)How to make it: You can let the children draw their own hearts

on paper and then add the details to make animals, let them cut hearts out of paper or foam, or have an assortment of pre-cut hearts (good for younger children). You can also use simple heart shaped stickers for some of the smaller hearts. Make some samples for them to view while they make their own.Paper Conversation Heart WreathBy: Amanda Formaro

What you need: paper plates, pencil, scissors, heart pattern(see templates), construction paper: pink, purple, red, and blue, markers, crayons or paint pens, glue sticks, yarn for hanger (optional) How to make it: Cut out the center of the plate to create a cardboard wreath base. Fold a piece of scrap paper in half. Using the heart pattern line up the fold line of the scrap paper with the dotted line of the pattern. Cut out the shape so that when you open it, you have a heart shape. Fold the short end of a piece of construction paper up about 3 inches. Place the folded heart around the folded paper and trace the half heart shape into the paper. You should be able to fit three hearts on the paper. Repeat this step for each colored piece of paper; you will have a total of 12 hearts. Cut out all the hearts and flatten out the creases so that the hearts lay flat. Using markers, crayons, or paint pens, write

conversation candy phrases on the hearts such as "LOVE", "HUBBA HUBBA", "SWEET", "LOVE", "BE MINE", "KISS" and "PAL". Arrange your hearts on top of the cardboard wreath shape without gluing them down. Once you have them where you want them, use the glue stick to attach each one. You can hang the wreath as is or attach a piece of looped yarn to the back as a hanger.Kite Magnet—What you need: 5- by 4-inch rectangle of colored card stock, markers, 8-inch length of thin satin ribbon, 2 1⁄4- by 1⁄2-inch self-stick magnetic strip (buy it in precut strips or cut it from a sheet), 6 heart stickers. How to make it: Cut the card stock into a diamond kite shape. Write a message such as the one shown (Being your friend is a breeze), or "You Make My Spirits Soar," on the front. Place the ribbon on the center back of the kite so that it trails down like a tail. Secure the top of the ribbon under the magnetic strip. Decorate both sides of the tail with heart stickers, placing them back-to-back.

Third Grade Party IdeasHalloween Party time/parade

You have time to do ONE craft or game in the time provided.

Game ideas: Eyeball bounce, Pumpkin bowling, Mr. Bones skeleton relay race, Feed the ghost, Halloween Who Am I?, Touchy-feely, Put a Face on the Pumpkin, Witch’s stew, Pumpkin relay, Old costume relay, Pumpkin penny pitchCraft ideas: paint mini pumpkins, candy corn magnet, pumpkin head pencils,create-a-monster, craft stick mummyGamesEyeball bounce—need ping pong balls, markers, plastic pumpkins, bowls or heavy cupsTake ping pong balls and decorate with markers to look like blood shot eyes. Then place the pumpkin, bowl, or heavy cups at a distance away. Now give each child an eyeball (Works best on bare floors) have each child toss or bounce the eyeball across the room. The goal is to see if their eyeball bounces into the pumpkin, bowl or cup.Feed the ghost—cut a ghost out of a large piece of white foam core board. Cut out a large mouth. Cover ghost with white fabric, gluing material inside the mouth. Add black felt eyes. Prop against a chair or wall and toss bean bags or rolled socks into the hole.Halloween Who Am I?—need names or images of items on index cards or paperPlace a name tag or piece of paper on the back of each student and they are told that by the end of the party they must guess what it says. Note: This game can be adapted for any age group 3 to 93, just increase difficulty with age. This is done by asking other guests 'yes' or 'no' questions about what the paper says. They are not allowed to read it themselves, nor are they allowed to ask someone else what it says. Ideas for on the back: pumpkin, witch, vampire, Ghost, jack o’ lantern, black cat, bat, pumpkin carving, trick or treat, full moon, names of types of candy, anything Halloween related!Mr. Bones Relay Race—See template in templates section. Cut out pieces and paste onto cardstock (can’t be too heavy) and cut around so shapes still look like bones. Add magnets to the back. Have kids race to put Mr. Bones together on the white board.Pumpkin bowling—Fill 10 8 oz water bottles ¾ full with water for the pins. Add food coloring in Halloween colors to water make it more interesting. You can also decorate the bottles with stickers. Set up pins just like regular bowling pins. Roll a small pumpkin on its side to knock down pins.Witch’s Stew—need construction paper, straws, bowlPrior to the party, cut out Halloween shapes such as bats, ghosts and pumpkins from construction paper. Each shape should be about the size of a yo-yo. Place the shapes in

a pile beside a small bowl. Using the straw as a suction (remind kids to inhale not exhale!), each child should try to pick up a shape and drop it in the bowl (now they will exhale) to make a witch’s stew. This can be used with teams or individuals.

Put a face on the pumpkin What you need: Pumpkins cut out of poster board, orange, yellow, and black paper, double-stick tape, straws (purchase more than one per child), scissors. Create the pumpkin ahead of time. Make one for each team. Use double-stick tape on the areas where you want the face to be placed. Cut out the pieces for each of the pumpkins. Create 2 eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, stem, and a leaf for each pumpkin. These will be the pieces that the children will place on the pumpkin. How to play: Child picks up a pumpkin piece with a straw (by inhaling) and places it on the paper pumpkin that is on the wall. Tape is already on the paper pumpkin where the piece should be set. Make a relay to see which team can create their pumpkin face first. To make it more difficult, try blindfolding the students!Touchy Feely—What you need: Spiders, webs, wigs, Witch noses or fingers, pumpkins, fake brains, basket or shoebox, paper or pencil. How to play: Put a lot of random Halloween objects in a basket or a box. Make sure the box/basket has some type of cover over it. Have them put their hand inside the basket/box and feel around for the various objects associated with Halloween without talking! As soon as each person feels around the box, have them write down what they thought was in the box without talking. Pumpkin Relay--create teams of 6-12 people then hand each team a pumpkin and explain that the first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line who must then pass it through their legs to the next person in line. This pattern-- above the head and through the legs continues until you reach the end of the line. When that happens, the person at the end runs to the front of the line and starts the over under passing again. This continues until everyone has had a turn at the front of the line and the person who was first in line becomes the last in line.Old Costume Relay Race--Divide players into two equal teams. For each team have a suitcase or box containing a complete costume, each costume should have the same number of pieces (4 or 5 is fun - Shirt pants, shoes, wig or mask, etc). In turn each player must put on the costume and run to a certain point where they take the costumes off and put them back in the box, then run back to start where the next player repeats the process until one team finishes and wins.Pumpkin Penny Pitch: Preparation: Method #1: Carve out a pumpkin (or two,or three) and line the inside with plastic or aluminum foil. Make the top opening big OR Method: #2: Use several small plastic pumpkins(Less messy.) How to play: Place the pumpkins a couple feet away. Give each player ten to twenty pennies. Every time a penny goes into the pumpkin, the player gets a point.

CraftsCandy Corn Pin or Magnet –What you need: orange craft foam, white craft foam, yellow craft foam, tacky glue, scissors, paper, small circular items to trace around, magnet or jewelry pin backs. How to make it: If using circular items, trace them on paper and cut out. (See photo to see difference in sizes.) Trace the smallest circle on white craft foam and cut

out. Trace the middle circle on yellow craft foam and cut out. Trace the largest circle on orange craft foam and cut out. Glue together. (See photo.) Let dry. Cut the circles straight across in four or eight pieces as you would a pizza. Round the edges to look like candy corn. (See photo.) Glue a magnet or jewelry pin back to the back of the candy corn. Let dry. Display on your refrigerator or wear! Tips: This can be cut from craft foam or construction paper and glued onto cardboard. You can make it as a pin to wear or a magnet for your refrigerator.

Pumpkin head pencils—What you need: enough pencils and enough large wooden beads for everyone in the class. The beads should have a hole large enough to fit on a pencil. If you cannot find orange, you can paint them. How to make it: Have kids use fine-point permanent markers to draw a jack o’ lantern on the bead. When the ink has dried slide the bead over the pencil eraser. If the bead opening is larger than the pencil, wrap tape around the eraser for a snug fit.Create-a-monster—Before the party, trace a large body shape (like the size of your child) onto a large sheet of craft paper. Set out glue sticks, yarn, buttons, plastic bugs, googly eyes, felt scraps, foam sheets, scissors, markers, stickers and ribbons. Let kids work together to make a scary or silly monster. Have them name it and hang it up in the room.Craft Stick Mummy

What you need: wire snips, wooden craft sticks, wooden craft spoons, glue dots, 1 square yard of muslin torn into 1-inch-wide strips (this should be enough for at least 7 mummies), small googly eyes. How to make it: (You may want to assemble craft sticks ahead of time and have students do the wrapping part.) With the wire snips, trim 2 craft sticks to 2 1/2 inches for the arms and 2 more to 3 inches for the legs. Attach an arm and a leg to each side

of a wooden craft spoon using 1 glue dot per limb. Stick the end of a muslin strip to the skeleton with a glue dot and wrap the rest of the length around the wood, using another dot at the end. Wrap 4 or so more strips around the skeleton in this way. Use glue dots to attach googly eyes.

Third grade party ideasWinter Holiday Party

Game ideas: Holiday card toss, Candy cane relay, Rudolph Dash, Snowball catapult, Pass the ornament, Frosty, Santa TripCraft ideas: make holiday ornament using kits, paper or foam, Stand Alone Stars, Snowman bookmark or ornament, mitten magnet or ornament, juice lid ornamentsGamesCandy cane relay—divide children into two teams, mark a start and finish line. Pass 4 candy canes (one between each finger) down the line without dropping any.Pass the Ornament—straw for each child, ornaments cut out of tissue paper (ex. Star, bell, tree) Pass the ornaments down the line, teammate to teammate, by inhaling and exhaling on the straw to hang on to or release the ornament. No hands allowed ! Rudolph Dash— you need Vaseline and red construction paper circles. Have child put Vaseline on their nose and then put the red circles on their nose. Divide into teams for a relay race and race to the finish with each new person adding their red nose. If nose falls, go back to start and add more Vaseline and reapply nose.Snowball catapult-- materials needed for catapult include: Block of wood, hot glue, clothespin, jumbo craft stick, plastic bottle cap, paper plates, markers, paper for snowballs

1. To make a launcher, start with a scrap block of wood (your child can paint it a colorful hue if he likes). Hot-glue a clothespin to the block, and a jumbo craft stick to the clothespin, as shown. Then glue a plastic bottle cap near the end of the craft stick, leaving a short lip for a release lever.

2. Create targets of varying point values using paper plates and markers, and crumple small pieces of paper into balls to hurl. Now aim for the highest score. You can also create a snowman for them to try to hit with the snowballs.

Frosty-- A roll of toilet paper for each team, sheet of orange, black, red and yellow construction paper for each team, hat for each team, scissors for each team (or you cut already have things to put on snowman cut out for younger children.) Have several teams of three to four children. When you say, "GO" they should wrap one of the people on their team up in toilet paper (leaving an opening for nose and eyes). Once they've built their "Frosty" they can use the hat and construction paper to decorate him with. You may want to put a time limit on decorating.

Santa Trip--Players sit in a circle. The first player says,"On Winter break I'm traveling with Santa(or Rudolph or Frosty) and I'm going to take (something starting with A )".The next player repeats the first object and adds an object beginning with B continue the game through the alphabet. If there are more players than 26 letters.start again at "A".Holiday card toss- Have you ever tried throwing Christmas cards into a bucket? Gather together a selection of Christmas cards and try to toss them into a laundry basket or bucket place several feet away. If it is too hard move the basket closer.

CraftsStand Alone Star CraftWhat you need: Stiff paper (like card stock or thin cardboard) or styrofoam meat trays, scissors, crayons or markers, copies of star template

How to make it: Two paper stars are needed to make one 3-dimensional star. Either draw two identical stars on a piece of stiff paper or use template to make copies. Decorate the two stars (if you like) on both sides, then cut them out. Make one slit in each star. On

one star, the slit goes from an inner corner to the center point of the star; on the other star, the slit goes from an outer corner to the center point. Slip the two stars together through the slits you just cut. For stability, you may have to tape the stars a bit where they meet at the slits.Craft stick snowman--This snowman makes a nice bookmark or the kids could make them as gifts, signing their name and the year on the back. Add a ribbon hanger to turn it into an ornament. What you need: A wide craft stick, white paint, black pen, scraps of black and orange cardstock, piece of thin ribbon, glue or glue dots. How to make it: Before the party, paint the stick white and leave to dry. Have students use the black marker to draw on some dots for eyes, mouth and buttons. Cut out a hat from black cardstock and a carrot nose from orange cardstock and glue on. Finally tie a piece of ribbon around the stick as a scarf and stick in place with a spot of glue.Mitten Magnet--Use mitten template to cut mitten shapes out of colored foam or felt. If you use felt you will also need to glue it to a paper mitten of the same size to stiffen it up. Have students decorate mitten with stickers or markers. Put a sticky magnet on the back or use a glue dot to attach a magnet to back. If you have time to make two mittens you could attach them together with yarn for a pair.Juice Lid Ornaments--Use last year's Holiday cards to make a new ornament. What you need: enough clean lids from frozen juice containers for each student, construction paper, old Christmas cards, ribbon, glue How to make it: Cut a favorite picture from a card. Using the juice can lid, trace and cut a circle from the construction paper. Glue the picture onto the paper and the paper onto the lid. Have an adult use a glue gun to attach a paper clip to the lid for a hanger. Or use a ribbon with strong adhesive on the back. Tips: You can spray paint the lids in gold, green or red to add a bit more. Kids can glue

other objects or use stickers to decorate the lids. Class pictures would be a perfect addition!

Third Grade Party ideasValentine Party

Game ideas: Straw and Cup relay, Match Maker (see list in Extras section), Valentine Scramble, Breathless, Who do you love?, Steal my heartCraft ideas: decorate boxes or bags for Valentine’s, Heart Puzzle, Conversation Heart Pencil toppers, Love to read bookmarks

Games Match Maker--A Valentine's Day word game where famous pairs come together.What you need: Cut out half the number of hearts as children in the class. Cut each heart in half. Write a half of a famous pair on one part of the heart and the rest of the pair on the other. For example…"Cookies and......." – milk or"Eggs and......" – bacon or"Cinderella and ....." - Prince Charming and so on. Mix the heart colors to make it harder for them. How to play: Then pass out one half of a heart to each student. Have them find their famous pair. When all have found their pair then have them read them out loud. See list of pairs in extras section.Valentine Scramble—What you need: index cards, paper bags How to play: Choose a Valentine word such as: St. Valentine, Chocolate, Heart, Jewelry. Write the letters of the word on individual index cards. Do this two times, making two sets. Put each set in a brown paper bag. Divide children into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag is wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of children as there are letters in the word. Each child gets a letter and they must hold onto the card and stand in the proper order to spell the word for all to see. Straw and Valentine Cup Relay—What you need: A bendable straw for each child, a valentine cup for each team. How To Play: Each child receives a bendable straw. Each child will place the short piece in mouth. A cup will be placed on the first person of each team's straw. The first person passes the cup to the next person in line without touching the cup only by using the straw. First team with the cup to the end wins! Breathless--What you need: Several sheets of pink and red tissue paper, a pack of straight straws (non-bendable), a few small plastic bags (2 per team), scissorsPrepare by cutting out small, tissue paper hearts. Cut straws into 2" or 3" sections. You will need at least one straw and one paper heart for each child. How to play:Divide the class into even teams, preferably with 4 to 6 children on each one. Have each

team line up one behind the other. Hand each player a straw. For each team, fill a plastic bag with tissue paper hearts (1 heart per player); give a filled bag to the first player in each line. Give the last player in each line an empty bag. When you say, "Go," the first player in each line must take a heart out of the bag using only their straw and the suction of their breath, and pass the heart to the next person in line. The heart can only be transferred from straw to straw by suction. When the heart gets to the last player in line, he/she drops it into the empty bag. Play continues until one team passes all of its hearts down the line, winning the game.Steal my heart—What you need: bowl of heart beads, one pair of chopsticks per team. How to play: place a bowl of heart beads on a flat surface within easy reach of the players and hand the first teammate a pair of chopsticks. Set a timer for about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the ages of your players. At "Go," student starts removing hearts from the bowl using only their chopsticks, placing the beads in front of them. When time is up, the player brings the chopsticks back to the next person in line. When all players have gone the team with the most hearts out of their bowl wins.Valentine’s Relay—Cut one heart for each child. Write instructions on each heart for the relay race such as crawl, hop, walk backwards, skip, etc. Divide the children in two groups. Determine a line to where the children will turn back around. Put the hearts at the end of the line. The first player on each team runs up to the pile and takes a heart. Each player does what it says on the hearts. When the first player gets back the next player goes. Whichever team is first to finish wins the game.Who do you love?—You will need one less chair than number of players. Arrange the chairs in a circle so that the seats are facing inside. The player who is “it” stands in the center of the circle, and the other kids sit in the chairs facing her. The “it” approaches one of the seated children and says, “Who do you love?” The player who is approached must come up with an answer, such as “I love everyone wearing pink” or “I love everyone who has a dog,” and then anyone wearing pink or who has a pet dog must stand up and scramble to find a new seat. Players cannot shift to the seat next to them, should it become vacant. They must move at least two chairs away from their original spot. In the meantime, “it” should try to sit down in one of the vacant chairs. Once everyone finds a spot, the one player left standing becomes the new “it” and must then approach a seated player and ask, “Who do you love?” There’s no definitive end to the game and no winner. Repeat it as long as the children are having fun.Tips: As you explain the instructions, be sure to tell the kids that pushing and shoving or pulling players out of their chairs isn’t allowed. You may want to have a list of things “to love” such as I love crocs, or I love brown hair, or I love ponytails, etc.CraftsHeart Puzzle—What you need: colored construction paper or cardstock, plain white paper, scissors, pencils, glue, envelope to hold pieces. How to make it: Cut a heart shape (nice and big) out of your construction paper. Take the heart shape and write a message on it. Cut it apart. Don't lose track of the pieces because you will be putting the heart back together again. A good idea is to lay your pieces down in order as you cut them away. You can either stop here and put pieces in the envelope to use as a puzzle or continue to next step. Arrange the pieces of the heart back together on a

white sheet of paper. But this time, leave small spaces between each piece. Glue the pieces down and you have a "broken mirror" effect. Conversation Heart Pencil Toppers What you need: scissors, craft foam, markers, pipe cleaners, pencils, cardboard for templates. How to make it: Make 1-to-2 inch heart templates out of cardboard. Have students trace around them on foam. Cut a 1- to 2-inch heart from craft foam. With a marker, print a short message on the front and the name of the giver on back. Now poke an inch of the pipe cleaner through the bottom of the heart, bend it down, and twist it back around the remaining length of pipe cleaner. Coil the pipe cleaner tightly around the pencil. Then gently pull up on the heart so that part of the coil bobs freely above the pencil, with several loops anchored around the eraser end.Love to Read--This bookmark is a really fun and easy craft that won’t take too long to make. Each child will need a large craft stick or use colorful cardstock and cut to size. Have lots of supplies for the children to use to decorate them. They can use markers, tiny stickers, foam shapes, sequins or anything flat. Have them add googly eyes at the top to make a “Little Love buddy” at the top of their bookmarks to hold their place in whatever book they are reading. Paper Conversation Heart WreathBy: Amanda Formaro

What you need: paper plates, pencil, scissors, heart pattern(see templates), construction paper: pink, purple, red, and blue, markers, crayons or paint pens, glue sticks, yarn for hanger (optional) How to make it: Cut out the center of the plate to create a cardboard wreath base. Fold a piece of scrap paper in half. Using the heart pattern line up the fold line of the scrap paper with the dotted line of the pattern. Cut out the shape so that when you open it, you have a heart shape. Fold the short end of a piece of construction paper up about 3 inches. Place the folded heart around the folded paper and trace the half heart shape into the paper. You should be able to fit three hearts on the paper. Repeat this step for each colored piece of paper; you will have a total of 12 hearts. Cut out all the hearts and flatten out the creases so that the hearts lay flat. Using markers, crayons, or paint pens, write conversation candy phrases on the hearts such as "LOVE", "HUBBA HUBBA", "SWEET", "LOVE", "BE MINE", "KISS" and "PAL". Arrange your hearts on top of the cardboard wreath shape without gluing them down. Once you have them where you want them, use the glue stick to attach each one. You can hang the wreath as is or attach a piece of looped yarn to the back as a hanger.Kite Magnet—What you need: 5- by 4-inch rectangle of colored card stock, markers, 8-inch length of thin satin ribbon, 2 1⁄4- by 1⁄2-inch self-stick magnetic strip (buy it in precut strips or cut it from a sheet), 6 heart stickers. How to make it: Cut the card stock into a diamond kite shape. Write a message such as the one shown (Being your friend is a breeze), or "You Make My Spirits Soar," on the front. Place the ribbon on the center back of the kite so that it trails down like a tail. Secure the top of the ribbon under the magnetic strip. Decorate both sides of the tail with heart stickers, placing them back-to-back.

Fourth Grade Party IdeasHalloween Party/parade

You have time to do ONE craft or game in the time provided.

The advice from 4-5th grade teachers is to stick to fun group games and also allow plenty of time for socializing. In addition, my advice is to ASK your child if the game or craft idea sounds like something they would have fun doing. If they say NO, then don’t do it!! If you don’t have a boy, be sure to borrow one to ask.

Game ideas: Pumpkin guts relay, Halloween Who Am I?, Mr. Bones relay, Ghost Waiter, Eyeball bounce, Pumpkin Relay, Old Costume relay, Pumpkin penny pitchCraft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts. Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplane, blimp, and Double O Glider ideas in Extras section.

GamesEyeball bounce—need ping pong balls, markers, plastic pumpkins, bowls or heavy cupsTake ping pong balls and decorate with markers to look like blood shot eyes. Then place the pumpkin, bowl, or heavy cups at a distance away. Now give each child an eyeball (Works best on bare floors) have each child toss or bounce the eyeball across the room. The goal is to see if their eyeball bounces into the pumpkin, bowl or cup.Pumpkin Guts relay race-- cut open two pumpkins and scoop out insides, boil package of spaghetti and mix with pumpkin guts. Next get two 1’ plastic skeletons and break down so that all the parts can be buried inside the spaghetti mixture. Spread out two large plastic tablecloths on floor and place pumpkins filled with mixture and bones in the middle of tablecloth. Have kids race to find parts and then put skeleton together.Ghost waiter—need a balloon for each team and a paper plate for each team. Divide children into teams. Set up a course for them to race on. The child has to balance a balloon on a paper plate while walking it down the course and back to their team. Make it harder for older students by having them use only one hand to balance the plate. Make an obstacle course for them to have to move around while holding the plate with balloon on it.Halloween Who Am I?—need names or images of items on index cards or paper

When a guest arrives a name tag or piece of paper is placed on their back and they are told that by the end of the party they must guess what it says. Note: This game can be adapted for any age group 3 to 93, just increase difficulty with age. This is done by asking other guests 'yes' or 'no' questions about what the paper says. They are not allowed to read it themselves, nor are they allowed to ask someone else what it says. Ideas for on the back: pumpkin, witch, vampire, ghost, jack o’ lantern, black cat, bat, pumpkin carving, trick or treat, full moon, names of types of candy, names of monsters, anything Halloween related!Mr. Bones Relay Race—See template in templates section. Cut out pieces and paste onto cardstock (can’t be too heavy) and cut around so shapes still look like bones. Add magnets to the back. Have kids race to put Mr. Bones together on the white board. Pumpkin Relay--Need same number of small to medium-sized pumpkins for the number of groups you want to have. Create teams of 6 – 12 players and line them up. Then hand each team a pumpkin and explain that the first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line who must then pass it through their legs to the next person in line. This pattern-- above the head and through the legs continues until you reach the end of the line. When that happens, the person at the end runs to the front of the line and starts the over under passing again. This continues until everyone has had a turn at the front of the line and the person who was first in line becomes the last in line.Old Costume Relay Race--Divide players into two equal teams. For each team have a suitcase or box containing a complete costume, each costume should have the same number of pieces (4 or 5 is fun - Shirt pants, shoes, wig or mask, etc). . In turn each player must put on the costume and run to a certain point where they take the costumes off and put them back in the box, then run back to start where the next player repeats the process until one team finishes and wins.Pumpkin Penny Pitch: Preparation: Method #1: Carve out a pumpkin (or two, or three) and line the inside with plastic or aluminum foil. Make the top opening big OR Method: #2: Use several small plastic pumpkins(Less messy.) How to play: Place the pumpkins a couple feet away. Give each player ten to twenty pennies. Every time a penny goes into the pumpkin, the player gets a point.

Fourth grade party ideasWinter Holiday Party

Game ideas: Fourth graders do a traditional sockball fight in the gym every year. They ask for sock donations in advance and then donate them to a homeless shelter after the fight. Teachers may ask you to pin socks together and ball them so they stay together. Board games in classroom, Winter bingo or Hangman, if time allows (see Extras section)

Craft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts. Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplane, and ring thing ideas in Extras section.

Fourth grade party ideasValentine Party

Game ideas: Broken hearts riddles, Buzz bomb balloon, valentine bingo, paper airplane throwing contest (in hall), hangman, games already in classrooms, Pass the Fruit, Matchmaker (see list in Extras section), Straw and cup relay, BreathlessCraft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts—ESPECIALLY FOR VALENTINE’S DAY! Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplanes, blimp, and Double O Glider ideas in Extras section.Snack ideas: water or 100% fruit juice, graham crackers, grapes, pudding cups, Goldfish crackers, heart-shaped ham and cheese slices with low-fat crackers, fruit kabobs, “Jello” cups, heart-shaped “Jello Jigglers”GamesBroken Heart Riddles--Large hearts cut in two, Riddle written on the first half of the heart, Answer written on the second half of the heart. Children go around and ask the riddle and the second child will give the answer. If the answers are correct, the two children who are matched up then sit down. Game is over when all children have matched up the riddle to the answer.Buzz-Bomb Balloon—need 1 balloon per player, not inflated, Tape or string to make a target, Have kids form a line or a circle. Put target in middle or out in front. All players inflate their balloon. Some players may need help. When the adult helper says

1,2,3,GO!" the players release their balloons in the direction of the target. If you are having a theme party, use a picture from the theme as the target center. This game works well with teams - each team gets their own colored balloons; red, blue, green etc. Tip: You may want to put names on them so they can do it again or have lots of extra balloons to play again.Match Maker--A Valentine's Day word game where famous pairs come together.Cut out half the number of hearts as children in the class. Cut each heart in half. Write a half of a famous pair on one part of the heart and the rest of the pair on the other. For example…"Cookies and......." – milk, "Eggs and......" – bacon, "Cinderella and ....." - Prince Charming and so on. Mix the heart colors to make it harder for them. Then pass out one half of a heart to each student. Have them find their famous pair. When all have found their pair then have them read them out loud. See list of pairs in extras section.Pass the Fruit (or use Valentine objects)—to begin, gather all payers in a circle, giving one player an apple and the player opposite an orange. The player with the apple passes it to his left, and the player with the orange simultaneously passes it to his right. Continue to send both fruits around the circle as fast as possible. The catch: you can’t touch the orange with your hands (elbows, knees, even feet are okay). Don’t drop either fruit or handle the orange, and you’re out. The last player left wins. The faster you play the sillier it gets, causing players to confuse apples and oranges!Straw and Valentine Cup Relay—What you need: A bendable straw for each child, a valentine cup for each team. How To Play: Each child receives a bendable straw. Each child will place the short piece in mouth. A cup will be placed on the first person of each team's straw. The first person passes the cup to the next person in line without touching the cup only by using the straw. First team with the cup to the end wins! Breathless--What You'll Need: Several sheets of pink and red tissue paper, a pack of straight straws (non-bendable), a few small plastic bags (2 per team), scissorsPrepare by cutting out small, tissue paper hearts. Cut straws into 2" or 3" sections. You will need at least one straw and one paper heart for each child. How to play:Divide the class into even teams, preferably with 4 to 6 children on each one. Have each team line up one behind the other. Hand each player a straw. For each team, fill a plastic bag with tissue paper hearts (1 heart per player); give a filled bag to the first player in each line. Give the last player in each line an empty bag. When you say, "Go," the first player in each line must take a heart out of the bag using only their straw and the suction of their breath, and pass the heart to the next person in line. The heart can only be transferred from straw to straw by suction. When the heart gets to the last player in line, he/she drops it into the empty bag. Play continues until one team passes all of its hearts down the line, winning the game.

Fifth Grade Party IdeasThe advice from 5th grade teachers is to stick to fun group games and also allow plenty of time for socializing. In addition, my advice is to ASK your child if the game or craft idea sounds like something they would have fun doing. If they say NO, then don’t do it!! If you don’t have a boy, be sure to borrow one to ask.

Halloween Party/parade You have time to do ONE craft or game in the time provided.

Game ideas: Charades with Halloween monsters or movies, Hangman using Halloween words (see Extras section for list), Pass the Fruit (see below), pumpkin relay, pumpkin guts relay, old costume relay, pumpkin penny pitchCraft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts. Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplane, blimp, and Double O Glider ideas in Extras section.

GamesPass the Fruit (or use Halloween objects)—to begin, gather all payers in a circle, giving one player an apple and the player opposite an orange. The player with the apple passes it to his left, and the player with the orange simultaneously passes it to his right. Continue to send both fruits around the circle as fast as possible. The catch: you can’t touch the orange with your hands (elbows, knees, even feet are okay). Don’t drop either fruit or handle the orange, and you’re out. The last player left wins. The faster you play the sillier it gets, causing players to confuse apples and oranges!Pumpkin Relay--Need same number of pumpkins for the number of groups you want to have. Create teams of 6 – 12 players and line them up. Then hand each team a pumpkin and explain that the first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line who must then pass it through their legs to the next person in line. This pattern-- above the head and through the legs continues until you reach the end of the line. When that happens, the person at the end runs to the front of the line and starts the over under passing again. This continues until everyone has had a turn at the front of the line and the person who was first in line becomes the last in line.Pumpkin Guts relay race-- cut open two pumpkins and scoop out insides, boil package of spaghetti and mix with pumpkin guts. Next get two 1’ plastic skeletons and break

down so that all the parts can be buried inside the spaghetti mixture. Spread out two large plastic tablecloths on floor and place pumpkins filled with mixture and bones in the middle of tablecloth. Have kids race to find parts and then put skeleton together.

Old Costume Relay Race--Divide players into two equal teams. For each team have a suitcase or box containing a complete costume, each costume should have the same number of pieces (4 or 5 is fun - Shirt pants, shoes, wig or mask, etc). In turn each player must put on the costume and run to a certain point where they take the costumes off and put them back in the box, then run back to start where the next player repeats the process until one team finishes and wins.Pumpkin Penny Pitch: Preparation: Method #1: Carve out a pumpkin (or two,or three) and line the inside with plastic or aluminum foil. Make the top opening big OR Method: #2: Use several small plastic pumpkins(less messy.) How to play: Place the pumpkins a couple feet away. Give each player ten to twenty pennies. Every time a penny goes into the pumpkin, the player gets a point.

Fifth grade party ideasWinter Holiday Party

Game ideas: Fictionary, Charades, holiday hangman (see extras section for list), Holiday 20 Questions, Holiday Scramble, Board games already in the classroom like Monopoly, Sorry, Trouble, Cosmic Catch, Apples to Apples etc. (or bring in some different ones), winter bingo (see Extras section), Reindeer Antler Relay, Tongue Twisters, Craft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts. Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplane, blimp, and Double O Glider ideas in Extras section.

GamesFictionary—One person chooses an obscure word from the dictionary and shares it with the group. The picker jots down the real definition while the other players write down false definitions of their own. Once the picker has read each definition aloud, including the real one, each player chooses the one he or she thinks is correct. Win a point if you get it right; win an extra point if another player picks your phony definition. Holiday Twenty Questions--Leader starts by choosing a Christmas related person, place, or thing. The leader says, "I'm thinking of something". The children try to guess what it is by asking no more than twenty questions that can be answered "YES", "NO", or I DON'T KNOW". Begin at one end of the room and work your way around allowing each student to take a turn guessing until one student gets the answer right. The student who answers the question correctly goes next. Example: FrostyClue: I'm thinking of someone who wears a hatClue: He loves snowClue: He'll melt if it gets too warm outside Clues should be age appropriate for the children playing. Holiday Scramble—What you need: index cards, paper bags. Choose a holiday word such as: Candy Cane, Santa Claus, Reindeer, etc. Write the letters of the word on individual index cards. Do this two times, making two sets. Put each set in a brown paper bag. Divide children into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag is wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of children as there are letters in the word. Each child gets a letter and they must hold onto the card and stand in the proper order to spell the word for all to see.

Tongue Twisters—need silly Christmas phrases. Say each phrase three times as fast as you can. Let kids practice on their own or take volunteers to come up and try their best for all to hear. Chocolate cocoa cravings cure colds Santa sings shining star songs Sally skis super slow Big bright bells banish boredom Grumpy Grinch goes grizzly gus / Pretty packages perfectly packed Tip-top tiny tot toys / Sally's striped stocking's stuffed slightly Santa's super souped sleigh swiftly slides sidewaysCheery cute caroling Christmas critters Candy cane cookies keep kids coming Reindeer Antler Relay—What you need: four to five pairs of panty hose with feet cut off, lots of blown-up balloons, paper for cutting bow ties and noses, tape. How to play: The kids either blow up balloons themselves or use blown-up balloons. One kid on the team is the reindeer and puts the panty hose on his head. Then other kids stuff the balloons down in each leg of the hose and tie it off when they can’t fit anymore in. They also put a paper bow tie and a red nose on the reindeer. First team finished is the winner. Try letting each kid on the team have a chance to be the reindeer!

Fifth grade party ideasValentine Party

Game ideas: Broken heart riddles, buzz bomb balloon, ring thing/paper airplane throwing contest, play valentine bingo or hangman (see Extras section for list of words), charades, Matchmaker (see list in Extras section), Straw and Cup relay, Breathless, Pass the FruitCraft ideas: The girls would do these but the boys don’t really care about crafts ESPECIALLY ON VALENTINE’S DAY! Skip it for this grade or come up with something else for boys to do! See whirly copter, paper airplane, blimp, and Double O Glider ideas in Extras section.

GamesBroken Heart Riddles--Large hearts cut in two, Riddle written on the first half of the heart, Answer written on the second half of the heart. Children go around and ask the riddle and the second child will give the answer. If the answers are correct, the two children who are matched up then sit down. Game is over when all children have matched up the riddle to the answer.Buzz-Bomb Balloon—What you need: 1 balloon per player, not inflated, tape or string to make a target. How to play it: Have kids form a line or a circle. Put target in middle or out in front. All players inflate their balloon. Some players may need help. When the adult helper says 1,2,3,GO!" the players release their balloons in the direction of the target. If you are having a theme party, use a picture from the theme as the target center. This game works well with teams - each team gets their own colored balloons; red, blue, green etc. Tip: You may want to put names on them so they can do it again or have lots of extra balloons to play again.Match Maker--A Valentine's Day word game where famous pairs come together.Cut out half the number of hearts as children in the class. Cut each heart in half. Write a half of a famous pair on one part of the heart and the rest of the pair on the other. For example…"Cookies and......." – milk or "Eggs and......" – bacon or "Cinderella and ....." - Prince Charming and so on. Mix the heart colors to make it harder for them. Then pass out one half of a heart to each student. Have them find their famous pair. When all have found their pair then have them read them out loud. See list of pairs in extras section.Pass the Fruit (or use Valentine objects)—to begin, gather all payers in a circle, giving

one player an apple and the player opposite an orange. The player with the apple passes it to his left, and the player with the orange simultaneously passes it to his right. Continue to send both fruits around the circle as fast as possible. The catch: you can’t touch the orange with your hands (elbows, knees, even feet are okay). Don’t drop either fruit or handle the orange, and you’re out. The last player left wins. The faster you play the sillier it gets, causing players to confuse apples and oranges!Straw and Valentine Cup Relay—What you need: A bendable straw for each child, a valentine cup for each team. How To Play: Each child receives a bendable straw. Each child will place the short piece in mouth. A cup will be placed on the first person of each team's straw. The first person passes the cup to the next person in line without touching the cup only by using the straw. First team with the cup to the end wins! Breathless--What You'll Need: Several sheets of pink and red tissue paper, a pack of straight straws (non-bendable), a few small plastic bags (2 per team), scissorsPrepare by cutting out small, tissue paper hearts. Cut straws into 2" or 3" sections. You will need at least one straw and one paper heart for each child. How to play:Divide the class into even teams, preferably with 4 to 6 children on each one. Have each team line up one behind the other. Hand each player a straw. For each team, fill a plastic bag with tissue paper hearts (1 heart per player); give a filled bag to the first player in each line. Give the last player in each line an empty bag. When you say, "Go," the first player in each line must take a heart out of the bag using only their straw and the suction of their breath, and pass the heart to the next person in line. The heart can only be transferred from straw to straw by suction. When the heart gets to the last player in line, he/she drops it into the empty bag. Play continues until one team passes all of its hearts down the line, winning the game.

Templates and Extras

The And Game List of Pairs—these things just go well together!

Write one name on one half of a heart. Use another color and write the other half of the pair on the other heart. Hand out one half heart to each student and have them find the other half of the pair. After they find their match they can read them all out loud. Hint: if you have 24 students you only need 12 pairs since each person needs one half of the pair.

Thunder and lightningMilk and cookiesTable and chairsBread and butterBat and ballCup and saucerChips and dipBow and arrowLock and keyKing and queenNeedle and threadHide and seekBurger and friesShovel and pailPaint and brushSugar and spiceSpaghetti and meatballsBiscuits and gravy or mashed potatoes and gravyCalvin and HobbesTom and JerryHam and cheeseBacon and eggsHot cocoa and marshmallowsJack and JillPeanut butter and JellyShoes and socksSalt and pepperCheese and crackersMacaroni and cheeseCowboys and IndiansBatman and RobinMickey and MinnieX’s and O’sHugs and kissesLady and the TrampHansel and GretelPlease and thank youFingers and toesStars and stripesRock and RollTarzan and Jane

Ernie and BertScooby and ShaggyBrush and comb

The OR game—played just like the And game but you use pairs that are opposites. See list below.

Big or little push or pullFast or slow yes or noClean or dirty day or nightGood or bad hello or goodbyeFull or empty curly or straightHeavy or light fact or fictionIn or out girl or boyHigh or low open or closeFar or near sit or standYoung or old save or spendThick or thin true or falseEasy or hard under or overHot or cold before or afterSmooth or rough black or whiteLong or shortOld or newRight or wrongTight or looseWet or dryHere or thereSoft or hardRich or poorLaugh or cryLost or foundRun or walkRain or shineUp or downTop or bottomLove or hateSink or swimSweet or sourOdd or evenBackward or forwardAsleep or awakeHappy or sadLight or darkRight or leftStrong or weak