Best ideas for a 1st grade classroom holiday party

[ZuZugal]

Seems like I've planned so many parties but would love some new ideas for planning a 1st grade holiday school party.

I actually have around $100 to spend on the party...and there are 22 kids.

They'll get a snack/drink, then it's time to play games and make a craft.

What are your great game/craft ideas?

I've done Christmas Bingo in the past, usually make some sort of ornament too. I would just love to hear about your best school party and what you planned. The kids love relay games.

Thanks!

[dawson5]

We did this for valentines but I think you could take it and go with a winter theme on a craft idea. We made picture frames. A mom came in a few days early and took individual shots of the kids and printed them out on paper. We then took cardboard and cut it out in the shape of a heart (this was all pre-done) and the kids glued conversation hearts onto the front and magnets onto the back. I bet you could do something like this with those little foam things, maybe they make them in snowflake patterns?

a different twist on a game that went over well with our 5th graders last year was they divided the girls and the boys, had mom's standing in the middle with a large comforter up in between. One girl and one boy were chosen to stand up and then the blanket was dropped, first one to say the name won a point for that side. We did have fun mixing it up, borrowed a younger sibling from another classroom and had him stand there (he had a ball). When the curtain dropped, the girl was flabbergasted, but took it in stride and was a great sport about it.

[Kat77]

I love hot cocoa bars. Fill an insulated container with hot choc. and an have adults stationed to fill cups- cocoa stays VERY hot in those things ALL day! Line a table with toppings: Whip cream, mini marshmallows, cinnimon, sprinkles, crushed peppermints. Supply peppermint sticks to stir with. This is a hit every time!

[PHXscuba]

Keep the crafts super-simple. That's always where it seems to bog down. I prefer foam stickers over glue, big pieces over small.

The kids like frosting/decorating cookies or gingerbread men, so I think of that as a craft/treat combined. I am begging DD7's second grade not to do graham-cracker gingerbread houses. They are so messy and the kids don't end up eating them.

Paper bag puppets (maybe a snowman?) are easy to do -- hat buttons, face, etc. Or turn a gift bag into a snowman doing this idea DIY.

Check out if your school has a die-cut machine in the teachers' lounge. I get lots of crafty shapes from there for class parties.

With that budget, the supplies are easy. Getting the parent volunteers is the hard part sometimes!

PHXscuba

[woodkins]

Not sure if this is a religious school or not but you may not want to do an ornament craft if all of the children are not christian. This was an issue in my dd's class last year. We actually had each child make a fleece tie pillow for themselves. We got penguin/snowflake fleece and precut and pre tied 3 sides of the pillows. The kids got to stuff and tie the last side of the pillow. They had fun, it was easy, mess free and usefull too.

[ekatiel]

One of my favorites is to have a "Polar Express" party. All the kids can dress in their jammies that day (yes, we used to do this when I taught public school ), you can read the story and make silver bell necklaces as a craft. The kids can decorate train shaped cookies for their snack (putting icing in ziploc baggies and cutting off a corner of the bag works great for decorating cookies with little kids). The kids can drink hot cocoa with their cookies (I love the idea of a hot chocolate bar!). You can also have a "snowball" fight. White lufas (sp??) like the ones you use in the shower make great "snowballs", or you can just crumple up sheets of white paper to throw at each other. You can also play "hot potato" with a large jingle bell. Have a fun party! --Katie

[funkychunkymonkey]

snowballs can also be made from white yarn streched over your hand and tied in the middle

[polkadotminnie]

My class always has a wrapping race. They each get a partner and one wraps the other from head to toe like a Christmas present.

[ZuZugal]

Thanks for all of the great ideas everyone.

I want to start planning now so I don't feel "behind"!