Class Christmas Parties

Fortunately for me, Gavin’s teacher is very organized and because of this, she holds “homework parties” instead of holiday parties.  These homework parties are monthly and can be themed after whatever holiday happens to fall that month, but its entirely up to the two moms who sign up for that month.  That being said, he had his Christmas party last week and was a little bummed his didn’t fall on the last day of school, like his brothers.  Because I’m room mom for all 3 boys in school, I was relieved not to have to run a third party!  I had to organize Scott’s which was from 11 – 12 and then Jared’s from 1 – 2!  They were both a success.  The entire school does a little sing along in the multi purpose room where all the kids perform for each other a holiday collection of songs.  Once that was over, the party began in Scott’s class.  We made Christmas ornaments out of popsicle sticks and let the kids decorate them.  The day before, I went to the school to take pictures of the kids in their Santa hats, that we could print up and cut up to fit in the little frame the kids made.  Last,  we put a string on back to hang it for an ornament on the Christmas tree.  That took up a little over half an hour and then we did a “hot chocolate bar.”  We made up hot chocolate with marshmallows and passed out candy canes to stir with, and a mom brought in cookies.  They had a great time and got all sugared up and then we sent them home! 

I ran Scott home after his party ended, and then returned for round 2!  For Jared’s party, we started out with two different games and split the class in two to break up for them.  After 15 minutes we had the kids trade games.  At one of the stations they played a “Boggle” type word game and at the other she split it into two games; one where you guess the clue on your forehead asking friends yes or no questions (kind of a variation of what I’ve known as “Polish Poker.”)  The second game she did at that station was one where the kids put paper plates on their heads and she described a detailed Christmas scene they were supposed to draw on top without looking.  It was funny to watch and the kids really liked it!    After half an hour we also did a “hot chocolate bar” in their class.  The kids had a few more toppings to choose from (including whipped cream) and had a cookie as well.  Then some little girl passed out doughnuts she had brought in class to share with her classmates.  These kids were WAY sugared up!  After we dished out the treats we played a fun music guessing game for the last half hour.  It’s the one where you draw out a word and the room gets split in half and the kids go back and forth coming up with tunes that have that word in it.  It was fun to watch and….I helped play a few rounds too!  It was fun and totally interactive.  At first the kids were a little shy about singing, but after a few minutes they got warmed up and it was a fun time!