Valentine's Day Stations

I did it. 
I figured it out. 
Finally the perfect Valentine's Day in the classroom! 
I'm not kidding! 

This day was so super easy to prep for and my students were engaged the whole day. It was still a big day with lots of craziness but it was the calmest craziest day by far! I know that will only make sense to a kindergarten teacher! 

Here is how it works. I did 100 day stations inspired by Marsha McGuire at A Differentiated Kindergarten. I decided it worked so well on that day I would try it for Valentine's day. Why not right? Valentine's day is always so crazy I just thought if I kept them busy it would help.....hopefully!

I made 8 stations and had them spread out all over the room. Students moved from station to station on their own with one stipulation. When they finished they raised their hand and I came by to check their work. I had a paper they could check off their completed stations and then they were free to move on to the next one. Some stations could only fit 3 students but some could fit up to 6. We had plenty of room for students to move around the room freely. 

Our 8 stations: 

• Lego Table: students tried to create a heart with red Legos
• Stacking Cups: students used tiny plastic cups to stack a creation
• Valentine Bag: students created their own bag to collect Valentines (from Simply Kinder)
• Gumdrop: students created 3D shapes with gumdrops and toothpicks
• Conversation Hearts: graphing station
• Dot Painting: Dot painting page from A Differentiated Kindergarten
• I Love Book: sight word book from Jennifer Heir
• Listening Station: our regular listening station with a Valentine's book
• Bingo 

The one HAVE TO station was the Valentine Bag. I needed everyone to complete this station so they would have a bag to collect their Valentine cards in later in the day. I allowed 6 at that station at the time. The messier stations only had 2 or 3 spots available like the Lego table, Stacking Cups, and Gumdrop station. The Dot Painting station was really popular and I had 4 of those spots available. It was full the whole time! 

We started our stations as soon as we got into the classroom. It took me 20 minutes or so to explain all of the centers and then we got to work. At 10 o'clock I stopped everything and we had a "Heart Healthy Breakfast" (which I did not take a picture of!) Student brought in muffins, yogurt, fruit, and water bottles and we had a heart healthy little snack in the middle of our day. So much better than sugary cupcakes! 

After snack we got right back to it and worked for a little bit until it was time to exchange Valentines. We set up our bags and got to it. 

This needs to be said......
...I told my kiddos to fill out the TO and the FROM on their cards.  
Yes...it took a little time to hand out cards but it is seriously SO SWEET to see them carefully handing out every single card to just the right person. They thank each other, they are kind to one another, and it is simply one of the sweetest things you will ever witness. I know it is popular to tell your students to only fill out the "from" to make it easier but I love doing it this way. It is quite possibly my favorite day in Kindergarten! To make it a bit easier the fast finishers can help their friends that aren't quite done yet. 

Why am I blogging about this AFTER Valentine's day? So I will remember next year! Save this post so you can try it next year too! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your Valentine's day was fabulous. Obviously ours was awesome. I hope to make it just as special next year!