How to have the BEST Valentine's Day Party EVER!!!!!! Ideas and FREEBIES!

O.K. First things first! How cute are these adorable blowing kisses pictures?!?! Found this idea on Pinterest!! Where else???? All I did was tape some paper hearts on the whiteboard, had them pose and snap a photo. Then, we printed them out and made some super cute Valentine cards for our parents!!! Too cute!!!!

 Now, the first thing you will have to start thinking about for that Valentine party is the mailboxes!! Check out these SUPER cute, creative boxes that my Kinder families made this year!!! So stinkin' cute!!!! Valentine mailboxes are our Kindergarten family projects for February!   This project is sent home in their homework pack at the beginning of the month-so, they have a couple of weeks to work on these!! Now, I have 25 kiddos in my class-so, there is bound to be kiddos who forget, or parents that just don't take the time. I keep an eye on that. I just save a couple of extra, empty boxes and attach the note to the empty box and send it home a few days before V-day as a reminder. I also ask a couple of those SUPER DUPER crafty families if they'd like to make an extra box for someone who doesn't have one. Everyone in my class had a box and they were all ADORBS!!!!!!!!  check them out.....

You can find this family project in our February Homework Pack for Kindergarten. I co-authored these packs with my friend Erin Eberhart from Eberhart's Explorers.  All of our homework packs have a monthly family project included. You can check this homework pack out here. Just click on the image below:

Now, you just need some Valentines to stuff in those boxes!!! Here are the Valentines I made for my kiddos this year! You can grab the little tag for FREE by clicking on the picture below!! Just print on cardstock, cut out and staple to a bag of goldfish crackers :)

I would also recommend NOT sending a class list home for those valentines!!!!! It makes them sooooo much harder to pass out!!! Just have your students sign their cards so you know who they're FROM!!! Here is a cute, FREE letter from Simply Kinder that you might want to use that states that:

 Now, for the party!!!!!! My school only has TWO official parties a year....Halloween and Christmas. Well, Valentine's Day is such an exciting time and these babies are only 5 and they need some excitement in their lives!!! ;) So, during our Math Center time on this special day-we have a our celebration....but, with out all the commotion and parents :)
Like I said, I have 25 kiddos in my class (15 of them are boys) So, how do I do this with little help and maintain control and structure??? Here's how!!!
I split my class into 3 groups. One group goes to the carpet to open valentines. I have already set out pieces of construction paper ahead of time and SPREAD THEM OUT :) I explain before they get there-that the piece of paper is their spot to put their valentines on. I explain that they will open one card at a time and each time they open one-it goes ON their piece of paper. This is their own personal space for their things....that way, nothing gets mixed up!!!!

The second group goes to the game table. You will need a simple game that they can do ON THEIR OWN. I chose bingo. (This is an OLD SCHOOL bingo game that I made before my TPT years and before all of the cute clipart that you can find now :) But, it works!!! I just wrote sight words on the bingo cards and cut out hearts that have the sight words on them. The hearts are flipped over. Kids take turns flipping one over and calling it out. They then all look to see if they have it and cover it with a heart gem until someone gets BINGO. Then, they clear and play again. SIMPLE.

Aaaaaand.....then, there's the chocolate fountain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!! The kids go CRAZY over this!!!!! They LOVE it and they talk about it for years!!! ;) This is where I spend most of my time, obviously :) But, it's sooooo worth it!!!! I just get some skewers that they can put marshmallows, bannanas or strawberries on to dip in the chocolate. I also buy pretzel rods because they are easy to dip! Then, they all just dip and eat!!!! so, soooooo fun and delicious!!!!

 I set a timer for about 10-12 minutes and when the timer goes off, we calmly all switch. NO craziness!!! It actually, surprisingly always goes really smoothly!!! Now, you will want to keep your eye on the timer and have your kids on the carpet start cleaning up their valentines when there is about 1 minute left AND having your kids at the fountain stop eating and start cleaning up their plates, drinks, etc. And, when the new group gets there-I remind them NOT to touch anything until all of the plates, napkins and drinks are passed out before they are allowed to dig in :)

Now, if you DO have a big old party and have more helpers in your room-you may want to try a game like this!!! I made these posters for my son, Brody's class to use at their Valentine Party!!! You can save the image of the mustaches and lips to your computer and then print them for your own use if your interested!! ;)

Hope you found some good ideas and freebies!!! Don't forget to pin for next year!!!! ;)
xoxoxo