school christmas party
Parenting

School Christmas Parties on a Budget


This is my first year a room parent chair. My first major responsibility of the year happened today, the class Christmas party. I’ve gotta say even though I was stressed about it and worried I wouldn’t have enough for the kids to do it went perfectly. And best of all I managed to have the party with very little money out of my pocket (this is mainly thanks to the extraordinary amount of help from the other parents in the class). I was so busy playing with the kids that I’m sad to say I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures. But I will share with you all what I did to make our party a success and where I got my ideas.

Our class played 3 games: present toss, snowball scooping and opening presents while wearing mittens. These 3 games were a HUGE hit, especially the snowball and opening presents game and they were super cheap!

Present toss:

 

school christmas party

Items needed:

1 large box (I got mine free by going to Target early one morning and grabbing a box while they were stocking the shelves.)

4 or 5 smaller boxes

Wrapping paper

Red spray paint

White electric tape

All I did for this game camera reviews 2018 is spray paint the large box red. After the box dried I added white electrical tape around the box to make the box look like a chimney. Then I just wrapped 5 smaller boxes for the kids to toss into the chimney. Super easy and cheap to make since I already had the wrapping paper it cost me around $6 for the spray paint and electrical tape.

Snowball Scooping:

Items needed:

2 bowls

1 spoon

Cotton balls

Something to use as a blindfold

This game was super easy, cheap and hilarious. I filled one bowl with cotton balls and had an empty bowl right next to it. I blindfolded the kids and had them try to scoop the snowballs (cotton balls) from one bowl to the other. Since the cotton balls are so light they couldn’t tell if they were getting any or not so they got a good laugh at watching each other attempting to scoop these cotton balls.  I only spent $1 on the cotton balls for this game and used a scarf as the blindfold to keep with the winter theme.

Present opening with mittens:

Items needed:

Small boxes

Small gifts (The $1 section in Target is the perfect place for these gifts. Can you tell I’m a Target addict?)

Wrapping paper

Mittens

Blindfold (for younger kids preK-Kindergarten the blindfold might not be necessary)

I wrapped a small present for each kid in the class. I had the kids wear mittens and a blindfold while they unwrapped their presents. I had originally planned to just have them wear mittens. Luckily I tested this on my daughter (who is 8) at home and she was able to tear right through the present so I decided I needed to blind fold the kids to add a little challenge. The kids loved the chance to open presents and got a good laugh at the challenge I gave them. This was the most expensive game since I paid for the gifts. I spent around $10 on the gifts.

 

19 Comments on “School Christmas Parties on a Budget

  1. Sounds like lots of fun!!! I love the idea of opening presents with mittens. Would be a thrill to watch the kids work through that one. Such great ideas for saving money.

  2. You are a mama right after my heart! I hosted a party yesterday too, my co-chair took the reins (pardon the pun) on this party. We were more craft focused. I wish we had these games they sound like a hoot! I’ll pin this for next year. I love the creativity and the thriftiness of these games. What fun!

  3. I think I’d be a little stressed too if I had to plan a christmas party. But it looks like you did a great job!! 🙂 I think these games could be fun even outside of the classroom environment. Thanks for sharing!

  4. Thanks for the great memories. My kids are grown and gone to their own grown-up lives. But, I so remember those days as homeroom mom.
    Makes the heart feel good.

  5. I’m so jealous of people who have these great, creative ideas. A cool idea to try over the holidays when the little ones are at home.

  6. I love these ideas! These would also be fun indoor party activities for a birthday party or just to do something fun during winter break. Love the mitten game!

  7. What a fun activity for young kids! I am sure they did have a lot of fun. You are such a wonderful person with a big big heart.

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