Solving the Valentine Exchange Dilemma!

Valentine's Day is nearly a week away!  Are you ready for an exchange?!

Each year my kids get SUPER excited about the idea of exchanging valentines...but OH MY...does it take FOREVER!  By the time they read all the names and everyone has their chance to pass them out, my 'LOVE' for it all is well-tested!

SO...this year I am trying something new!

I am sending home the usual 'we are having a Valentine exchange' note but with a twist!

Here's the actual note:

See the bold/arrow...instead of the kids writing their classmates names, I am going to have them practice number writing by having them label them 1 to 20 (I have 20 kiddos!).

We will make our Valentine exchange bags:

                    

And then on the morning of the exchange I will tape the child's bag to the table (basically taping the bear's 'tush' to the table! LOL!) by their seat...along with one of these cute number cards:

During morning work, I will have 5(ish) kids at a time pass out their valentines.  They will 'read' the number on their valentine and then find it next to one of the bags.  They will drop the valentine in that bag and move onto the next until they are all delivered!

Once all the Valentines have been delivered, I staple the tops of the bags, we put them in our cubbies and the kids take them home to open & read with their parents!

So now we are combining the fun of a Valentine exchange with some number writing, 'reading' and ID..and hopefully with a dash of less stress for me!

Want to win this 'Bear-y' Cute Valentine Exchange Craftivity?

Leave me a blog post comment!  I will select a winner on Friday evening!

And so that EVERYONE wins, click on the cute number cards and download them for free!  Use them for this OR for a number ordering activity of your choice!  They are numbered 1 to 20 and then there are 4 blank ones if you need more!  Print 2 sets and play Valentine Memory or Go-Fish, place baggies or cups of Valentine candies around the room- students have to match the number cards to the cups/baggies that show that quantity!  The possibilities are as grand as you can imagine!

For more freebies check out this linky hosted by Teaching With Nancy!

Have fun...Happy Exchanging..and Until next post,