Valentine's Candy Boxes

I made these Valentine's candy boxes with all of my kids' favorite candy!  I saw something similar at the store but was appalled by the price and thought I could do it cheaper plus I could personalize it with all of their favs!  I got a rectangle foam floral block and wrapped it in red wrapping paper.  I hot glued 4 movie size candy boxes on each side.  For the other candy, I hot glued individual packages to wooden dowels (check out the baking section at Hobby Lobby or Walmart).  Then I placed the dowels into the foam block at different heights and kept filling in until it looked full.  For the final touch, I added a Valentine's balloon to the center of the foam block.  These turned out so cute and definitely cheaper!

Taco Valentines

My taco-obsessed son wanted Taco Valentines to hand out to his friends!  You can download them HERE.  If you would like to purchase the clip art I used to make these, you can find it HERE.  Go spread taco joy!

Oreo Balls Teacher Gift

I made these Oreo Balls as a Valentine's gift for teachers but they can be adapted for any holiday!  They are SO yummy!

Here is the recipe:

OREO BALLS

Ingredients

1 package Oreos

8 ounces cream cheese

16 ounces white almond bark

Holiday sprinkles

Instructions

Place Oreos in 1 large ziploc bag.  Place that bag inside another ziploc bag so that the Oreos are double bagged to avoid a mess.  Use a rolling pin or the smooth side of a meat mallet to crush Oreos.  Mix crushed Oreos with cream cheese.  Use a small cookie scoop (2 teaspoons) to form Oreo balls on a cookie sheet.  Freeze balls until firm.  Melt white almond bark in microwave according to package directions.  Dip balls in melted bark and immediately pour on sprinkles.  Let set completely on a cooling rack.

Makes 40 balls

(Instead of sprinkles, I have also sprinkled on extra crushed Oreos or added a gummy lifesaver with a chocolate chip in the center to look like an eyeball for Halloween.)

To package these as teacher gifts, I simply put several balls in a treat bag, tied it up, add a gift tag, and put the treat bag in a cute metal bucket.   

Valentine's Party

We had a fun 2nd grade Valentine's party!

We had several activities:
1. We played Valentine's bingo, using conversation hearts as the markers.

2. Minute to Win It games!  How many conversation hearts can you move with a straw from a cup to the center of the heart in one minute?  AND, how many conversation hearts can you leave stacked in one column at the end of one minute?

3. We played the Minute to Win It games on this template and then used it to make a craft!  You can print the template HERE (I tweaked this template from one I found on THIS POST since we were using it for a craft too.)  I asked the kids to draw a picture or to write a "because statement" in the middle of the heart.  Then, they glued their conversation hearts to the purple heart (and ate any leftover conversation hearts of course!)

4. Next, we played the heart match game.  I cut foam hearts in half using different decorative scissors.  I cut every heart differently so that each half heart only had one possible match.  I gave each child a half of a heart, said "go!", and then they had to find their match!  The pictures are always super cute from this game!

5.  The biggest hit of the party was this board!  The winner of each game got to punch the board first, then all the kids had a chance to punch it, so everyone got a prize!

To make this board, get a large 3-sided presentation board.  I cut "My heart is BURSTING!" with my Silhouette using red cardstock and Cupid de Locke font.  I glued the letters to the board.  Then, I arranged 30 red solo cups on the board in a heart shape.  I hot glued the cups to the board in the pattern I had laid out.  Next I filled each cup with prizes and candy (I wanted 30 cups so I could use the board in the future with bigger classes but only actually needed 24 prizes.  So, in 6 of the cups I put a cute "Try Again!" note.)  I cut red tissue paper into squares and covered each cup with the red tissue paper using a rubber band.  It really didn't take me very long to make and the kids LOVED it!

Our teacher punched the last one!

I Love You to Pieces Craft

We are going to make this craft for the Valentine's party at school.  You can download the template HERE and print on white cardstock.  Ask the kids to use a glue stick to put glue all over the heart.  They will then glue small squares of cardstock into the heart shape.  Lastly, they will write their name at the bottom.  So easy and cute!

Prizes for Valentine's Games

You can use candy bars as prizes for any game on Valentine's day, but I'll be using these for the Heart Walk game from THIS POST.  You use snack (or regular) size candy bars for everyone as they get "out" and then use a regular (or giant) size candy bar for the winner!  I had trouble finding snack size printables, so I made some that you can download HERE.  For the larger size candy bars, I used these printables from It's Written on the Wall Etsy store that you can find HERE.  I know the kids will love getting chocolate bars for their prize!

Happy Valentine's Day Cubed!

I found these cute Valentines Rubik's cubes at Hobby Lobby and thought they would be fun to give to classmates this year.  I put 1 in each bag, added 3 suckers, and attached a tag that says "Happy Valentine's Day! 3"  Get it?  Cubed?  I think the 4th graders will understand it but probably not the 1st graders, but they'll enjoy the bags anyway!  You can download the tags HERE, print on white cardstock, cut out, & have your child write their name.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Gift for Hubby

My husband has been traveling a lot lately, so I made this snack basket for him for Valentine's Day.  I got most of the tags from eighteen25 HERE but then had to create a few of my own for my husband's other favorites (sunflower seeds, beef jerky, & spearmint gum).  You can download my labels HERE.  A silly & sweet gift for the hubby!

Valentine's Boxes

Both of my kids had to make boxes for their class Valentine's this year.  My third grader was supposed to do his best making a box that represented his favorite book.  My kindergartener was just supposed to make a simple box but wanted to go all out once he saw his brother's box!

My third grader made a Harry Potter Valentine's box (with lots of help from my Silhouette!).  He covered a round cake board in green wrapping paper.  Then, he covered a cereal box and 2 paper towel rolls in aluminum foil and attached them to the green cake board.  Next, he attached the shapes I had cut with my Silhouette (door, windows, flags, banners, cones, & castle top).  Then, he colored characters from the book, cut them out, and glued them onto the box.  Lastly, he drew a train track around the green cake board & glued down the "Hogwarts Express" train.  It turned out really awesome!  He loved it!

My kindergartener wanted a hunting themed Valentine's box (because that goes together SO well!)  I wrapped a shoe box in green wrapping paper.  Then, he attached his name and the deer with footprints shapes that I had cut out of camouflage paper on my Silhouette.  Next, he colored some hunting coloring pages for the sides, cut them out, & glued them on.  He also went on a nature hike and found sticks, rocks, & leaves that we glued to his box.  He was so proud of his box and couldn't wait to show it off!

Valentine's Day Party

This is what we did in my third grader's class for Valentine's this year.  For food, we did ice cream sundaes with chocolate, vanilla, and birthday cake ice cream plus lots of toppings!  (sprinkles, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, cherries, crushed Oreos, m&m's, whipped cream, & marshmallows)  Don't forget bowls, spoons, napkins, and drinks!

For activities, we played 2 games, the kids exchanged Valentine's cards, and the teacher handed out awards for everyone's Valentine's boxes!  It was fun!

The two games we played were Valentine's Bingo and Heart Walk.  I printed the Valentine's Bingo cards from HERE and used conversation hearts as markers.  The Heart Walk was like a cake walk but on hearts!  I cut big hearts & small hearts from many different pink/red/black/Valentine's scrapbook papers using my Silhouette.  I also laminated them so I could use them again next year!  I used masking tape to tape the big hearts to the floor in a circle.  The kids all stood on a heart and walked around in the circle until I told them to stop and made sure they were all standing on 1 big heart.  I then drew a small heart from a bag and the child standing on the heart with the same design was "out".  The child would pull their heart up from the circle and give it to me and I would give them a prize!  We did this over and over again until we were left with just a couple of hearts and a couple of kids.  When I pulled the last small heart, that child was "out" and the last child standing was the winner!  For the prize, I gave them all regular size Hershey bars that were wrapped in these adorable wrappers from It's Written on the Walls Etsy shop.  The winner got a giant Hershey bar wrapped in a cute wrapper too!  They had a lot of fun playing the game and cheering for their friends to win the giant candy bar!

In addition, I made a little Valentine's treat for our teachers and administration.  These cookies were really easy to make and so yummy!  You can find the recipe HERE.  I got the tins at Walmart and attached a tag to the top.  You can download the tags HERE (I left room at the bottom to sign your name).  Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Kabobs

I made these for my kids' Valentine's parties tomorrow.  Just large heart shaped marshmallows, strawberries, and brownies on skewers.  Easy and cute!

Valentine's Gifts for Classmates

I let my kids pick out their Valentine's cards for their friends, but I also like to get a little present and include a "cute" gift tag too!  (I know I have issues!) 

Here is what I did for my 4 year old's class.  "I hope your Valentine's is a BLAST!" tag with air rocket from Dollar Tree.  You can download tags HERE.

Here is what I did for my 2nd grader's class.  "You LIGHT up our class" with finger light lasers from Amazon.  You can download tags HERE.

Valentine's Party

For my 1st grader's Valentine's Day party, I am planning the following things:

• For the food, we are having the party right after lunch, so we are mostly having desserts and snacks.  Our menu is juice boxes, strawberries, heart shaped marshmallows, chocolate covered pretzels, and heart shaped cookies with icing & sprinkles for the kids to decorate.
• For the crafts, the kids are going to decorate white paper bags to put their Valentine cards in.  They are also going to make a paper heart wreath.  This idea came from The Hybrid Chick but I simplified it some for our group.  I bought Valentine's scrapbook paper at Walmart and trimmed into 2" strips.  I grouped them into sets of 8 and went ahead and folded them in half.  Each child will use 8 paper strips and glue dots to form the hearts and attach them to each other.  Then I'm going to punch holes into the left top, middle, and right top of one heart and string ribbon through.  Tie the ribbon at the top and you have a cute wreath! 

• For games, we are going to do bingo and a heart match game.  I printed the Valentine's Bingo cards HERE and the kids are going to use conversation hearts for markers.  The heart match game is a variety of foam hearts cut in half using different shaped scissors.  Hand each child a half of a heart and they have to find their match by looking carefully at the heart color and shape.   Then, of course, the kids will exchange Valentine cards.

I think it will be a lot of fun!  Yay! 

Heart Crayons

My sons and I made heart-shaped crayons for their friends this year.  The boys really enjoyed making them and they turned out super cute!  I saw this idea on Pinterest, originally from Chef Messy.

Here are the steps:
1.  Group old (or new) crayons into color groups.
2.  Remove paper from crayons.  I used an open pair of scissors and trimmed along the paper seam for best results.

3.  Break crayons into smaller pieces and chop.  I used my vegetable chopper (I was able to get it relatively clean afterwards by soaking in hot water, then scrubbing, and running through the dishwasher).

4.  Put chopped crayons into a cheap craft box with divisions so kids can pick and choose their own color combinations.

5.  Spoon crayons into a silicone heart shaped mold.

6.  Bake in oven or toaster oven at 250 degrees until completely melted (about 15-20 minutes).

7.  Remove from oven and let cool completely (about 30 minutes).

8.  Pop crayons out of silicone mold by pushing inside out.

9.  Print HERE onto red cardstock and trim with 2.5" circle punch.

10.  Use a loop of scotch tape to mount heart crayons to the cards.  All done!

Valentine's Ideas

These are some Valentines ideas from prior years. 

Food: Anything red or pink (strawberries, yogurt, strawberry cupcakes, pink lemonade...).  Turkey & cheese cut into hearts with cookie cutters.  Heart shaped pizzas with heart shaped pepperoni.

Games:  Valentine's cake walk (Cut large hearts out of different scrapbook papers.  Cut smaller hearts out of same papers.  Play music and have the kids walk around on the large hearts.  When the music stops, each kid stops on a different heart.  Pull a small heart out of a bag.  Whoever is standing on the matching large heart gets a prize!  Remove that large heart and do it repeatedly until everyone wins!)  Cupid Says (just like Simon Says).  Sort conversation hearts into colors on worksheet.  Heart match (Cut foam hearts in half with different shaped scissors.  Hand half of a heart to each child & have them find their match).

Crafts: decorate a bag/mailbox to put Valentine cards in