Planning A Class Party They’ll Remember

Whether you’re a teacher or a parent, planning a classroom party is a huge undertaking. There are a lot of aspects of parties that need to be considered. Today we’re not going over specific ideas, but breaking down the party planning process in a few simple steps that will apply to any classroom party!

Step One: Theme

The theme of your classroom party dictates everything else. Often the party theme is going to be based around a holiday or season, but don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd!

Throw a party themed after a book read in class, for example. You could also throw a party based on another culture. Parties can be great ways in integrate learning opportunities into something students see as fun.

Step Two: Purpose

What purpose does the party serve? If it’s a fall themed party, it could be about appreciating where food comes from. If it’s a Valentine’s Day themed party, make it about students appreciating each other.

Having a purpose in mind when planning can help you ensure that your students aren’t just having fun, they’re learning something.

Step Three: Budget

Before you make any plans for this party, figure out the budget. If you want to dip into personal funds that’s fine, but even if you’re paying out of pocket you should have a budget in mind.

A classroom party will only last about an hour, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money going all-out to completely transform the classroom. Keep all the money in a specific place and write down your estimated costs vs. actual costs as the planning gets underway.

Step Four: The Food

The first thing you have to do is get a list of all student allergies. When requesting food make sure parents know not to send these items into the classroom.

If you can, try to bring in a snack that fits the theme of the party. You’ll also want to encourage parents to send in healthy snacks, not just cupcakes.

Step Five: Decorations

You don’t want to go too crazy, but having some decorations can really make a party stand out. Even something as simple as choosing paper plates in a color that suits the theme can make a difference. Consider making a backdrop against the wall where the party food will be.

Don’t forget to check with friends or colleagues for décor items. This can really cut down on the costs and they may have some great ideas!

Step Six: Activities

Make your party memorable. Activities will make students really remember your party, and they can learn things, too.

Simple crafts make for an easy, fun activity in the classroom. If you’re presenting a craft at a party it is better to prepare everything needed in advanced. Get outside for activities if you can to burn off more energy. If you can fit activities to the theme that’s great, but you don’t have to!

Step Seven: Parent Communication

You’ll want to communicate with other parents to see what they can contribute to the party. If you’re a parent ask the teacher to send home a note, perhaps with your email address attached, so parents can get in contact.

This makes it easier to coordinate food and drinks so you don’t end up with nothing but a table of cookies. Send out this letter a week or two ahead of the party.

Step Eight: Plan

Once you’ve figured out all these logistics, it’s time to put everything together. Figure out the timing of your activities and the serving of food. Figure out when to decorate and where food will be stored. This part should be easy since you’ve planned everything else out already.

Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way to planning the perfect classroom party!

Top Winter Experiences

When the weather is cold and snowy it’s easy to stay inside where it’s warm. But winter can offer some amazing experiences that can’t be had at any other time of year, especially for children! These are the top winter experiences (in our opinion) along with what your student or child can learn from them.

1.      Ice Fishing. There’s a lot to be learned from the sport of ice fishing. While it isn’t so unusual to take kids out fishing, ice fishing comes with an entirely different skill set. Children can learn about the right types of clothing they need not only to stay warm, but dry. They’ll learn about the basic safety gear needed when going on an adventure like this. Most importantly, they’ll learn more about the dangers of ice.

2.      Create a New Snow Sport. Who says outdoor fun has to stop just because there’s snow on the ground? Push kids to be creative by thinking up their own winter version of the sports they love. What about ice bowling? Snow golfing? This gets kids outside but also forces them to think critically and creatively.

3.      Go Winter Camping, or rent a cabin with the absolute bare necessities. This is another fantastic way to teach kids basic survival skills and to see how their ancestors used to survive in winter weather. Plus winter camping comes with a whole range of activities, such as ice skating and winter hiking.

4.      Attend A Winter Festival. While we tend to think of festivals as a summer activity, winter festivals are a unique experience that can only be had when surrounded by snow and ice. Common activities include snow and ice sculpture contests, chili contests, dog sled rides, and more.

5.      Build A Snow Fort. Make it extensive, with mazes and hiding areas. There’s tons of ways to make a snow fort, so watch your kids go at it (though of course, ensure that it is safe). This can help with construction skills, critical thinking, and fine-motor skills.

6.      Take Kids Tracking. If you can get to a forest this is even better. You can teach kids about different animal prints, how to track, and how humans have been tracking animals for hundreds of years. If you don’t believe you’re experienced enough to do this, there’s sure to be a tracking class or event somewhere nearby.

7.      Make Art Using Ice. This is more complicated than making a snowman and really makes kids think. Start by freezing water into ice. Use ice cube trays, muffin tins, old containers…whatever you can find. You may choose to use food coloring to turn the ice different colors. Next take your kids outside and have them build their own ice art and structures. A bit of water will help connect the different pieces of ice together.

8.      Play Classic Children’s Games In Winter. Playing these games in winter adds a fun extra challenge. Tug of war becomes a slippery challenge. Dodge ball uses snowballs instead of balls. Freeze tag becomes even more challenging when you have to freeze in the snow. How else can these games take on a winter twist?

9.      Use The Snow To Cook. There’s tons of snow-themed recipes out there, which can be used to help teach younger kids about basic cooking. Snow ice cream is a popular favorite, and you can also try making maple candy (just like in Little House On The Prairie).

10.   Go Snowshoeing. This activity started as a mode of transportation and has evolved into a classic winter pastime. It is easy to learn and allows you to see places you may not otherwise have easy access to in winter. Teach kids about staying safe while snowshoeing, and about how snowshoeing came to be.

Make The Most of Winter Break

So, winter break is finally here and it is time to sit back and relax, right? But it’s not always so easy for teachers. It’s so easy to use that time off to grade assignments, plan lessons, and generally do everything possible except relaxing. Today we want to give you our best tips for making the most of your winter break by relaxing and getting a tiny bit of work done, too.

1.      Prioritize time with your family and friends. It is the holiday season. Take time away from work to simply be with the people you care about. This may mean planning fun trips or it may mean watching movies all day on the couch. Leave your work behind and just enjoy being in the moment.

2.      Try to stick to your regular sleep schedule. Sleeping in once or twice isn’t going to hurt, but if you get used to waking up at nine in the morning every day, you’ll have a difficult time getting up for work when vacation is over. Plus by getting up early you have more daylight to do things!

3.      Read a book. How often do you get to sit down and read just for yourself during the school year? Reading is a great way to relax and a great way to exercise your brain.

4.      Take some time to relax with just you. Teaching is a lot of hard work and you need time to recharge. Relax. Go to a movie by yourself. Get a massage. Do something you enjoy that lets you unwind.

5.      Take some time to reflect on how the school year has been going. What worked in your classroom? What didn’t? What changes can you make to improve the rest of the year? You don’t have to plan out all new lessons, but taking some time to re-assess is a great idea.

6.      Allow yourself to try out a new hobby. Try cooking or baking, something you probably already do because you have to, but that can be an activity you enjoy. Try taking a painting class. Pick up a craft kit or try out knitting, which can easily be put down and picked back up. Winter break is a great time to try doing something you’ve been interested in.

7.      Plan your calendar, both for home and for school. Put everything on one specific calendar so you can easily reference it. What big school deadlines do you have to keep track of? What plans have you made? Get this organized now to reduce stress down the road.

8.      If you do have work that you absolutely must get done, limit it. Give yourself only a set number of hours. Don’t get so distracted by work that you don’t relax…you want to be energized when school starts back up.

Thanksgiving Ideas For The Classroom

Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Are you looking for unique activities to do to celebrate in your classroom? You don’t have to stick to lecturing about the history of the holiday. There’s tons of other things you can do to engage students right before the holiday!

·        Separate Thanksgiving facts from fiction with a visual board in a class-wide activity. There’s plenty of “facts” that are actually fiction, some of them damaging and some of them not. Make a game of having students guess which things are true and which are not.

·        Brainstorm ways to give back to the community. Take ideas from your students, no matter how big or small the idea is. From there have students vote and pick the top three community service projects. Discuss them. What would need to be done to get these goals accomplished? You may even be able to implement these ideas.

·        Have students save a turkey from Thanksgiving dinner! This fun activity really lets students get creative. Print off a free turkey template then have students use craft supplies to make a disguise for the turkey. Maybe have them write a short story to go with it!

·        Hold a Thanksgiving feast in your classroom or the school cafeteria. This one requires more preparation so get started sooner rather than later. Send out a memo to parents, asking students to sign up to bring in different dishes in the class. Maybe this is a proper Thanksgiving feast, or if you want to make it more simple hold a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving party instead!

·        Plan a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt in your classroom or outdoors on school grounds. Hide relevant items such as ears of corn, mini pumpkins, and more. The clues can be based on Thanksgiving history, math challenges, spelling challenges, anything you want!

Should Halloween Be Banned In School

Holidays on school premises have been an issue that has gained attention for years, and it shows no sign of slowing down. While the debate on acknowledging Easter and Christmas makes sense to most, there is a lot of confusion about why Halloween is getting banned more and more often at schools across the country. Today we’re diving into the debate about Halloween in schools.

1.      Religion – One of the big points that comes up during this debate is the issue of religion. No one wants to disrespect people’s religion, and Halloween can incense some parents from different religious backgrounds. Some people believe Halloween is directly related with the devil. Critics argue that Halloween encourages evil. But Halloween is not a religious celebration. It began as a Celtic event, as a day when the living could mingle with the dead. Really, Halloween is a mix of very old religious traditions, folklore, and secular traditions. On the whole, in modern society Halloween is not a holiday that celebrates a particular religion or denounces one. Much like Christmas parties in the classroom, you may want to play it safe by naming Halloween celebrations as fall ones, but this is more an issue of being politically correct versus breaking rules regarding religion in school.

2.      Distraction – Some make the argument that celebrating Halloween is too big of a distraction in the classroom. Class parties take time away from instruction time, and costumes keep students distracted during the day. This argument is that school is for education, not for play. If this is the case, then all holiday events should be banned from school. At the same time, this seems unreasonable. Something else that teachers think about is their students who come from poverty, who may not get a chance to celebrate different occasions throughout the year. Many classrooms choose to dedicate only a small amount of time to holiday celebrations so they do not lose much instruction time.

3.      Inappropriate Costumes – There are many Halloween stores out there, offering a huge variety of costumes. This means that students are showing up in costumes that are too violent, disturbing, and racist. Certain costumes may scare certain students, while costumes covered in fake blood are simply inappropriate for a classroom environment. Teachers and schools can implement costume requirements, such as banning certain costumes, or they may make their classroom themed. With costume policing however, it can just be easier to ban them altogether.

4.      Health – Classroom parties also bring up health concerns. This is not exclusive to Halloween celebrations, but as Halloween is associated with candy and other treats, a Halloween party is more likely to have unhealthy snacks than other. Filling kids with tons of sugary, fattening foods is becoming less and less popular. Luckily there are plenty of fun, healthy treats that can be made, but it takes some extra coordination.

5.      Safety – Amid the growing terrorism and school shooting fears, it is understandable that schools are uneasy about allowing children inside in costumes. Masks can disguise a student’s identity, and props can be used as weapons. So how does one address this particular issue? Again, costume restrictions are very important. Not allowing props or masks is an easy way to deal with this. If you bring in volunteers to help with the festivities, do a thorough background check.

      So, bottom line? Choosing to celebrate or not celebrate Halloween at your school is ultimately up to the individual school or classroom. Personally, we believe that as long as the celebration is handled in an appropriate way that there is no reason why you can’t celebrate Halloween in some capacity in the classroom.

Fall Activity Checklist

Fall is here, and that means it is the time to start enjoying fall activities! We’re going to list some of the best fall activities that you can do with your children or students. Doing seasonally themed activities can make for a great learning experience, even if you don’t specifically create a lesson to go with the activities.

1.      One of the most classic things you can do is take kids to an apple orchard to pick their own apples. But it doesn’t have to end there. Choose an orchard that offers additional activities. Sample some apple cider. Pick an orchard that has a store with locally made treats. Don’t just pick apples to eat, pick enough to take home and make a delicious dessert with them!

2.      Take your kids on a ghost tour. Now you’re not going to want to take them on a tour that is going to terrify them, but there are a lot of ghost tours that will take you through historic parts of town, and give a lot of local history at the same time. This is a great way to help kids learn more about their city, while grabbing their attention with spooky tales.

3.      Head to a farmer’s market. Fall is a big time for harvesting vegetables which means farmer’s markets will be full of tasty, local vegetables. Kids will get a better idea of where their food comes from and can make meals with tasty ingredients.

4.      Take a trip to see the fall colors. If you are going just with your kids, take a road trip somewhere with tons of fall leaves. If you are with a school group, take the kids to a local park. Fall colors are beautiful, so wait until peak season then take kids out to take a look.

5.      Take your kids or students to a fall festival. These festivals have tons of great fall-themed events, such as hay rides, corn mazes, pumpkin painting, and much more. A festival like this allows your kids to experience a lot of fall traditions all in one place.

6.      Make fall crafts, and even better, make them using fall items. Leaves, sticks, candy corn…there’s tons of stuff you can use to make fun crafts with your kids!

7.      Make homemade Halloween costumes! If you are doing this at home, go crazy! Make more complex, family Halloween costumes so you all look great for Halloween. If you are doing this in a classroom you may want to stick to costumes that are simpler, such as hats or masks.

8.      Kids have a lot of energy, and a great way to burn off some of that energy is a fun game of football. Organize it in the neighborhood, with just your family, or with your entire classroom. Make it touch football to reduce the risk of injury.

9.      Go on a nature walk. This is more than just a hike looking at fall colors, this is to see how the world changes when the seasons change. There will be different plants and animals, the air will feel and smell different, and even familiar surroundings will look different.

10.   Use the traditional tastes of fall to create different fall-themed dishes! Apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, caramel; there’s tons of great flavors and treats to make.

Common Foods That Make Kids Sick

A lot has changed in the past 100 years, especially our food and where it comes from. While it may be tempting to give your children hotdogs after a long day at work, you may want to read this list first. Some of the foods we’ll be listing here are simply unhealthy that can contribute to obesity, while others may contribute to the development of cancer. The best thing you can do for your child is to serve fresh food, with as little processed foods as possible. But here are some of the most commonly used foods that can be particularly detrimental to your child’s health.

1.      Fruit juice seems like it would be a healthy choice, when in fact it is usually packed with sugar with almost no actual fruit. Many fruit juices contain more corn syrup than actual juice, but even the 100% juice options are usually crammed full of sugar. Now certainly 100% fruit juice is better than soda, but you’re going to want to limit fruit juice intake. Most Americans get at least double the recommended intake of added sugar a day, and a single cup of juice can fulfill the full sugar limit all on its own.

2.      And speaking of soda, do not give your children diet soda with the assumption it is better for them than regular soda. While it doesn’t have sugar, it has artificial colors and dangerous chemicals. It usually has caramel coloring, which is currently being studied because it has caused cancer in rats.

3.      Deep fried foods. It is an obvious item, but it needs to be mentioned. Fried chicken, chicken tenders, breaded shrimp, onion rings. These items are high in fat, high in calories, and high in sodium. The key with this is moderation. By all means, go out for fried chicken every once in a while, but don’t make it a part of your weekly diet.

4.      Processed meats are extremely unhealthy in a number of ways. This includes sausage, bacon, lunchmeat, and more. They are now accepted as being a carcinogen, which is reason enough to stay far away from them. If you can’t give up bacon, limit it a lot. Make processed meats a very special treat.

5.      Cereal, one of the most popular breakfast items, is extremely unhealthy, even if you go for the “healthy” options. Not only do most cereals contain way too much sugar, but some of them contain ingredients that are banned in other parts of the world because they may cause cancer. Instead serve eggs, toast, oatmeal, or something else more natural than a sugary cereal.

6.      Canned soup is easy, cheap, and healthy. But not quite. Canned soup is packed with sodium, often half or more the sodium you should get in an entire day. It can also be packed with strange chemicals you’ve never heard of. Homemade soup is not hard to make, and it’s a lot better for you.

7.      Boxed Mac & cheese is another cheap, popular meal for kids that is filled with sodium. Depending on the brand, your kids will also be ingesting tons of fake ingredients, including the cheese. Making homemade Mac & cheese with real ingredients isn’t too hard, and there are ways you can make it more healthy, such as using low-fat cheese.

8.      If you think feeding your kid a salad is healthy, think again. Salad dressing can be packed with fat, sugar, and chemicals. By no means should you cut out salad, just choose the dressing you use with it carefully.

9.      Stay away from canned fruit or fruit cups. These are often bathed in oils and sugary syrups. These can contribute to obesity and other health issues so instead, just choose fruit. Simple fruit from your produce aisle.

10.   Frozen foods, whether these are hot pockets, TV dinners, or anything else requiring to just be warmed up are usually bad for you and your kids. They’re very processed, filled with sodium, and can cause a lot of adverse health issues. Before you choose a frozen meal take a good look at the nutritional facts to make sure the one you choose is not too unhealthy.

11.   Pop-tarts and their off brands are fast, sugary, and extremely unhealthy. Not only are they high in fat and sugar, but they contain chemicals that may cause cancer. Best to stay away from these entirely.

12.   Using margarine instead of butter is not a good alternative. It is a huge source of trans fats, which are bad for cholesterol. When cooking with butter use olive oil instead, and when using butter for bread stick with traditional butter, in moderation of course.

13.   Granola bars are often labeled as a healthy food, but they are anything but. Granola bars are actually filled with oils and sugars, making them more of a desert than anything else. Not only that, but they actually usually don’t make you feel full, leading to overeating.

14.   Popping a bag of microwave popcorn in for movie night is extremely bad for your child’s health. It’s filled with sodium, fat, artificial butter, calories, and strange “natural” flavors. There have also been some questions about if the chemicals in microwave popcorn may slightly increase the chances of cancer. Air popping popcorn from home actually makes for a healthy snack.

15.   Stay away from white bread and choose 100% whole wheat bread instead. White bread is made with flour that has no nutrition, often has strange preservatives, and also, surprisingly, has more sugar than you would think.

16.   Bagels have a reputation for being a healthy breakfast item, but between the high carbs and the calories and sugar the bagel has when not plain or covered in cream cheese, it becomes a very unhealthy way to start the day.

17.   An item you may not think about as being unhealthy is ketchup. Not only is one of its main ingredients corn syrup, but it contains a lot of sugar. And when you’re using ketchup with your French fries, you end up consuming a lot of ketchup without even thinking about it.

18.   Pancake mix makes for easy, delicious pancakes, but pancake mix has almost nothing in it except refined flour. Plus you add butter and syrup, then you have a high calorie, high sugar breakfast. Keep these as a special restaurant treat, not a staple in your home.

19.   Don’t indulge in red meat on a regular basis. That means cut back on the burgers and pork chops. Red meat is higher in fat and cholesterol than chicken and fish. You don’t have to cut out all red meat, just eat it in moderation.

20.   Many will claim that yogurt is healthy, and it can be, as long as you watch the yogurt you are giving to your kids. A lot of yogurt has tons of added sugar and artificial sweeteners. In general you want to go for Greek yogurt, and make sure to check the nutrition facts!