Just wondered what others were having their students make to hold all of their Valentine's Day cards/candy. I have 18 third grade students and want them to make something big enough to hold everything. I was thinking of using boxes or coffee cans, but didn't know if there were any other ideas out there.
I had my third graders make their own boxes last year and they loved it! It was an at-home assignment and I gave them lots of ideas so they wouldn't be stumped or overwhelmed. They could use any kind of box they wanted as long as it fit on their desk. I think I may have given a size limit. The boxes were great! Very creative and festive.
An easy thing for little kids is to make a giant envelope out of 2 piecxes of 12x18 consturction paper. Overlap them so the back piece sticks up above the front piece about 2 inches, and there will be the same overlap on the bottom. Fold the bottom under to the back and staple in around 3 sides. This leaves the top open with a flap at the top where the kid can write his name. You can have these done all ahead of time. I often use 2 different colors of paper. Then the kids can cut out hearts and use stickers, doilies, whatever to decorate their envelopes. 3rd graders actually could even do the stapling themselves.
This is what my class made this year. They're super cute and inexpensive!
Each kid takes 2 paper plates, folds them half and puts them together to make a heart shape (rounded sides in). Then staple the plates together (make sure to only staple the outsides, so the top is left open and there is room for valentines to go in). We had the students decorate the outside, then we punched holes and tied string in the top and hung them on the backs of the chairs. They turned out very cute and were out of the way and less of a distraction. I have 24 students in my class and there was plenty of room to hold them all.
I ended up having each child decorate a shoebox in aluminum foil. Students then cut out hearts from construction paper and glued to box. The turned out pretty neat.
We're using paper plates. Cut one in half. Staple the two together around the bottom. You can let the kids paint with red paint and decorate with glitter, stickers, and ribbons. I really liked the idea of making hearts of two paper plates.
I went to Michael's, a craft store in the area, and bought white bags with handles. They also had the bags in red and pink. I sent the bags home with scrapes of construction paper and a note stating that students could use other materials from home. They ended up using things like feathers, glitter, beads, etc. The bags were adorable and because they were done at home, did not take up valuable learning time.
Get four big coffe cans and cut the top out of all of them.Put the cut out parts together and glue them. The you should have two cylinders.Glue them together on the side and cut little holes in the top big enough for cards and decorate.
For the last few years I've made a simple scrapbook by stapling together 5 or 6 sheets of construction paper and a red or pink cover. The kids decorate the cover, and glue their valentines inside. I show them how to glue them with a hinge made of a little rectangle of scrap paper, so they can lift it to see who sent it.
I can't believe that we are already talking about Valentine's Day! Wow!
I ask students to decorate a shoe box at home and bring it in the week of Valentines Day. If they don't have a shoe box, I provide one. It's pretty low key. I like all the ideas though!
I read your post on your third grade project to decorate a shoebox for valentines. You mentioned that you gave them ideas, and i was wondering if you could give me some ideas.
Thanks,
Leticia Benvenuto
01-13-2007, 03:40 PM
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