New Room Mom

Ask at the school office. Our school has a questionaire for the teachers to fill out with fav. colors, foods, family, b-day, anniversary, pets, fav. flowers, restaurants, activities, holidays, etc... If they don't have something, make one up yourself and ask the teacher to fill it out for you.
Then you can use that info to get things for them thru the year. (Send copies home with the kids or reminders of what their favorites are for each occasion or activity)

For teacher appreciation you can have the kids write notes on why they love their teacher and put it in an album with a pic of each kid... Supply the vase and have the kids bring in a flower each for it... Take a collection and get them gift cards to their fav. food places or stores... etc

At our school, the room moms are usually picked in late September or early October, so we usually introduce ourselves in the Halloween party letter. We include our email address and phone number for people to contact us with ideas or to let us know if they would like to help with a party. Our school actually sends home a form for parents to sign up to be a room parent. On the form, the parents also have the option to mark if they would like to run one party, help with any of the parties, or just provide supplies for the party. And we always ask for help at each of the parties when it gets closer to the date of the party.

Before you start planning food for your parties, you may want to find out if there are any allergies in your daughter's class and the school's and/or teacher's policy on dealing with any potential allergies.

Here is a web site with a lot of ideas for projects and games for parties: http://familyfun.go.com/

Here is a link to their Halloween ideas: http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/

A couple of ideas that I have used with the younger kids are:
Ghost Wind socks: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDis... It's a simple craft that the kids can do with minimal help.

Horr-edible hands: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDis... This is candy corn and popcorn in clear plastic gloves that can also double as a snack. You can even add a spider ring to one of the fingers for decoration.

If you want to have a healthy snack, my daughter's second grade class had fun making skeletons out of vegetables. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/skeleton-brain-dip-6... We divided the kids into groups and gave them each some hand sanitizer. Then each group got a tray, some dip, a bowl of vegetables, and a picture for an example. Each group made a skeleton with the vegetables. Then after we took a picture of each group with their skeleton, they ate the vegetables. And the kids actually ate most of the vegetables up.

I usually try any projects with my kids to see how it goes before I use it in a party. My kids are pretty crafty, so if they struggle with a project, I know ahead of time that I will likely have 25 kids struggling at the party. If there will be a lot of helpers, that might not be a problem. However, if there are only 1 or 2 helpers, you don't want the projects to be too difficult.

For teacher appreciation day, you may want to keep in mind that it's towards the end of the school year. At my kids' school, we usually try to do a big end of the year gift, so we try to keep the teacher appreciation day gifts small but thoughtful.

In first grade, we worked with the class to make a mosaic flowerpot. http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDis... The other room mom and I provided a large pot and the grout. We then asked the kids to each bring in 2 or 3 small trinkets that they would like to add to the pot. We worked with the 2 kids at a time in the hallway and attached the trinkets to the pot. We then added a plant.

In second grade, we brought in a basket and asked each kid to bring in a piece of fruit to put in the basket so the class made a really nice fruit basket for the teacher.

We also have done the vase with each kid bringing in a flower and a jar for the kids and parents to put a note for the teacher.

J.- a few ideas for Halloween (my son is in Kindergarten this year...)

oreo spider cookies... take an oreo...twist off the top, insert pretzels for legs, add a little frosting to make it stick and put the top on, secure M&M eyes with a dap of frosting...

Take mini pumpkins in with paint to decorate for the party...

White lunch bags can be ghosts to decorate...

Orange paper plates can be pumpkins...

Many craft stores have super cute halloween projects... that are inexpensive

owl cupcakes are fun too...google them, lots on the web

For Teacher appreciation day...there are lots of ideas if you google them... but my favorite was meeting the teacher at 3:30 with a warm dinner... lasagna or something that you cook ahead, a salad and bread...so she can home and enjoy a dinner with her family.

Other ideas were meeting her in the am with her favorite coffee and pastry

Well, with you at the helm, it looks like a great year for the kids! Clean snacks, clean desks. Banana bread, carrot cake, carrots, celery. No nuts, no raisins, no peanut butter, no gum, no hard candy, nothing sweet. Make holiday cards for a local nursing home or VA. Fund raise for Unicef, they need all the help they can get.

J.,

You seem like a real "go-getter". That is great. One word of caution though - the other parents also want to be involved, so don't take control too much! I remember being very upset that I didn't get to be in charge of at least 1 of the parties because someone else had already volunteered. Make sure you involve everyone who wants to! I would suggest even involving the other parents in the questions that you are asking of us. Yes, I would send home a letter - include your email address and ask other parents of your class to email you with their ideas.

I am also a room mom.
I`ve always had help too! A friend of mine have had the same class every year now(our kids went to preschool and now in 3rd grade) She has always done most of the work because I have a daycare and wasn`t ALWAYS able to be there. Introducing yourself is a great idea! There`s always sign up sheets in the hallway of each classrooms at our school, halloween, Christmas, end of year party, and on those sheets there`s a couple lines for people to help -for ex. sweet treat, healthy treat, drinks, paper prod., craft/game.
Get a class list from teacher-and phone numbers(roomparents get that sheet) Send out email reminders etc.
Yes, the office will have the teachers b.day.
Good luck and enjoy!
K.

Not knowing the age of the class. I made caramel apples with my preschoolers, 3rd and 4th graders. We made spiders out of large pom poms and bottle caps and pipe cleaners. They danced on an elastic string. I did send a letter home introducing myself, telling them what activities/parties were taking place and the theme if any. Christmas was a mexican theme. We had tacos and a pinata. I would assign what students bring and send notes home regarding the donation and any other info. In this way, I spread the donations out for the entire year so no one person was overburdened. Have fun.

Find out if your school has a policy on what room parents can or cannot do. Coordinating parties are a given,and organizing volunteers are usual responsibilities. You can also secretly send birthday cards home with each child's birthday (to be opened at home so there are no hurt feelings with their classmates), making a present with the kids for teacher appreciation week, mothers/fathers day presents, crafts representating various holidays throughout the year. Set up a meeting with your teacher and ask him/her what they would like for you to do. And remember to make it fun for you also!

I haven't been a room mom but as the mother of a student who has volunteered plenty of times...I can tell you that a little letter introducing yourself goes a long way. It's nice to know the room mom's name and contact info. This will give the other moms a chance to offer help you or ask any questions they may have.

Good luck with your new position!