Valentine Post Office Party!

Valentine Post Office Party!

When I was trying to plan Serenity’s class party, I asked her what made her most excited about Valentine’s day.  I really had no idea what she thought about Valentine’s Day, since we’ve only ever done a few heart related crafts in the past, and she has a book or two about it.  She told me she was excited to deliver lots of Valentines to her class!!  So I decided the theme of the class party should be Post Office!

The party was a success!  All the kids in Serenity’s class seemed to have a blast pretending to deliver mail.  We kept recycling the letters so they got to deliver them over and over during the party.  I made the huge mailbox out of cardboard.  I had the big box and red paint on hand.  It has a slot in the top, a door in the back to get the mail out, and the drawer at the front that opens just like a real mailbox.  To make the curved top, I just creased the cardboard at regular intervals by folding over a yardstick.  We also added white wooden letters that spell mail.  If we keep playing with it at home, I may add a key slot for the door at the back. 

The pretend mail was one of the kids favorite part!  Each child had three pieces of mail to start with.  One was addressed to a classmate, one to a teacher, and one to a generic family member like Mama or Daddy.  For the teachers, I actually wrote out the address of the school for each one.  That way if they take it home and play more they can learn about addresses, zip codes, and so on.  I made lots of postcards using craft foam, and then addressed a few envelopes as well.  I put a few dozen pieces of extra mail in the mailbox to get them started too.  We kept recycling the letters throughout the party, and the kids were happy to deliver them over and over!!!

Each child also had a mailbag.  To see how I made them, check out thispost.  Basically I used some canvas to make a little messenger bag with a red grosgrain ribbon strap and wrote “mail” on the side with Silhouette vinyl.  Oh, I still need to write about the joy of using my Silhouette.  I know it can be awesome…I just seem to need a Silhouette for Dummies instruction manual.  I managed to get 24 of these finished in time for the party though, and so I’m content for now =) 

I found the perfect little tin mailboxes in the Target dollar spot, and had one for each child to decorate with stickers.  We wrote their names on labels, which turned out to be a great idea, as they kept getting lost.  Turns out a class party for three year olds is a bit chaotic.  =) 

We also decorated cupcakes and the other parents in my class brought other snacks and treats!  It was so much fun!  I’m on a party high right now, I so want to plan another!!!  If anyone needs help brainstorming for a party, leave a comment and let me know!  I’d love to help. =)  

As far as decorations, we couldn't decorate before the party because it would be too distracting to the students.  So I kept that simple and just picked up balloons from the Dollar Tree.  They had heart balloons in four different colors so you could get a neat ombre effect.  The kids all went ooooh when Eric walked in the classroom with them. =)  The dollar tree lady was very helpful loading them up.  She tied them to balloon weights very short in groups of six, so I was able to carry them in two regular grocery sacks and fit half in my trunk, half in the floorboards.  I could even see out, which was a neat trick!  I was worried about driving those across town in my little Honda but it was fine! =)