Holiday Party Idea for Students and Scouts

During the Reader Retreat I attended this weekend, author Becky Wade used M&Ms to illustrate the steps required in the creation of a novel. In this super fun activity, participants passed a bag of the colorful candies around the room. We each took one piece, and the bag was passed around four different times.

In Round 1, the color of our M&M determined the genre of our novel. We learned the setting of our story in Round 2. The professions of our heroine and hero were discovered in Rounds 3 and 4. We then spent a couple of minutes brainstorming different events that could bring our heroine and hero together. In the next step, we listed her story goal as well as his. Then we wrote and revised the first sentence of our story.

I woke up this morning with the thought that this activity could be fun to try with students during a classroom party or with Scout troops during a holiday party. I spent a few minutes jotting down possible characters and settings for Halloween and Christmas stories. I do realize the Halloween jobs are stereotypical, and I included a couple of faith-based ideas. These can be modified to fit the needs of your group.

HALLOWEEN

                Setting                     Heroine's Role                   Hero's Role

Red           Castle                        Cheerleader                        Cowboy

Orange  Haunted House                   Nurse                              Pirate

Yellow    Graveyard                      Princess                            Fireman

Green     Pumpkin Patch                   Witch                        Football Player

Blue       on the Moon                       Baby                         Superhero/Jedi

Brown  Deep in the Woods                Cat                                Soldier

 CHRISTMAS

                Setting                     Heroine's Role                   Hero's Role

Red      in Santa's Sleigh               Nutcracker                         Scrooge

Orange  under the tree                    Angel                              Santa

Yellow      Toyland                         Caroler                             Grinch          

Green     in a manger                        Elf                                Rudolph

Blue        on the roof                     Mrs. Claus                          Frosty

Brown on the Polar Express      Gingerbread Man                       Elf

Depending on the party agenda, you could have the kids stop after the first sentence has been written and ask for volunteers to read them aloud to the group. Or additional time could be given to allow the kids to write a short story. They could illustrate the paper as well, and then this exercise could be considered both a game and a craft. Not only will they be practicing their writing skills, it's free, and there's no clean up. Sounds great to me!

I hope your kids have a great start to the school year. Before we know it, teachers will be asking for classroom party volunteers, and the planning will begin. I wish you the best as you settle into a new routine this fall. As always, thank you for reading.

Halloween Party Ideas for the Classroom or Your Troop

I'm a Room Parent in my 4th grader's class this year, and I'm co-planning the Halloween party with another mother. After bumping around Pinterest, we compiled a list of the following activities that are sure to entertain the crowd:

1.  Cursive Name Skeletons
Art teacher Michelle Osborne shares step-by-step instructions for this super cute craft here. The cost to complete this project is minimal, requiring only white paper, black paper, glue, and scissors.  Please note Miss Osborne allowed her students to embellish their projects with colorful paper as well, and the finished product was pretty cool.

2.  Story Telling Game
Prior to the party, write various Halloween-related words on slips of paper.  Fold the papers and toss them in a plastic pumpkin.  Have the students sit in a circle. Pass the pumpkin around and ask each child to choose one slip of paper.  The teacher or Room Parent can start the story.  An example: It was a dark and stormy night...  Check out this link for 27 Halloween writing prompts for kids.

Then each student builds onto the story by adding a sentence or two, making sure to use the word on the paper they selected.
Here is a list of 25 words to get you started:
jack-o-lantern        witch           cauldron               ghost              moon
spooky                  boo             haunt                   hayride            apple cider
trick-or-treat         candy          lantern                  goblin             scarecrow
skeleton               shadows       creepy                  frightening      black cat
frightening            fog              eyeballs                princess          cowgirl 

3.  Write-Draw-Write
After coming across this exercise online, I decided to incorporate it the Halloween party agenda. The kids are divided into groups of four to six. While the other kids look away, the first student writes a Halloween-related sentence across the top of a sheet of paper. The paper is passed to the next student who then draws a picture to represent the sentence. Fold the paper so only the drawing is showing (hide the sentence). Pass the paper to the next student who writes a sentence about the picture. The process is repeated, and you may need more than one sheet of paper per group.  Once everyone has had a chance to either write or draw, share with the rest of the class.

My fourth grader and I put this activity to the test last weekend.  Of course, it works better with more participants, but we had fun. I'm sure her classmates will as well.

4.  Snack 
I invite you to check out my Class Parties Board on Pinterest for fun Halloween-inspired treats.

5.  Downtime Fillers
In my experience, there's nothing worse than blasting through your party agenda only to glance at the clock and realize you have extra time.  Some people are great at coming up with something fun on the fly, but it's not one of my gifts. So, I always make sure to have one or two extra games or activities in my back pocket just in case.

For a Halloween party, run off several copies of this Halloween Would you Rather freebie.  Kids can fill out a worksheet on their own, or you can print one copy and read aloud to the class.  Have the kids stand on one side of the classroom if they would, and have them cross to the other side if they would rather not.

Halloween Scattergories.  Print off individual cards for each student like this one. Or have each child grab a sheet of paper and write the alphabet down the left margin. Give the class 3-5 minutes, depending on age and ability, to jot down a Halloween-related word for each letter. I would keep it easy--no points--ask the kids to come up with words for as many letters as possible.  They can share their answers if time allows.

Before the party ends, remind kids to be safe and have fun!  Thank you for reading.