What kind of Valentine’s Day party do two chocolate-loving teachers create? A “Hugs, Kisses, and Valentine Wishes” party — of course!
Aren’t these shirts adorable? A mom in our class made them for her daughter and her best friend! We tried to steal them to wear ourselves. 🙂 |
Before our fun day, we sent out a Remind (an amazing app that texts parents without showing your phone number) asking for a few donations and parent volunteers. We also had a paper sign-up sheet outside of our classroom door. We only begged asked for a few items: Hershey’s Kisses and Hugs and crescent rolls for the snack and shaving cream and cocoa powder for the chocolate puff paint. We either already had the other items or bought them ourselves (foil, white glue, white bags, and construction paper). We were even lucky enough to have a parent offer (well, after we got down on our knees and begged her) to make the chocolate play dough!
We made the Valentine bags ahead of time, so that we could pass out the Valentine cards as they came in and before the party stations started. One of our stations included looking at their Valentine cards in a small group. They loved it! It was so cute to hear them tell each other thank you. We bought the white bags (you could use any color) at the Dollar Store (or you could order them off of Amazon). We used a “kiss” tracer and traced kisses onto foil and had parents cut them out (they are kind of tricky to cut). Everything else we left for the kids to cut out. We wrote each kid’s name on the bottom of the bag when the bags were finished, but you could also have the kids write their names.
Cut out the arms and hands |
Glue the arms onto the front of the white bag |
Put glue on one side of the foil kiss |
Glue the foil kiss on top of arms |
Add the Hugs and Kisses tag |
Put a dot of glue on one of the hands |
Place the other hand on top of the glue dot |
Didn’t it turn out cute? |
We made several different colors |
Kisses & Hugs |
We did six different station rotations including the “Open and Read Your Valentines” station. We allowed 15 minutes for each rotation. We also had at least one Valentine book at each station as a back up in case the students completed their task before it was time to rotate. We were very fortunate to have an adult at most of the stations; however, you really only need a helper at the puffy paint station, the cooking station (Kiss Rollups), and the writing station.
We asked a parent to make a few batches of chocolate play dough (Pinterest recipe) for us. The students LOVED this center! They simply picked a sight word out of a Valentine’s bag, read the word, stamped (We used our regular ink stamps. They worked great!) it into their play dough, and wrote it on the recording sheet. We stored the play dough in disposable plastic containers and it lasted the rest of the school year! It still smelled yummy in June!
Mix it up |
Next, we had our students direct draw the shape of a chocolate kiss with us. Once they finished, it was time to paint!
They can paint a Kiss |
Or a Hug! |
When it dries, it will puff up!
ADDING KISSES
For our cooking center, our students made chocolate kiss roll ups. They were very simple! All you need is one crescent roll triangle and 3 chocolate Kiss and/or Hug candies per student. They put the candies in the center and then rolled them up. We baked them according to the directions on the crescent roll package, and they turned out delicious! Make sure to make a few extra for you and your helpers. During this center, we emphasized following more than one step directions. We also had the students retell in order what the steps were to make this yummy snack. You could take this further by having the kids draw and write about each step.
This is not a separate station, but an add on to one of the shorter stations or before or after the party. This time we added it to the Kiss Roll Ups. While the yummy chocolate goodness was cooking, the adult at that station, would pull the kids to take a picture. We hung a red plastic tablecloth to the wall and added fun heart-shaped glasses, signs, headbands with hearts, and anything that looked like it could be a photo prop. We bought everything at the Dollar Store.
I'm trying to find the hugs and kisses recording sheets, etc on your tpt store and can't find it. Please advise. Thank you!
Leigh Anne
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We don't have them in our store just yet; however, we would love to share them with you. Just send us an email to [email protected] asking for them. and we will email them to you. 🙂
Thank you so much! Just sent an email. 🙂
YUM and fun! Love your party!
Thank you! It was a fun day!
Is this up in your story yet? I would love to do this in Feb. Please email me to let me know. I love all your ideas. Thanks, Dana
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