Party Ideas and Beyond

Candy Guessing Jars

Room Mom and Party Ideas

For at least 25 years, I have been a Room Mom for at least one of my 5 children.

Not to mention Den Leader, Teacher, Primary President, Young Women President, etc.

People constantly ask me for activity and game ideas for a variety of events. Games, Event Planning, and organizing details is something that I do with ease and comfort.Rarely do I photograph or write my ideas or experiences down. Blogging has helped me begin to share and remind me to photograph and/or write things down.

Here is an easy and fun game/activity that can be adapted for any holiday or any age group. It works with a large or small number of people and gets people talking and mixing (a critical element to any size gathering) Don't think for one minute that a party full of teens or adults wouldn't love this activity. I have used it for baby showers...pink or blue candies in baby bottle, Birthday parties, St Patricks Day, Valentines, Christmas, 4th of July, etc. Just think of all the fun candies and containers to use for this activity.

For Katherine's Fall Party last week, I filled eleven jars of various sizes and shapes with a variety of fall themed candies. I typed and printed a form for each child in the class. On the form, I numbers 1-11, giving space for the child to place his/her guess as to how many candies are in each jar beside the correct jar number. On October 31, I will announce the winners. This is a fun way to do Math, discuss estimating, volume, space, etc. Teachers always rave about this activity. Some children spend days counting and calculating while others write down the first numbers that come to them.

I gave them these clues.... All of the correct numbers are ODD numbers, all jars have more than 50 pieces and less than 300.

Very Important Room Mom Tips

#1 While you are spending great amounts of energy to photgraph each child in the classroom.... hand your camera to someone else and make sure to get a photo of YOU with YOUR child.... I have too many years of ME not being in any photos at the school parties.

#2 Photograph the actual crafts, games, and ideas you work so hard on. I have 25 years of teaching, planning events, activities and parties for all ages, yet very little is photographed. Being a new blogger has made me aware of the importance of photos in every thing I do.

More shots of some of the eleven jars the 5th graders are watching closely this week.

Oh- another great thing about this game. You dont have to provide prizes for the winners... The jar of candy is the prize. The person closest to the correct number of candies in the jar wins the jar! The adaptations are endless! Enjoy!