Valentine Games

Cup Crash

The elementary has two official class parties each year, for Halloween and for Valentines. For the past several years, I've been a room mom ... thus, in charge of said parties. I'm always keeping an eye out for ideas. Pinterest has been a big help *Ü* I actually had TOO many ideas this year, and had to narrow things down to what the time would allow. 

One of the favorites (very easy to adapt to almost any holiday/theme) is Cup Crash (pictured above). Just build a tower of plastic cups, set a line for the kids to stand, and give them something to throw. The kids LOVE it, it's one of the favorite activities year after year. 

Cupid's Arrow

This was the first year I tried this simple "Cupid's Arrow" game. Just load an "arrow" (q-tip) into a straw, and blow, trying to get it to land in the bowl. You would not believe how FAR some of the kids could shoot these. And yes ... I was hit while trying to gather up missed shots. NOTE:  Straight straws, without the flexible bendy part are best, as the arrows will get stuck in the "bend" part. I know, simple load the other end ... but I chose to cut that part of the straw off to avoid any problems. Also, as a q-tip is reused a few times, the cotton expands and sometimes then gets stuck, so have plenty of q-tips so you can throw them away after a few uses. I was happy to find these cute pink ones for our party.

My other stations were games I purchased from Oriental Trading Co ... between all the kids and the various classes, I know a small investment will get a lot of usage. Our other stations were:

• Twister (we did get a tear in it this year)
• Memory (this is a really nice, sturdy set)
• Connect Four (small, but cute)

Other games I was considering were ...

• Don't Eat Pete (very cute free printable here)
• Candy Stack (see who can stack conversations hearts the highest)
• Chopstix&Hearts (use pencils as chopsticks to move candy hearts, who can get the most?)
• Heart Lava (kids must use two large cut out hearts to race across the room)
• Balloon Paddle: Make paddles with paper plates taped to sticks. Have the kids try to keep a balloon up in the air, don't let it hit the ground. 
• Bingo (I have yet to find a Valentine set I really like)

I always like to have little extras on hand, to fill in if there is extra time (there was NO extra time at this party!)...  a word search, decoder game, or hidden picture (sign up for Highlights free PDFs every month, they are great). 

I happened to hit the store the day after Valentines and I couldn't help it ... I had to pick up some sale stuff for NEXT year (and the years to come). Maybe a puzzle center, who can assemble theirs first? Tiny tops, ... who can spin theirs the longest. Little frogs for a jumping race, stretchy hearts to flip, frisbees to try and land in a bucket or on a heart target. Make a ring toss game with heart bracelets and pencils (and plenty of pencils to use in the heart chopstix game above too).  This might be too much fun to keep in the classroom, maybe we need to host a valentine party at home too!