In most cases, especially for the younger grades, it's helpful to have all of the supplies organized prior to the party. That means having all of the pieces pre-cut and creating a bag of craft components for each child. This is not so much for the benefit of the child as it is for the benefit of the room parents! Otherwise you will find yourself running around during the party as you divide the supplies and making sure that everyone has what they need. Cutting skills are variable at all ages, and if you give the children too many things to cut, their completion times will vary wildly.
Naturally, whenever possible, choose a craft that is theme appropriate. Here are some craft ideas for good classroom party crafts:
- Paint miniature pumpkins for Halloween.
- Make spiders using black pipe cleaners at Halloween.
- Fashion ghosts out of lollipops covered with squares of white fabric tied on the stick and decorated.
- Create snowmen out of styrofoam balls, pom-poms and buttons for winter parties.
- Make gingerbread houses at a winter party. Give each child a small, empty, clean milk or juice carton. Let them cover the carton with graham crackers using white frosting as "glue". Finally, give them a selection of colorful candy to decorate their house using the frosting.
- Make hearts with pipe cleaners and beads for Valentine's Day gifts for a loved one.
- Decorate large cut-out hearts at Valentine's Day.
- Paint and plant small flower pots for a springtime party.
- Create tissue paper flowers for a springtime party.
- Create marble art by placing a sheet of paper in a shallow box, dipping marbles into different color paints, and roll around in box for a colorful design.
