Pick 3: December Pinterest Party

I'm excited to be a part of the December Pick 3 Pinterest Party this month hosted by Inspired Owl's Corner and PAWsitively Teaching! What a fun way to get new ideas for your Christmas party this year! I have been planning mine to the T so everything can run as smoothly as possible! Here are 3 Pinterest picks that I saw that would be fun to incorporate into the classroom this year!

This year, I have decided to do something fun with the kids. I used our iPads to take a picture of each student in front of white paper. I got a close up on their faces. I printed each photo one one 8.5x11in piece of paper and am going to have them cut only their heads out. We only have black and white printing at school unless it is for something really special. Therefore, our pictures are black and white, however, I think they look really neat! They are really going to POP against the black paper we are going to use! Another twist on this would be to use the close up photo and allow the students to do the "ELF YOURSELF" activity! I'm excited to start this one! 

We did a fun peppermint activity last Christmas that the students loved! They were able to decorate their own peppermint pattern on the back side of two paper plates. We did the smallest size snack plates. Last year, I used plastic wrap on top, however, I would not recommend this because it was slightly chaotic! The plastic wrap would not cooperate and was sticking to itself as it is supposed to do. If you do this craft, I would definitely recommend cellophane! Save yourself the time and get the same look! Even throughout the chaos, they still turned out very cute! :) 

Amy Douglass has a great tutorial on how to make these. I was a first year teacher last year, so I did not think to take any pictures of the crafts we made during our party because as you can imagine, it was a little hectic. Thankfully someone else has a photo and a tutorial for you to see!

 Here's your list of goods to get:

Plain white chinet paper plates...you need the heavy duty paper plates for them to last.

(I used the smaller dessert size, but you could make the larger dinner plate size if you want giant ones)

*Red craft paint or big red Sharpie

*Glue

*Red glitter glue 

*Spray glitter 

*Roll of cellophane... (cut into 19x19 pieces)

*Holiday ribbon

Another craft I am so excited to make are these ADORABLE Rudolph Frames! They look so easy to make! I am all about having the students take home a"keepsake" to take home to give to a loved one. My mom still has most all of my Christmas Crafts from elementary school and I can still remember making them. I plan to put a small picture of them inside and write (First Grade 2014-2015) on the back for them to remember. 

On a side note, if you are interested, I have already gotten my students their Christmas gifts this year. I was shopping at Dollar Tree last night for silver bells for the students when we read The Polar Express. I stumbled upon these GIANT Holiday Activity and Coloring books. This is not the exact picture but was the closest I could find. (My coloring books are in the car and I am too lazy to go and get them;)) These are HUGE and come with a full page of stickers in the front of the book. The kids DIE for these and think they are extra awesome because of how large they are! I'm not talking large in page number, I'm talking large in size. The best part is they are only one buckaroo! I love a good deal:)

Creative teachers from across the country link up to share some great Pinterest finds for the month of December.

An InLinkz Link-up