Mrs. Whited 2nd Grade Class Party
The great adventures of being Mrs. Whited Home Room Mom for Landon's 2nd grade class. I had the pleasured of planning and coordinating all three parties by myself. Yes, just me. The majority of the parents in Landon's class didn't want to be involved makes you wonder how involved they're in their own children's life. Mrs. Whited told the lack of involvement was not normal. So, I had no input from anyone which can be nice because it was up to me to come up with all the ideas and plans. Once again, I sent out a nice email asking for donations. I only heard back from two parents. No big surprise...I just decided to eat the cost of the party. I don't want the kids to be disappointed.
Well, I emailed Landon's teacher the morning of the party. She never replied back to me which I thought was strange but I figure she must be very busy. Leah and I managed to get to the school about 45 minutes early to set up for the party. As soon as we walked into Landon's class room we discovered why Mrs. Whited didn't email back...she had a family emergency and is out of town. The sub was really nice but she was left with no written instructions. The students ended up having indoor recess which meant I wasn't able to set up for the party. So, Leah and I headed down to Logan's Class party. We managed to stay for the first 15 minutes but we had to leave to go back upstairs to Landon's class to finish setting up for the party.
The Sub didn't know what was going on with the party. Mrs Whited wanted me to have the kids make V-day cards. She told me that she had all the supplies but I really didn't want to do a craft. So, I just decided to hold that piece of information from the Sub. I figured probably had no clue where the teacher had the supplies. When Mrs. Whited comes back in town, if she still wants the kids to make cards than she can do it then with the kids. This was the plan....a book, a special surprised, dancing and games, another surprised.
Read Aloud
"One Zillion Valentine's" by Frank Modell
The first surprised came after reading this book. The book is about two boys that make a ton of Valentine's Day cards which they pass out but they have too many left over. So, the boys decided to sell them. They take the money and buy a box of chocolates to share with out. After, I finished reading the book...I told the kids I had a surprised for them from the book. I pulled a HUGE heart shape box of chocolates! You should of seen the looks on the kids faces...Priceless!
I gave each student one piece of chocolate and a napkin. I made all the students wait to eat their chocolates at the same time. I didn't want some students to try get another piece. I told the kids if they got something that they didn't like to just spit it out in their napkin and throw it in the trash can. Only one kid forgot to wait but that's okay. The kids loved it. Chocolate on Valentine's day is always a must.
It wouldn't be a party without some dancing and games.
1. Licorice Eating Contest-I placed one piece of red licorice on each desk. I had the students sit down at their desk with their hands behind their back. The student who finished eating his licorice first without using their hands would win bragging rights plus a prize. I did give every student a pencil that finished their licorice.
2. Stop and Go by Gregg and Steve which is the best kids band ever invented. I seriously, love all of their albums. This song is like the freeze dance except it's stop and go instead of saying freeze. (The whole class loved this activity except my son, who just stood their the whole time)
3. The Limbo by Gregg and Steve cd called Shake, Rattle, and Rock. We managed to do two rounds of Limbo. The kids loved it. Landon wasn't happy when I told him we were moving onto another game.
4. Pass the box with a special surprised! I picked up heart shape straws at walmart for this activity. I wrapped up the straws in a box and wrapped it about six times with tissues paper. I had the students sit in a big circle. This game works a lot like hot potatoe. I started up the music and whoever was holding the box when the music stop got to wrap one layer of tissue party. The last person to unwrap the box got to open up the surprised.
Now the fun party, the girl open up the box and showed the kids in the class the straws. I asked the kids what they thought the straws were used for? The kids said all kinds of answers but none of them were right. The only parent that comes and helps me with the class parties told the kids that they were getting water to drink with their straws. You should of seen the look of disappointment on the kids faces. Well, I finally spoke up and told the kids that the straws were for ROOT BEER FLOATS. The kids seriously freaked out. All of the kids, were jumping up down, hugging each other, screaming. The class went WILD. The poor Sub was trying so hard to get the kids to calm down. I'm sure the whole upstairs floor heard my class screaming. You would of thought the kids had won the lottery.
So, the final surprised was root beer floats and the kids loved it.
5. Postman
The last thing the kids did was pass out their V-Day Cards. After the kids were done passing out their cards they were able to eat their rootbeer floats and open up their cards.
Wow, that was one long and crazy party. We even managed to finish up on time! The hour went by sooooooooooo fast! Several of the kids came up to me told me that the party was the best ever party. One boy told me that his old school they never had parties like this and he loved it. Another kid told me that I'm a very good teacher. Oh, I was sooooooooo happy! My last and final party was a huge success.
I'm really glad that I decided to step up take on his position. It hasn't been easy due to lack of parents involvement but I don't regret it. The only thing that I do regret is not making sure my camera was working. I forgot to put in the memory stick. I was so bummed that I wasn't able to take pictures of the party. The looks on the kids faces were priceless when they found out about the last surprised.
The party was educational and fun. I didn't do the normal boring games or activities. I decided to step out of the box and come up with a really fun party.
I only one more event to plan for the school year. Teacher appreciation week...any ideas?
