It is the time of the year for a Spring Fling Party for your child’s classroom. I did always enjoy being a room mom. I was able to be one for each of my three children’s kindergarten classes and now again for my oldest’s 4th-grade class. That was the year I had to step down from so much volunteer work for the school, but I held on to that position tightly. I know I was very lucky to be able to be there for my children in this capacity, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their academic life.
Whenever the class was scheduled to have a celebration or a treat day, we would scour the internet looking for great ideas to incorporate along with what the teacher is looking for in terms of their lesson plan. So it is important to me to share some of my experiences to help give other room moms (and dads) ideas and tips also.
I’m going to say right off that the earlier you start planning — the better your class party will be. Unfortunately, that was never me (one of the tough parts of being a mom with ADHD). One of my biggest flaws is procrastination, so I’m going to own that right up front. Since I do things late and if I had to order supplies from a company like Oriental Trading, I made sure to pay the extra shipping costs out of my own pocket. I also never got the chance to find things on sale. These are all things you will not have to deal with if you start planning at least a month ahead of time.
Party Time = Craft Time
So, for Mrs. K’s 4th grade Spring Fling, Nature was our theme. The children are working on short stories based on an animal. My son chose a camel, while others in his class came up with hamsters, pigs, elephants, sharks, and dinosaurs. I poked around my Oriental Trading catalogs and then on Amazon and finally decided on these masks: Paper Mache Masks.
So here is what the plain masks look like (I promise they are not as creepy in real life):
For my example piece, I tried my hand at a cheetah:
And here are some of the ones the children created:
I liked the paper-maché material over the plastic masks because it allowed for more versatility over what medium they would use to decorate them (markers, crayons, paint), even though it made it a little on the expensive side. We were only doing one craft and one treat, though.
Spring Fling Party Treat Time
Mrs. K liked the idea of a Dirt Cake, and it fit with our nature theme beautifully. To maximize the children’s enjoyment, we did the Dirt Cups instead of cakes, and this way, they could do their own layering and add in which treats they wanted:
What you need:
We had almost 25 children in the class, and while I had enough pudding, the two packages of Oreos were not enough.
The kids seemed to really love everything! Even the two printables I shared to keep them busy in between activities were big hits. I chose an animal word search (the link goes to a different one than I used, but it is cuter) and a cool reptile mystery math worksheet (the site is currently down).
I want to note that the masks did not come with individual strings. You can easily add a thin ribbon or encourage them to hang their works of art on a wall at home where it will be safe from harm.
Let me know if you try these with your class! Looking for more ideas? Check out my End of Year Party post.
P.S. As an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission with no extra cost to you if you choose to purchase any of the party supplies through the links provided.