Classroom parties

This is my second year being the room parent for Symantha's class, and you would think I would have learned by now. It is almost a guarantee that the week before the party someone in my family will be sick or there will be some sort of craziness going on, and this week was no exception. I was sick for most of it, while trying to coordinate with the teacher and parents, making supply lists, creating sample projects, and so on. The teacher in me loves to get to have control of the class for a while and implement everything, but I could do without all this preparation stuff. I had tons of papers by my computer and phone, trying to keep everything straight - who's bringing what supplies, what's still to be done, etc.
The Harvest party was this afternoon, and all that chaos worked out in the end! I can't help but say I'm happy it is over, even though it turned out to be lots of fun. I planned a craft project, games and snacks to be done in the last hour and a half of the day. We played "Harvest Concentration" with this board I made (thanks to the handy dandy cricut that cut out all the shapes!)
It was a great activity for the class to do while eating their snacks, and they got a prize every time they made a match. Lisa - I saved the board for you to use:)
Our craft projects were these picture frames with magnets on the back so they could stick on the fridge. This was the sample I made using Hailey's picture. They had patterned paper, leaves, flowers, buttons, letter stickers, etc. to decorate their frames. I had pictures of each kid that I had printed out in Sepia, to go with my "Fall" look.
They went down the line choosing their materials and then began creating back at their seats.
The end results were pretty cute and I think the parents will like them - I usually like anything with my kid's picture in it!
I got my idea for snacks from my friend Lisa, who also had to do a second grade party. We did kabobs, where they got to spear all sorts of food onto a stick. Parents brought everything from popcorn to olives to marshmallows to fruit, and the kids loved making their own creations. Of course there were cupcakes and cookies too, but at least they had SOMETHING healthy!
The last game we played was "Harvest pictionary" which turned out to be lots of fun, although VERY loud. I need to find a new way to do that which doesn't involve kids screaming at the top of their lungs what they think the picture is! Hmmm, I might have been a little more sensitive to the noise due to the intense headaches I had been having, but still!

It is a lot of work and coordinating, but Symantha loves that I am the room parent, and it seems worth it when it is all done. I even had a few kids from Symantha's class last year telling me what their favorite parts were of the last party I had done - things I hardly remembered! I love that they know who I am and I know who they are, it is one of my motivations for being involved in the classroom. But boy am I glad this one is over:)