5 Chinese Lunar New Year Activities for Upper Elementary

Celebrating the Chinese {Lunar} New Year is always on my lesson to-do list! I truly believe that it is a great way to explore other nations, traditions, and holidays. While many of our students celebrate the Chinese New Year, many do not. Bringing this holiday into your classroom, you are helping students learn about how people worldwide celebrate the New Year! Your 3rd graders, 4th graders, and 5th graders will love these ideas!

Not sure how to get started? I can help! These five meaningful activities are the perfect blend for any upper elementary classroom looking to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

From captivating picture book read-alouds to hands-on projects, this list includes fun and educational experiences. Discover the significance of Chinese Lunar New Year traditions, compare celebrations worldwide, and join in community-building activities to help your students feel connected. 

Let's make learning about the Lunar New Year a colorful and memorable experience for your students, fostering understanding and a strong sense of community in the classroom. 

Get ready to celebrate and engage your students in meaningful holiday activities through these enjoyable lesson ideas!

💡Teaching tip: While the Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, which is why it is often referred to as the Chinese New Year, it is also celebrated in many different countries worldwide. When engaging students in activities, be sure to include both terms!

Let's dive into Chinese New Year learning activities for upper elementary students!

1. Chinese New Year Read Alouds

Nothing says let's celebrate a holiday than reading amazing picture books with your students! There are so many picture books to read with your kids to kick off lessons about the Chinese New Year.

Here are some of my favorites for upper elementary:

✔ This Next New Year written by Janet S. Wong - 

I love this one! It is filled with all of the traditions and customs of the Lunar New Year...like traditional foods, how to get rid of bad luck, and how to have a fresh new start each New Year!

✔ Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon written by Kat Zhang - 

This one is part of the Amy Wu series of books. Amy is faced with having to make her own dragon for the upcoming celebrations, and she doesn't know how to create a holiday-worthy dragon until her grandmother helps!

✔ Ruby's Chinese New Year written by Vickie Lee - This is a fun story that follows the main character, Ruby, as she heads through the forest to her grandmother's house. Along the way she encounters all the animals in the Chinese Zodiac. This book includes fun Chinese New Year craft activities and directions on how to make them!

✔ A Sweet New Year for Ren written by Michelle Sterling - I love the note from the author and the pure excitement that the main character Ren has for the upcoming holiday celebration with her family!

2. Learn About the Traditions

Learning about the different traditions of holidays and celebrations around the world is a great way to engage students and open up their worlds!

One activity that I love to do with students is to create shape poetry about both the Lunar New Year and New Year's Day. For this activity, students must understand a tradition for each holiday and be able to draw a symbol related to it. Once they have drawn the symbol, they create a free verse shape poem to tell or explain about that symbol and tradition for the Chinese New Year! This is a fun Chinese New Year craft and makes a great bulletin board, too!

You will be wowed by the work that your students do with this shape poetry task!

3. Dive into the Zodiac

The kids are always fascinated by the Lunar New Year Zodiac! They love seeing which Chinese Zodiac Animal it was for the year they were born and for the upcoming New Lunar Year.

Why not harness all that excitement and energy into reading all about it! This will help them understand the Chinese Zodiac, the traditions accompanying each animal, and why this is an important part of the New Lunar Year. 

These passages are just perfect for our upper elementary students' interests and to help strengthen their nonfiction informational reading comprehension, too! #teacherwin

💡Teaching tip: Check out this page for even more information about Lunar New Year Animals and Zodiac!

4. Compare and Contrast to New Year's Day

At the beginning of the school year, we spent much time focusing on comparing and contrasting in October. We compared and contrasted Halloween to the Day of the Dead for that study. The kids loved it! They loved reading about different holidays, traditions, and cultures and truly got the ins and outs of comparing and contrasting different paired passages.

That is why when the new year came around, I  knew we had to compare New Year's Day to the Lunar New Year! And it was a hit!

After reading a nonfiction passage about New Year's Day we read a passage about Lunar New Year. The kids actively read, taking notes in the margins and compiling the information that they collected into a Venn diagram. We spent much time comparing the reasons and traditions behind each holiday. The students went one step further and wrote essays that compared and contrasted the two holidays. It was a great way to learn about the holidays AND still meet all the standards!

As you have students learn about the Lunar New Year and New Year's Day, have them collect important information on graphic organizers. Once collected, students can use the information that they gathered to write short paragraphs or essays about the different holidays that they learned about!

Grab the FREE graphic organizers right here!

5. Send Good Fortune and Building Classroom Community

I love using community-building activities throughout the year! Teaching a lesson that focuses on strengthening our classroom culture and atmosphere is a great change of pace. Community building activities are especially fun when tied into holiday activities like Lunar New Year which falls right in the middle of winter, making it the perfect time to focus on strengthening our classroom family!

This activity is simple yet powerful and you will want to do an activity like this each month!

Here is how we send good fortune to others to celebrate Lunar New Year:

1. Have students write their names with a pencil on a small piece of paper and fold it into fourths. Now, place all the pieces of paper in a basket.
2. Have students randomly draw a name from the basket one at a time, ensuring they did not pick themselves. If they pick themselves, have them show you before selecting a new name.
3. Students then create a fortune cookie with good fortune inside to the student whose name they picked. Their good fortune messages should be positive and upbeat and be focused on having a great new year!
4. When all students are done creating the fortune cookies for their classmates, they deliver them. They really love both giving letters and receiving them!

💡BONUS IDEA: Get Your Art on!

If you have been following me for a while, you know we have been all about hands-on, coloring, and tech-free activities lately! The kids love creative, art-inspired activities over tech-focused tasks...and I am most definitely here for it! 

To get creative during our Lunar New Year celebrations, we create the shape poems and do a Lunar New Year Doodle Thinkers! Both are a great way to have students focus on traditions, symbols, and tie together creativity, art, and learning!

Incorporating the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year into your classroom is more than just an item on your to-do list; it's an opportunity to explore new traditions and diverse holidays. 

While some students may already be familiar with the holiday of Chinese New Year, many are not, making it a wonderful opportunity for cultural discovery.  As we compare celebrations from around the globe and engage in community-building activities, we create an inclusive environment where students can learn, celebrate, and build connections. 

Happy Lunar New Year!

You will also love to read:

5 Leap Year Activities for Upper Elementary

4 Ideas to Celebrate Groundhog Day with Upper Elementary

6 Valentine's Day Party Ideas with a Twist

Celebrating National Poetry Month in the Upper Elementary Classroom

Leap Year 2024 Activities and Ideas for Upper Elementary

Here we are in 2024, and it is a Leap Year!

Leap Year 2024 is so exciting for the kids to learn about, especially our upper elementary students! They are old enough to understand that an extra day in February breaks the calendar rules that they thought they knew! They are also old enough to understand the science behind this special day that occurs only once every four years...with exceptions!

Since you have one chance this year to celebrate and bring learning about Leap Year into your classroom, try these ideas and grab the free resource, too! They will instantly engage your students and have them critically thinking about this unique global event.

1. Build Background Knowledge!

Leap Year is a tricky concept! 

Kick off your Leap Year learning by watching one of these kid-friendly videos to build background knowledge for your students. Of course, watching one video is not enough for students to truly understand why we have Leap Years, but it is a great starting point and easy to sneak in during snack or after recess! Have your students take notes about the video to hold them accountable and to help them easily compare different videos. Grab the free Leap Year notetaking pages HERE.

Try one of these:

• Leap Year for Kids (about 6 minutes)
• What is a Leap Year? (about 2 minutes)
• Why Do We Have Leap Years? SciShow (about 5 minutes)

*As with any video that you show your students, please preview these videos to ensure they are appropriate for your cohort of students!

2. Dive into the History and Science!

Put your students' reading comprehension skills to work with reading about Leap Year. These reading passages tie together all of the important reading comprehension skills that students need with the history and science of this special day that occurs every four years!

Included in this set are three passages about Leap Year. Try this! Break your students up into three groups. Have each group read one of the passages, take notes, and create a quick presentation for the class. Engage them by giving them a piece of chart paper and markers to create a visual aid for their presentation. When students are all done, have each group present to the class. Now, each student will learn the information from each passage through their peers!

3. Get Creative!

Lately, the kids are loving creative, art-inspired activities over tech-focused tasks...and I am loving it! Lean into their art and creative interests with activities designed to get them thinking critically!

 

Try this...

• Have your students think about four years into the future! How old will they be? What grade will they be in? What interests will they still have? What types of shows would they like?
• Have your students think about four years ago! How old were they? What grade were they in? What interests did they have? What was their favorite show? 
• Have your students take these ideas and create illustrations and short paragraphs about their Leap Year past and future! They come out adorable and are perfect to display on a Leap Year bulletin board.

You can also use Leap Year themed color-by-number pages, doodle thinkers, and open-ended posters to celebrate Leap Year all week! 

4. Get Up and Move!

This activity is a fun one! 

Grab some measuring sticks or tape and have your students start leaping to see who can leap the furthest in your class! It is easy to do. 

Here is how I have done this activity...

• Mark a starting line for students to jump from. If you are outside, you can use chalk; if you are inside, you can use blue painter's tape.
• Enlist the help of the students to mark off different foot increments. Again, use chalk or blue tape. We have marked up to five feet. So after every foot, leave a mark.
• Have students predict how far they think they will jump before they jump.
• Have students work in pairs, taking turns being the jumper and the recorder.
• If space allows, you can have each pair of students create their own leaping area to reinforce measuring skills. If not, you can have students rotate through the one leaping area you create.
• You can use the recording sheet I use HERE, or just have your students create grids in their notebooks.

Grab the free Leap Year math leaping page HERE.

5. Make a Time Capsule!

No fancy paper needed for this one! Grab some lined paper and plain white paper and have your students get writing their their future self. I love keeping this one simple so that students use their own handwriting and their own ideas to create illustrations. When students write their letters, I allow them to include what they want. These will be private letters just for them to open during the next Leap Year. 

If you want to give your students some ideas or prompts, use these ideas...

• what is going on in your life right now...grade, teacher, friends, hobbies
• one of your favorite memories
• something important to you right now
• advice you would give yourself 

No matter how you celebrate, your upper elementary students will love learning about Leap Year!

The science and history of this rule-breaking day will surely be a true highlight of their learning for 2024. Build background knowledge, get reading, allow creativity, leap down the hall during math, and have your students write that time capsule letter to themselves for 2028. With all of these activities and resources, Leap Year becomes more than just a rare occurrence - it becomes a memorable educational journey for our upper elementary students that sparks curiosity and critical thinking!

Happy 2024 Leap Year!

You will also love to read:

Must Watch FREE Groundhog Day Videos for the Classroom

6 Valentine's Day Party Ideas with a Twist

Celebrating National Poetry Month in the Upper Elementary Classroom

Must Teach Winter Writing Lesson

Grab the No Prep Leap Year Pack HERE.

 

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*affiliate links: “Think Grow Giggle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.” (source: Section 5)

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Presidents Day Activities for Upper Elementary Students

I love taking time each February to celebrate Presidents' Day! It gives us the opportunity to get in some Social Studies activities, which are oftentimes cut out of our day due to time constraints. 

Celebrating Presidents' Day not only gives the students an opportunity to learn about the past, but to also celebrate the current President in office, and think about the future, too. One of our country's future Presidents is sitting in your classroom right now!

While I know that holidays do not always make the cut in everyone's lesson plans, teaching lessons that incorporate the holidays and seasons is totally my thing! Here are three activities that I love to do to celebrate Presidents' Day in the upper elementary classroom. And since they are all reading and writing based, they are the perfect way to weave the holidays and social studies into your ELA lesson plans!

1. Compare and Contrast Washington and Lincoln 

Reading and analyzing paired passages and comparing and contrasting informational passages are two activities that we do anyway, so bringing in President Washington and President Lincoln to compare and contrast is easy and effective!

Get started by having students watch these quick videos, take notes with the FREE organizers below, and then put their close reading strategies to work by reading and comparing the paired passages about Washington and Lincoln.

Kindly Note: Please preview the videos to make sure they are just right for your class!

• George Washington Video (about 4 minutes)
• Abraham Lincoln Video (about 4 minutes)
• Washington and Lincoln Paired Passages
  
  

2. Studying the Past and the Present

When Presidents' Day rolls around in February, we are knee-deep in nonfiction and informational text studies during both reading and writing.  We focus on nonfiction structure and biographies. Studying both United States Presidents of the past and present is a great way to study both history and current events while supporting both reading and writing standards.

When it comes to research and writing biography reports, I make sure to:

• have students brainstorm who they want to study 
• approve who each student researches to avoid duplicates in class
• breakdown what needs to be in a biography research project (see tips HERE)
• give students specific tasks each day so that they are focused and organized
• have students present projects, creative tasks, or speeches about their research

Teacher Tip: Use the current President in Office to write a class biography to serve as a model for student work. This helps students learn about who is currently in office and see a model in action before beginning their own research project. We also take this time to make sure that we know the difference between fact and opinion so that our research projects can be factual!

We also take our informational reading skills and use them to read, annotate, and reflect on a wide range of U.S. Presidents from the past.

Try these differentiated  U.S. Presidents reading passages to use as models of informative writing for students!

3. When I Am President...A Look Into the Future!

Presidents' Day is a great day to spend learning about Presidents of the past. After all, the holiday of Presidents' Day came from the original holiday of Washington's Birthday. However, after we study the U.S. Presidents of the past and the present, we look ahead to the future!

What better way to look into the future than to see what the current generation thinks about how they would run the country! My students always love to learn about the responsibilities of the United States President and then reflect on what they would do as the President of the United States. This is such a high-interest activity for the kids and it makes a great bulletin board display, too! #teacherwin

4. Get Your Doodle On or Make a Poster

Lately, the kids are obsessed with coloring! I love using these Doodle Thinkers throughout the year to get them focused, relaxed, and brainstorming before they complete word work and a writing task!

If you are working on nonfiction, informative writing, then have your kids do a little research and create their own informative writing report, essay, or poster! These posters are great to tie together history, holiday learning, and nonfiction writing! 

Bonus Idea: Read a book!

You know I love reading a good picture book any chance I get! These are my favorites to share with students as we dive deep into Presidents Day learning!

• Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Turner
• So You Want To Be President? By Judith St. George
• If I Ran For President By Catherine Stier
• A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln By David A. Adler
• Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers By Karen Winnick (my favorite)
• A Picture Book of George Washington By David A. Adler
• Take the Lead George Washington By Judith St. George
• US Presidents Encyclopedia Reference Book

 

When it comes to celebrating Presidents' Day in your upper elementary classroom, tie your studying into your ELA lesson plans simply and seamlessly! Focus on reading, research, writing, and projects. Your students will love to learn about the past, present, and future of the United States Presidency with these engaging activities!

You will love reading these related posts:

6 Valentine's Day Party Ideas with a Twist

St. Patrick's Day Ideas you Never Thought Of!

Celebrating National Poetry Month in the Upper Elementary Classroom

3 Ideas for Biography Research Projects

Grab highly engaging President activities HERE.

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*affiliate links: “Think Grow Giggle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.” (source: Section 5)

9 Valentine's Day Picture Books for Upper Elementary

When it comes to February in the classroom, especially the upper elementary classroom, love is definitely in the air!

That is why I like to fill the month of February with love, kindness, and friendship-themed read alouds that are just perfect to bring Valentine's Day into the classroom. It is the perfect time to introduce or review themes in literature while reading a variety of books. These books can be used to celebrate Valentine's Day, discuss themes and other reading strategies, and engage students in meaningful book talks.

Read this list of my favorite picture books that I love reading in February with my upper elementary students. Plus, grab the free printables at the bottom of this post that go along with these books!

1. Yuck, A Love Story by Don Gillmore

This is my favorite story to read during February!

I love the specific details included in this book which make it perfect for visualizing lessons. This story follows two young friends as they develop a friendship, one going out of the way to give his new neighbor the moon. In the classroom, I read this story one time through without sharing the illustrations. Instead, I have students draw quick sketches of what they visualized every few pages. Then we reread the story, this time I share the illustrations, and the students compare what they visualized to the illustrations. It is a great lesson to encourage students to visualize as they read to increase their reading comprehension.

2.  Porcupining by Lisa Wheeler

This story is a fun read as the author enjoys using a play on words. Before reading this story, discuss what the word pining means as it comes up throughout the story and is one part of the play on words as the Porcupine is porocupining for a wife. Throughout the story, the Porcupine sings a song with a rhyming pattern. A fun follow-up activity would be to have your students write their own Valentine's Day poem using the same pattern.

This story follows the same theme as found in the book, Nobody Hugs a Cactus (number 9 on this list) making it perfect for comparing and contrasting themes, characters, and basic literary essay writing pieces.

3. Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I love this sweet simple story and how the kiss is a metaphor for kindness! Kindness can and should be shared everywhere. This is a fun one to read and then brainstorm with students all the ways that they can spread kindness in the classroom, around the school, and around their community. Get started with this free kindness calendar.

4. On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue by Tziporah Cohen

We cannot go through February without a little discussion on chocolate and what better person to read about than Milton Hershey! I love reading this book, as it is the perfect mix of nonfiction and biography with a main idea and topic perfect for Valentine's Day...chocolate! The best part about this book is about Milton himself and what a philanthropist he was. This leads to wonderful classroom discussions about doing good things for others, kindness, and showing your love and how much you care, again perfect timing for February!

5. Hug Machine by Scott Campbell

This is a quick and fun read-aloud that truly encompasses the theme of love, perfect for Valentine's Day and February. This quick story is the perfect opportunity to introduce, practice, or review character analysis. Be sure to show your students the checklist found on the inside cover and the completed checklist on the backside cover, the kids love checking it by revisiting the story. 

6.  Be You! by Peter H. Reynolds

Want to get in a little social-emotional learning this month? Read this book and have a discussion about self-love! My students LOVE this activity! This book is written in a fun format, each page filled with phrases and illustrations encouraging the reader to just be themselves...an important message we want our kids to hear again and again. Follow up a read-aloud of this book with a little self-love activity to display to remind your students how awesome they are! Print out the heart and have the students fill it with all the things that they LOVE about themselves. Grab the free activity that goes along with this book at the bottom of this post.

7.  Nobody Hugs a Cactus by Carter Goodrich

This sweet story tells the story of Hank, a cactus that no one wants to hug. If you are reading this one alongside a read-aloud of Porcupining, you can compare and contrast the two story's story elements, characters, and each main character's feelings and emotions. The illustrations in this book provide great support when discussing character feelings and emotions and how feelings and emotions can change throughout a story.

8.  Love, Z by Jessie Sima

This unique book tells the story of Z, a robot out on a mission to find out what love really is. Throughout the robot's journey many things are learned and many people are met, but by the end Z realizes home is where he or she needs to be! I love this classic story with a fun twist.

9.  Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli

February cannot come and go without at least one reading of the book, Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch. This is one of my all-time favorites! It is perfect for discussing gratitude, friendship, and feelings of loneliness. This touching story tells about Mr. Hatch who feels alone and sad until the day he thinks that is loved when he gets a large box of chocolates. Unfortunately, it was delivered to him in error, but with a theme of friendship and kindness, it all works out for Mr. Hatch. this story is also perfect to analyze characters and discuss how characters change throughout the story. This is a must-read! 

BONUS Valentine's Day Read Aloud: Love from the Crayons by Drew Daywalt

If you are looking for a book to review or practice figurative language, this is it! This book is filled with similes and metaphors for the different colors in the crayon box...all representing love for a different reason. Before reading this book, have the students make predictions about how each color represents love. After reading the book, come up with different colors that are not in the box and have students work with a partner to write similes and metaphors about those colors.

When it comes to celebrating Valentine's Day in your upper elementary classroom books that go beyond just Valentine's Day is a must for February! The books in this list are filled with themes that you will want to bring into the classroom and continue discussing throughout the year!

You will love reading these related posts:

4 Groundhog Activities for Upper Elementary

6 Valentine's Day Party Ideas with a Twist

St. Patrick's Day Ideas you Never Thought Of!

Celebrating National Poetry Month in the Upper Elementary Classroom

Looking for more high-interest February activities? Click the HERE.

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*affiliate links: “Think Grow Giggle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.” (source: Section 5)

7 Valentine's Day Classroom Party Ideas with a Twist

February is my favorite month to be a teacher! It is jammed packed with different holidays and events that are always so engaging for the students. From Groundhog Day to Presidents Day and everything in between like Mardi Gras and the Lunar New Year, the month always seems to fly by.

Even though there is so much going on during February, the real excitement present in the classroom during February is usually due to Valentine's Day! Whether you have a Valentine's Day party in your classroom or not, the excitement can still be felt. I love to harness all that excitement into unique lessons that allow students to truly feel like they are celebrating the holiday, but also be knee-deep in learning at the same time!

After you pass around those Valentine's Day cards try something new and different this year! These are my favorite go-to activities that are perfect to use during any Valentine's Day party or as a stand-alone lesson during the month of February.

1. Heart Health

February is American Heart Month! What better time to learn about heart health than February. My school always participates in Jump Rope for Heart, so it is the perfect time to learn about the heart, circulatory system, and living a health lifestyle. After reading, studying, or sharing facts about our hard working heart, have students conduct a heart experiment! Students check their pulse before and after rigorous exercise to see just how hard their heart works.

It's simple, here is how:

1. Have students use stopwatches to find their resting heart rate (heart rate before any activity). Their pulse can be found on the side of their neck, below the ear, or on the inside of the wrist.
2. Set the timer for a minute and allow students to jog in place or complete jumping jacks.
3. Immediately have students use stopwatches to find their heart rate again.
4. Have students compare their heart rates and discuss why it is important to exercise each day.

2. Community Service Project

February is Random of Acts of Kindness month and one way to tie together Random Acts of Kindness Week with your Valentine's Day party is to complete community service projects with your students. The past few years I have completed community service projects during our Valentine's Day parties and with students have loved it, especially writing cards.

Here are some that we have done in past that the kids have loved:

1. Make Valentine's Day cards and pictures for servicemen and women.
2. Make Valentine's Day cards and pictures for local senior citizens.
3. Create bright and cheerful pictures and banners for kids in local hospitals.
4. Write thank you letters of appreciation to someone that student loves (family member, staff member, coach, anyone!)
5. Make joke books for anyone who may need to be cheered up.
6. Make a book for their younger reading buddies.

3. We Love Books Day

Turn Valentine's Day into We Love Books Day this year! Make it a day to incorporate books in each lesson of the day, being sure to share your favorite ones. During your, We Love Books Day have students share a book that they LOVE with their classmates. This is perfect to do during Valentine's Day Parties or any Friday during February. Grab these FREE book recommendations or have students cut out a heart from construction paper and write about their favorite book or series. After students share their favorite books with each other, create a display on your classroom bulletin board to serve as book recommendations. 

Looking for love-themed books to use throughout your We Love Books Day this month? Try some of my favorites listed below and then grab the FREE We Love Books Day Kit at the bottom of this post.

1. Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch* Pairs well with lessons on character understanding. (Don't have the book? Watch a reading of it HERE.) Want even more Mr. Hatch activities? Click HERE.
2. Yuck, A Love Story* Pairs well with lessons on visualizing as you read.
3. Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deeds* Pairs well with kindness lessons. 

Grab this set for FREE right here!

4.  Spread Some Gratitude

I love finding any excuse to spread gratitude! Sending a quick note of thanks for being an awesome friend, classmate, or reading partner is an easy way to build classroom community and help students feel good about themselves. When we write notes to each other in the classroom, students always cherish the kind words that they receive. Bust out the pink construction paper and hearts or use premade notecards to spread some love, kindness, and gratitude right in your own classroom this Valentine's Day!

5. Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

Random Acts of Kindness Week takes place during the month of February and is a great way to get students involved in doing good deeds around their classroom and school community. Grab these free Random Acts of Kindness calendars and have your students fill the days with random acts of kindness they would like to complete before the year is over. Head to my Instagram page and view the Kindness challenge story for a quick video tutorial about how I use these calendars in my classroom. Use these additional classroom kindness ideas and kindness read-aloud books to really get into the spirit of kindness this month.

Go one step further and read about how this important day got started and challenge your students to spread 17 acts of kindness this month!

6. Research Something or Someone You Love

This is one of my favorite projects to complete during the week of Valentine's Day! 

The concept is simple-students complete a research project on something or someone that they LOVE. It can be an activity or sport, an animal or person, or anything that sparks their interests. The kids love completing these writing projects because it is all about their choice and interest. Use your Valentine's Day party to have the students share their writing pieces. You can make it a simple research project that includes looking up information on their chosen topic and writing a paragraph, or have students complete a more in-depth animal or biography research project that students research and take through the writing process throughout the month of February.

Teacher Tip: Before writing biographies with your students this month, grab this FREE biography on Milton Hershey to set the stage for learning!

7. Play a Game

Parties are meant for playing games, right? I am all about educational games in the classroom, especially during crazy months like February. These holiday and seasonal-themed Tic Tac Math Games are a staple in my classroom and I love using them as much as the kids each month, especially during February. The math games are differentiated so students of all levels can play, and since they are completely editable they can be made into any skills review or challenge games of your choice. 

See the Tic Tac Love games that we play during February HERE.

Valentine's Day parties do not have to be sugar-filled to be fun!

Pass out those cards and then try one (or more) of these thoughtful and educational activities to engage your students and make your party time structured and purposeful.

You might be interested in reading:

Must-Read Winter Picture Books for the Upper Elementary Classroom

Celebrating Kindness in the Classroom

Groundhog Day Activities for Upper Elementary Students

St. Patrick's Day Unique Ideas for Upper Elementary Classrooms

Looking for more high-interest Valentine's Day activities, projects, and bulletin board sets?
Click HERE.

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*affiliate links: “Think Grow Giggle is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.” (source: Section 5)

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