ACK! valentines

This whole new world of school-age kids is just keeping me off balance! I realized today that valentine's day doesn;t mean finding something fun and romantic to do with Tom - it means coming up with 20 handmade valentines for all of Galen's kindergarten classmates! Since it's a waldorf school, everything has to be hand done - no printed stuff. Oh, please. So, anyone have any nice craft ideas for kid valentines?
Kaaren

Kaaren:
Go to Michael's or some other craft store in your city!! They have EVERYTHING you need! I would recommend buying some plain white or red cards that I'm sure they will have - and buy a stamp and just stamp little hearts away! Or whatever else you find!!! White cards, a bottle of clear glue, and any other little trinkets that you find to glue on would make a perfect handmade valentine! Red foil? Lace?

I just a bought a pack of Barbie valentine's to send to my friends. Barbie is nauseating - so I thought it would be a cute joke.

[houseelf]

Kaaren,

I'm not all that crafty so I can't help you out. It is kind of a nostalgic notion to have the kids create their own valentines. (Also a pain for the parents, however)

Your son is in a Waldorf school? We have been contemplating this type of education for our son when he is old enough to go to school. It seems like there is an infinite amount of information on the different types of school, but no real answers....What do you think of the process? What are the pluses and minuses? Why did you decide on this type of education? I would love to hear your insight.

Kelly

Hi Kaaren,

Last year Tyler, my 5-year old, and I made play-doh. I got a really easy recipe from Family Fun magazine. Anyway... We made it red, rolled it out and used a heart shaped cookie cutter. We then put each heart in a baggy and attached a simple name tag to it. It was a hit with the kids and the teachers because they did not want the kids to have any candy. I can get the recipe if you are interested. I can't believe it is already here next week. We are being boring this year! I just let the kids pick out a box of cards at the store. The play-doh was a lot of fun for Tyler because he could help with everything. Good luck.

Robin

Great idea Robin! I think we'll try that. Kelly, I'll give you the scoop on Waldorf when I have more time to post (boss might walk in any second) but overall we like it for kindergarten. Don't know about upper grades though... This emphasis on homemade3 is a pain for us working medical spouses but it makes a very pleasant atmosphere that's more soothing than most schools (necessary for a hypersensitive, anxious little boy). They have a parent bring flowers for the classroom every week! Wish they could have a talk with dh...
Kaaren

NEAT idea, Robin...please post the recipe ASAP I only have a few days left, and this is a great idea.

Kaaren, Waldorff schools only allow homemade? ick...that is tough when you are in a pinch...but it does make things more personalized. I have to respect that, because I have also found myself falling into the trap of buying what is easy instead of putting in the extra time to make it with the kids.....

I'm curious about what you come up with Kaaren....and...recipe please, Robin...

Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

Okay ... here is the recipe for the play-doh.

3 cups of white flour
1 1/2 cups of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
3 1/4 cups of water
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Red food coloring.

Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan. In a separate bowl, mix the liquids, adding drops of food coloring until you reach the desired shade. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir (don't worry about lumps - they'll work themselves out). Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture holds together and gets too stiff to stir (it will stiffen even more as it cools), about 5 to 10 minutes. Let cool.

Knead the clay briefly, then roll or pat it to a 3/4-inch thickness and cut with the cookie cutter. For each valentine, place a clay heart in a cellophane bag (or ziplock back). Then cut a tag out of white paper, decorate it with markers, and punch a hole in one end. Finally thread a length of ribbon through the tag's hole and tie the bag shut with a bow.

The tag could say... Have a heart. Tyler really did enjoy making it and I was surprised that it worked so well. Of course, I only made it once but it worked like a charm. Good luck!

Robin

Yippeee...this will be fun!

Don't you LOVE Family Fun magazine? Have you checked out their website...it's awesome!

Thanks!!!!

Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

Yes, I LOVE their website!!!! My hubby had to make a cake with Jacob for a cake contest for cub scouts. It had to do with the theme of Native Americans and where did he go .... to the Family Fun website and found teepee cupcakes to give him an idea of what to do. I love the cake finder section. It is where I start for a theme for my kids birthday parties. There is a really cute dalmation puppy cake that I am already considering for Dallin's birthday in September!!! He loves 101 Dalmations and I thought it would be cute. Of course, he could be on to some other thing by September!

Though I must admit ... I think some of these people have too much time on their hands. Someone made an 18-hole miniature golf course out of cardboard boxes, CV pipe etc. It was a little much. I look for the simplest, inexpensive yet cute and go from there. They do have some great ideas for Valentines.

Hope everyone has a great week getting ready for Valentines. I think I have some baking to do!

Robin

So how were all of the Valentine's Day activities?

Thanks, Robin, for the play dough recipe -- I made some for my 3 year old's party (which is today). However, now that three year old is sick and I don't know if he will get to go to the party after all. Sigh. Oh well. The play dough turned out great and is a lovely shade of pink! (I ran out of red food coloring, but I figured pink was fine.)

Sally

I am so glad that the play-doh worked! Even though it wasn't my recipe, it still makes me nervous that when I give it to others, it won't work!!! I hope your 3-year old feels better Sally!

We were up very late on Wednesday night trying to get all of the kids projects done. Two of them were having contests with the best looking box for one and the best looking bag for the other! Then my 5-year old needed to decorate a bag also so it was project night at the Crawfords! Russ helped Jacob because they made a cool box of a robot head and they had made it so the person could place the car on the open mouth, turn a dowel and the mouth would close putting the card into the box. Jacob thought it was great, which is the most important thing and they got to spend good quality time together. On the other side of the kitchen sat Mom and the other kids cutting paper like crazy. Their bags turned out cute and they got all of their cards written. I had made sugar cookie dough in advance so that we could roll it out and eat heart-shaped cookies while we worked but we ran out of time. In fact, the cookie dough is still in the refrigerator so I had better do it tonight! My kids had a great time and we got everything done, which is a miracle in itself! No grand prizes but they were all very proud of their projects and picking out who would get which card.

Hope everyone else enjoyed the day.

Robin

We ended up keeping the play-doh for ourselves....I got started on the project too late and just didn't have time to do all of the cutting shapes and bagging.....(next year!!) but the kids really enjoy the homemade play-doh. It stays pretty fresh if you keep it in the fridge.

We also had so many valentines things to do...all of the cards had to have the kid's names on them and then of course a special number so that the other kids could easily locate their boxes to put them in.....Andrew hadn't constructed his special box yet, so we also had to do that. We used a quaker oats oatmeal box and decorated it with construction paper and heart stickers......

Happy be-lated everyone.

Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!