Kids Activities: How To Plan a School Valentine’s Day Party

by Nicole Laws on February 8th, 2012 | No Comments »

Children always look forward to holiday parties at school. It's a little time out of their day to take a break and have a little fun. The amount of time allowed for this type of event is usually limited so you want to make the best use of the time you have. To make your next school Valentine's Day party a fabulous success, try these great ideas.

Planning Details

Tips for Hosting a School Party

When planning a party for school, you need to take a few things into consideration:

Figure out how many children are in the class.
Send a letter home asking parents to help with supplies. I would suggest maybe setting something up online where parents can contact you via email with what they will bring. That way, if too many people pick the same items, you have room to suggest something different. Also, ask for the supplies a few days before the party to ensure you get what you need and you can get everything organized.
Have assigned stations for each activity. This will keep all the children occupied and prevent chaos.
Figure out the ages of the children. Make sure activites and games are age appropriate and not too complicated.
Determine the size of the room. It may regulate what activities and games you can and can't plan.
Determine how much time you have. Many school parties are planned at the end of the day and/or snack time. If you know how much time the teacher has set aside, you can plan an estimated timeline.

Party Details

Activities

The following are kid-friendly activities for a school party:

Decorate cupcakes or cookies
Make your own Valentine for mom/dad
Make a lollipop flower. The lollipops in the picture were purchased in a kit from Target (see below for craft).
Print off printables specific to Valentine's Day — mazes, coloring pages, word search, etc.

Games

Bingo — Use the word "Heart" in place of Bingo
Hot Potato using a stuffed heart
Cupid says...replacing the typical Simon Says
Pin The Heart
How Many Hearts — Fill a clear vase or bowl with heart candy and ask the children to guess how many hearts are inside.
Valentine Exchange

Drinks and Food

The following are drinks and food ideas for the party:

Drinks:

Fruit punch juice and label it "love potion".
Strawberry milk
Pink lemonade

Snacks:

Heart-shaped cookies
Decorated cupcakes
Heart-shaped rice crispy treats
Pretzels, popcorn, and/or goldfish

Party Favors

The following are party favors that can be passed out after the party:

Pencils
Erasers
Small wand
Heart-shaped bubbles
Stickers
Tattoos
Candy

Don't go too crazy with favors, as they all get Valentines from each child in the classroom.

Resources

Target has a great dollar section in the front and also a holiday section in the back. You can find many small party favor ideas in bulk for a low price. Oriental Trading is also a good resource.

Resources for printables, bingo game, and more can be found at the following locations: Family Fun, Kaboose, DLTK. You can also visit Family Fun for the Valentine Lollipop Flower Craft.