The classroom can be a fun place for kids to celebrate the holidays. With just a little planning, teachers can provide a great environment where students can bestow best wishes upon their classmates. Classroom celebrations are a great way to bring students together. While they may not spend time together outside of the classroom, students can learn to show kindness to others through these small celebrations shared in the closed classroom environment.
Getting ready for Valentine’s Day begins in January, when the time is right to start looking for classroom decorations. This is a fun activity that a teacher can involve their students in no matter what their age. In fact, students may get a big kick out of doing craft activities for Valentine’s Day in January! Some ideas could be that each student cuts out and decorates a heart to hang from the ceiling or tape to the walls of the classroom. Students could also make heart-shaped garland to decorate bulletin boards or other areas. Crafts do not have to take up too much classroom time or a large portion of a tight budget.
Children can learn that Valentine’s Day is a holiday for showing kindness with activities such as making cards for residents of a local nursing home. Valentine’s Day is the holiday of love; but romantic love doesn’t have to be the main focus for students. Teachers could even plan a field trip for their students to pay a visit to the nursing home in their area, if possible; to hand deliver the cards they have made for residents there. Even if a field trip to the nursing home is not possible, making and sending cards shows students the extended meaning of the Valentine’s holiday.
While preparing for Valentine’s Day in the classroom, teachers may want to take the time to send a note home to parents that includes a list of names of all students in the class. All students need to be encouraged to remember each of their classmates when making out Valentine’s cards, so no one is left out of the fun of the day. Through cards, decorations and imaginative games that let students get to know one another better, closer relationships may be formed and a more positive learning environment created. Holidays, while enjoyable and festive, are also a great way to teach students about sharing and caring.
