Classroom Winter Craft Ideas?

Have you ordered from Oriental Trading ever?
I believe you can sort the crafts by age...
www.orientaltrading.com

keep it simple and they will be faster

- clothes pin reindeer
- marshmellow snowmen
- paper snowflakes
- holiday doors (a piece of construction paper that looks like a door, buttons, string, etc)

favecrafts.com has some cool stuff there, or you could look at orientaltrading.com for kits or ideas from their products

Someone has probably already mentioned this but you could have them do something with beads...the girls could make necklaces/bracelets and the boys could make bookmarks/backpack danglers/keychains. Be sure to have all different colors as the boys will probably pick the darker colors while the girls will probably pick the lighter colors to work with.

Hope this helps,
Jen

I always liked the wreaths made from them tracing, coloring or painting, and cutting out their handprints. Or you can make candy canes by cutting them out decorating them then using yarn to "sew" the peices together, stuff them with regular paper. Also, it is so easy to make snowflakes, my daughter loves making them!

Buy some $1 picture frames and let them decorate them. You can get plastic buttons, cheap rhinestones, foam appliques - all these are relatively inexpensive at craft stores. You can also glue a magnet to the back and stick them on the refigerator. Then their moms will have something to put the Christmas picture in.

Snowflakes with their name hidden in cursive. You fold white cardstock or paper in half then have them write their name in cursive from the fold to the top(letters with tails go in the air). You cut about an inch or half inch on each side of the name, making sure to leave the fold in place. Also cut various shapes on the free space and shape the paper by cutting an angle off each end.
You need adults to cut the holes inside the letters. When you unfold it, it is symmetrical and you can see the name twice.

I would nix the craft idea for this age and higher. They will be MUCH happier playing games. At this age they like to interact during the parties. Some of my game favorites:
Homeroom Party Games

1. Wrap the Gift Race - Give each table of 4 students a shoe box, piece of wrapping paper (that almost perfectly covers the box), strip of ribbon that fits around the box, bow, and tape. The winning team is the one that wraps the present first with wrapping paper completely covering the box. The only rules are that you must use all of the supplies and that each student can only use one hand and the other hand must be kept behind their back at all times. This is a great team building game. You should encourage them to talk to each other and for everyone to cooperate with each other to get the job done. You only want 4 students per table so that they all get the opportunity to participate.

2. The Mitten Challenge Relay - (2 pair of bulky mittens (not gloves), 2 pails/buckets, Hershey's Kisses) Relay Race of 2 teams. First person from each team puts on a pair of mittens , walks down to the pail of Hershey's Kisses, picks up one kiss, unwraps it, eats it, then goes back to the line to give the next person the mittens to put on. The winning team is the first team where each member successfully unwraps and eats a Hershey's kiss while wearing the mittens.

3. Chop Stick Relay - (2 pair of chop sticks, 4 pails/buckets, individually wrapped candy) Relay Race of 2 teams. The object is to move all the candy from one bucket to another by using only Chop Sticks...so of course the smaller the candy the harder it is.

4. Snow Ball Relay Race - (1 straw for each student, 4 buckets/pails, cotton balls) Relay Race of 2 teams. The object is for each student to move a "snow ball" (cotton ball) from one pail to the next by sucking it up to remove it from the pail and then blowing the "snow ball" to the next pail with the straw then sucking it up again to place it into the pail.

5. Candy Cane Pass Relay Race - (1 Candy Cane per student plus extra to cover for breakage, 4 buckets/pails) Relay Race of 2 teams. Line the students up shoulder to shoulder in each team and have the 2 teams face each other. Put one bucket on one end of each line and another bucket on the other end. The object is for each team to pass 10 candy canes down the row from one bucket to the next without touching the candy canes they are passing. Each student will have one candy cane in their hand to use as a hook to transfer each candy cane to the next student. Tell the students that if a candy cane drops and breaks it doesn't count and is removed from the game. If it drops and doesn't break it can be hooked up and remain in the game. Be prepared that many candy canes will get dropped and broken. The winning team is the team that gets the most unbroken candy canes into their bucket the fastest.

6. Stocking Word Scramble: (2 teams) Put letters to a Christmas type word (ornament, Santa etc.) on separate index cards (make 2 sets each team). Put a set of the cards in each stocking (1 for each of 2 teams). The team works to figure out what word it is by arranging the letters. First team to decipher the word wins. I am doing two of these as I do not think they will require much time to complete.

7. Stocking Candy Relay: (2 teams) Hang stockings from a stocking hanger. Place a large bowl of candy that is hard to scoop or carry. The teams relay to get 1 piece of candy scooped onto the spoon which they have to race to put in the stocking without it falling off the spoon. First team with all team members having delivered their goody to the stocking wins.

8. Rudolph Relay: Cut out 1/2 dollar size red circles from paper. Spread out on a table. Each student puts Vaseline on their nose and runs to the red dot table and must get a single dot attached to their nose. If it falls off they have to go back and get another dot. First team with all red noses to the finish line wins.

For Relay Races - Make sure each line has an equal number of students or have the teacher play to even out the teams. After the first game I usually have them play again to give the other team a chance to win. You can also time them and then see if they can beat their time the second time. Plastic Holiday Buckets can be purchased at Wal-Mart or possibly the Dollar Store.