Perfect Preschool Valentine's Day

We had such a great time celebrating Valentine's Day! We started our celebration on Monday by reading a couple of books and decorating the bags we used to collect our valentines. In the last year and a half, I have discovered that stickers are the secret to a child's happiness. I had some cute valentine-themed stickers, so I let the kiddos use them to decorate their bags. Their reactions were precious! They were in love.

After the valentines bags were created, many of the kiddos spent endless amounts of time making all kinds of heart art. They used heart-shaped doilies and other art supplies, including glitter, to make their creations. Needless to say, every surface in our classroom is covered in glitter now! The greatest thing about preschool is having a daily opportunity to watch how they think as they create a project. To the average person, looking at the projects the children made might not mean too much. Watching them make their creations, though, is a more enlightening experience. For example, one of my friends, worked on the same project for over a half hour on Tuesday. She spent a ton of time looking through the collage materials to pick out exactly what she needed. Then she carefully positioned each piece on her paper and glued them all down. Then, she added some color by painting a few objects. Finally, she added her glitter. She talked to me the whole time she worked - telling me exactly what she was doing and why. Preschoolers have deep thoughts and make meaningful decisions everyday, and I love that I have a chance to encourage those processes! (In other words, the glitter is totally worth it!)

On Tuesday, we started the day by passing out our valentines. They were all so excited to have something for everyone! It was fun to watch them show off their valentines.

We did all the normal stuff on Tuesday (i.e. circle time, playing in interest areas, gross motor play, faith time), but we worked in some special Valentine's day times too. We read the cutest Valentine's day book, Froggy's First Kiss. The children laughed the entire time. Before I read the story, I told them how funny I thought the book was and how I hoped they would laugh. When we finished, one of my friends said, "You were right, Mrs. Hansen! That book is funny!" 

We also made some special Valentine's day peanut butter and jelly roll-ups for snack. (Thanks for the idea Missy!) They loved them!

We ended the day by opening our valentines. The children were all so grateful and happy about their treats. Many of the children thanked each person as they opened their valentines. It was the sweetest thing to see!

If someone had told me five years ago that my favorite celebration as a teacher would be Valentine's day, I probably would have laughed. Now, I  realize there is nothing more precious than watching children show each other how much they love and appreciate each other. 

On that note, I promise the next post won't be nearly as sappy as this one. :)