How to Celebrate Valentine's Day in Your Classroom

Much like the day after Halloween, Valentine's Day can be a very difficult day at school. Follow these tips and the day will go much smoother.

Instructions

1. Limit the amount of candy each child can bring. I limit each child to bringing in one piece of candy for each classmate. That means that each child can go home with 20 pieces of candy if everyone brings a treat.

2. Limit the kids to store-bought treats. Allowing homemade treats opens up the possibilities of lawsuits. My school district has a "Store bought only" treat policy every day of the year.

3. Inform the kids that if they are going to bring in treats they need to bring in treats for everyone in the class, not just their friends. If they would like to only do something for a few kids, they can do it after school.

4. Inform the kids that if they are bringing treats for each child, those treats need to be identical to each other. The last thing you need to be dealing with is a crying child saying, "Johnny got a Snickers and I got a Milky Way!"

5. Check for allergies and be sure the children are aware of any allergies they may have.

6. Do not allow the kids to eat or open their Valentine's candy until they get home. This is especially true since some kids attend after school care and should not have to watch other kids open their candy when they cannot.

Resources

• Rock and Roll Kindergarten