Da-Hoo Doray, Da-Hoo Doray!

Tired of Making Tissue Poms for your Parties? Try These!

I love this tissue tassle garland!  The Purple Pug has a great tutorial.  I used my beloved rotary cutter and made all of the garland that I needed in about 15 minutes.

http://thepurplepug.blogspot.com/2011/06/tissue-tassel-garland-tutorial.html

Ode to my my new BFF, the Rotary Cutter

Oh, rotary cutter 

How do I love you

let me count the ways,

You cut tissue tassles for Grinch garland to make make our Christmas party complete

My puny little scissors can't begin to compete

Cardboard is no obstacle and wrapping paper cannot resist

Your rotary cutting goodness is number one on my list

I can't imagine preparing for a party again without you by my side

Props to your friend, the giant cutting mat I use for a guide

You are the one I have to thank as the party approaches and I have no cut or nick

Now I just need to find a cure for burns from a hot glue stick

So, why didn't someone tell me about you before now? I'll never know,

But rest assured, now that you're here, I will never let you go!   

Snowman Treats

Here are a few ideas for cute and easy snowman treats.  You can make rice crispies, place them on a stick, dip the front in melted white chocolate and use your imagination to decorate.  You could also dip vanilla sandwich cookies in white chocolate and decorate as snowmen with m&ms, orange slice candy (tear off a little and form into a carrot by rolling between your hands) or candy corn, and chocolate chips.  If you purchase the cookies already dipped in chocolate, purchase a bag of white chocolate chips to melt so that you can add your decoration.  These snowman s'mores are just as easy. Use white chocolate chips as your glue and an icing marker to make your face (you can find these in the cake aisle at Marsh).

Reindeer Cookies

I found these on Pinterest.  So cute and so easy!  Perfect for a snack during reindeer games.  All you need is a package of M&Ms, nutter butters, mini pretzels and melted white chocolate chips for glue.

Reindeer Games

Easy Snowman Craft for a Class Party

Make these adorable and EASY snowmen for your class craft at the Christmas party.  See instuctions at www.thepurplepug.blogspot.com/

Grinch Party!

Polar Express Party

Candy Turkeys

Fun candy turkeys, just in time for Thanksgiving!  To make this version, you will need a packages of Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Whoppers, Candy Corn, mini chocolate chips and Oreos.  The "glue" is tubs of icing or melted white chocolate chips.  You will need a little bit of yellow food coloring to add to the icing for the legs.  To get the candy corn to stay in the top of the oreos, open the oreo carefully and add either icing or melted white chocolate chips and then put the oreo back together and attach the candy corn. Use the icing to create eyes and add a mini chocolate chip for the pupil.  

Fun Fall Treat

These acorns are great for a fall classroom celebration!  Purchase glazed doughnut holes, dip the tops in glaze and dip in sprinkles.  Use a small pretzel stick for a stem.

What Did You Think About Volunteer Spot?

Whew! One party down.  Do you have some great pics from your party?  What theme did you use?  Comment to share fun games/activities that you used at your party so we can use them next year.  The 4th Grade had a great time decorating Father Bob's house after their Mummy Madness party!

Did you use Volunteer Spot to recruit/coordinate volunteers?  If so, I want to hear about it.  How did it work for you?  I think it made my job SO much easier.  The system even sent out reminders for me.  I think it was nice that everyone in the class could go to one place and see what we still needed at any time.  They could sign up without duplicating and they had a clear picture of what items/opportunities were left.  I loved it! Please let me know what you thought!

Taking Pictures at the Party

 

Don't forget to take pictures of your class Halloween Party!  

Parents that are unable to attend really appreciate being able to see what happened at the party.  As a room mom, you have a really good opportunity to capture some fun moments during the event.

·         To make sure you get some really good ones, take a lot of pictures. The more you have, the better your odds of getting that really memorable shot.

·         Zoom in on the kid’s faces and take action shots while they’re playing games or doing a craft. Nothing captures the energy of the party like the joy on a child’s face.  This is also a big win with the kids - and their parents.

·         Look for the creative shots.  Try snapping a picture from above a student’s head, pointing the lens straight down at the desk to capture them cutting paper or coloring a pumpkin.  Or consider getting on the ground and shooting from an upward angle.  These kinds of pictures aren’t hard to take, but their uncommon qualities result in a WOW factor.

What To Do With Your Pictures

Once the party is over, you will have a bunch of pictures to look through. Hopefully you have some really great shots that are worth sharing.  There’s a few things you can do with these pictures once you’ve sorted out the best ones.

·         Consider creating an online picture account at Flickr , Snapfish, Kodak, or Picasa.  You can control who sees them and it’s an easy way to share pictures online.

·         Keep the pictures organized by year and celebration.  It will be fun for you and your child to look at these pictures over the years and recount the memories.  They will see old classmates and they can laugh at how “goofy” they used to look.

Share the pictures with the school’s yearbook staff and newsletter editor.  They are usually looking for good pictures of classroom activities and will appreciate having some quality photos.

Another Easy Halloween Treat - Rice Crispies

Make rice crispies and add 2 cups of candy corn or Halloween M&Ms for an easy party snack.

Cute Witch Hat Cookies-No Baking!!!

All you need for these cute cookies is a bag of fudge stripe cookies, a bag of Hershey kisses, and some orange icing from a tube.  You could probably use slightly melty orange chocolate melt discs from Michaels. Cute AND easy!

Party Treats - Graveyard Bones

Pretzels, White Chocolate and mini marshmallows make an awesome graveyard bone snack for parties!

Halloween Mummy Madness

Alien Invasion!

Easy Halloween Party Game for Any Age!

Halloween Pictionary

Supplies:  Large paper, chalkboard or whiteboard and a list of Halloween items.  Visit the link below for some suggestions. 

http://www.hauntedbay.com/entertaining/party/halloweenpictionary.shtml

Build a Scarecrow

Supplies: Old clothing, straw, newspaper, tall sticks.

Teams race each other using items provided to create the best scarecrow

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of Halloween items that teams race to find in the party area or around the schoolgrounds.  Start each team at a different clue.

Mummy Wrap Relay

Supplies: lots of toilet paper

Divide the kids into teams.  One person from each team is the mummy and the teams race each other to wrap their mummy.  The completely wrapped mummies must be able to make it to the finish line and back without unwrapping.  The team with the first completely wrapped mummy back at the starting line wins.

What am I - Halloween version?

Place the names of Halloween icons on name labels (sticky back).  When each child enters the party they get a label on their back.  They can ask only yes or no questions to people in the room.  They can only ask each person one thing to try to figure out what they are.

Witch Cupcakes, So Cute!

These witch cupakes are as easy as they are cute.  What a great addition to your treat table!  More treat table inspiration at one of my favorite blogs,  http://www.thewhitelibrary.com/category/design-by-holiday/halloween/  Enjoy!  More cupcake ideas at Delish, http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Martha+Stewart+Witch+Cupcakes&view=detail&id=268FB7177961D99217C032942BCC5B3DE4583B56&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

Halloween at Hogwarts

During potions class we also had kids make a fizzy potion in small cauldrons that were purchased at Target.  House scarf material was purchased at JoAnn fabrics with a 40% off coupon and the robes were cut from black trash bags.  House assignments were cardstock printouts of the 4 houses placed on necklaces. Don't forget to play the Harry Potter theme music as the kids come in.  The kids really loved this party!

Mad Science is Mad Fun!

Supercute Treats!

Oreos, Reese's Pieces, and frosted cupcakes.  Hoo could resist these spooky owl cupcakes?

You Can "Count" on this party to be fun!

Here is a great theme for kindergarten, who doesn't love the Sesame Street Count? Please post your ideas in the comment section, and feel free to contact me with any questions or copies of party plans! 

It's Halloween Party Planning Time!

Halloween party planning is so much fun!  I will have lots of posts this month, ranging from full party plans to simple games.  Please post any ideas that you have in the comments section. 

You should already be thinking about where you are having your party.  Is there room in the classroom? Are both rooms having their party together? Think about how you are dividing the kids into activity groups and how many kids will be in each group.  All of these things should help you plan for how many parents you need at the party to make sure it runs smoothly.  Don't forget about setup/cleanup time when you are asking for help!  I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to use volunteerspot.com to coordinate your volunteers and supply parents.  I am using it and I think it's great!  It cuts back on duplication and eliminates the need for you to send out multiple e-mails updating parents on party needs.

Fun Fall Classroom Crafts

Here are some fun fall classroom crafts for the younger grades.  Instructions are at the links below.  I am going to start posting Halloween party plans and game ideas next week.


http://almostunschoolers.blogspot.com/2009/09/changing-seasons-tree-puppet-preschool.html

http://www.craftelf.com/Craft_elf_Fall_Snow_globe_decoration.htm

http://naturenest.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/pumpkin-seed-mosaic-art-a-fall-kids-craft/

volunteerspot.com

Hi Room moms,

You should have met with your teachers by this week.  Please consider using volunteerspot.com when you are recruiting volunteers for field trips and parties.  Some the classrooms at IHM are already using this site to manage events.

http://www.volunteerspot.com/

Illumination Classroom Auction Ideas

The Illumination Auction items ideas are due by September 20^th!  What is your classroom going to do?  Here are some ideas and things that have been done in the past. Add your ideas/suggestions in the comments.

• Movie basket: Fill a movie bowl with DVDs, a box or bag of popcorn regular, some movie-size boxes of candy, certificates for free movie rentals, some popular dvds..
• Cooking basket: Fill a large pot with cooking utensils, an apron, a chef's hat, and some baking mixes.
• Family game night basket: with items like Jenga, Scrabble, Apples-to-Apples, and snacks to eat while they are playing.
• A handmade quilt that each child creates a square for.  One person needs to make equal squares and and the children can take them home to decorate them.  You can ask the kids to use a common theme in their artwork.  They can sew a design or use a permanent marker to create their art.
• Handmade note cards.  Each child can create a drawing for the front of a notecard.  Drawings can be scanned and notecards can be printed.  Multiple sets can be created.
• A collaborative painting.  Your classroom can work with the art teacher to create a one-of-a-kind collaborative painting that each child contributes to.
• Classroom cookbook – each child contributes a recipe with a picture of them making it.
• Classroom favorite book basket.  Each child donates their favorite book and the books are placed in a basket to be auctioned.
• Handmade Christmas ornaments from each child
• Hand painted nativity set
• Memory book – Our class did this in 2^nd grade. Each child drew a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up and it was scanned and placed next to a picture of the child.  The photobooks were ordered after people placed orders at the auction and through the classroom.
• Decorated/painted furniture
• Memory box
• Hand painted Thanksgiving platter

Fun School Supplies

While I am waiting to post some fall fun classroom projects.........Here are some fun school supplies that will set your kids apart from the pack!

Things I Love Right Now

Love, love, love this back-to-school party and creative lunchbox treat from One Charming Party.  The site has a printout for the apples.  http://onecharmingparty.com/

Room Mother Tips

Room Mother Tips

·         Be prepared to meet with your child’s teacher at the beginning of the year so that you can get a list of field trips and parties for the year.  Each teacher has different expectations, be sure to reach an understanding of what is expected of you.

·         Things to ask the teacher: Do any of the children have food allergies or special needs? How do you prefer to be contacted with questions? Do you have any preferences for the party in terms of structure? Is it okay to set up the room before the party begins? What is the time frame for each party?

·         Send out the list to all classroom parents and ask for volunteers.  Be prepared to follow-up with parents a couple of weeks prior to the event to make sure everyone is still available.

         

Classroom Party tips

·         Send a message to each parent volunteers 1 week prior to the party to remind them of their time/supply commitment.  Assign supplies to parents to prevent confusion/duplicates.

·         Create a plan for your classroom party that includes a detailed list of supplies needed.  Ask parents to bring important supplies prior to the party to make sure that you have everything you need.

·         For younger grades, it is a good idea to break students up in groups and have 3 or 4 “activity stations” for them to visit. Each station should have at least 1 parent volunteer.  The kids should rotate between stations every 10-15 minutes

·         Be prepared for kids finishing stations a little early, bring coloring/activity pages or an extra craft in case you need to adjust for time

·         Bring all the supplies you need for the party, including tape, scissors, glue, markers, crayons, a large trash bag, handi-wipes, and paper towels

·         Bring enough snacks for the teachers, too!

·         Always decorate for parties.  Simple decorations can make all of the difference in the atmosphere of the party. Don’t forget some appropriate theme music to set the stage!

·         Bring your camera!  Most parents will not be attending the party, help them feel included by sending a link to the pictures you took during the party.  These pictures are also fun for the kids and teachers to see later

·         Be flexible and always have a back-up plan

·         If you are planning a craft or game during the party, try it yourself to make sure that the kids will have time to complete it during the party.  If the craft is longer, you can always complete the first few steps of it yourself prior to the party.  Make sure that each child labels their craft, especially if there is glue or paint that needs to be set aside to dry.

·         Sticky dots are a great substitute for glue

·         Always cover the craft area with a plastic disposable tablecloth, it makes clean-up much easier.

·         Your new favorite website: www.orientaltrading.com

·         To help with spills, use small bottled water or juice pouches instead of punch bowls with cups.  It is also easy to add labels to these items that match your theme

Back-to-School Room Party Ideas

What about a cereal buffet bar to Welcome the kids back to school?

What a great way to welcome kids back to school.  You really can't go wrong with some cereal, milk, oranges with sippies and froot loop garland! How fun!  Details at http://www.thepurplepug.blogspot.com/

For younger kids, the September issue of Family Fun magazine has a really cute pencil goodie holder  that you could make and personalize for the kids in your room to celebrate the start of school! All you need are some empty giftwrap or paper towel tubes, colored duct tape, paper, and tissue paper!   

http://familyfun.coverleaf.com/familyfun/201109/?pg=49&pm=2&u1=friend