Valentine's Day is my fave with kids because I always do Warm Fuzzies....I am hoping to find a classroom to do them with this year! (hint, hint, teachers!)
So what is a Warm Fuzzy? Well, it's a necklace made of yarn that comes with appreciations and complements. Here's one of my former students wearing his at graduation:
So backstory...
When I started looping 7th-8th, I'd always do Warm Fuzzies on Valentine's day in 7th and then tell the kids to save them till 8th grade graduation and wear them under their cap and gown. I figured that most would forget...so you can imagine my surprise when Oscar showed up with his!
But, I digress.
Basically they are just yarn necklaces in an assortment of colors. But then there's meaning behind them. Do you see how he's got little yarn pieces tied to the necklace part? Well, each of those was from a friend at school. What happens is that the kids take a string out from the ball part of the necklace and then give it to a friend, but with a compliment or appreciation. Then, they tie it on their friend's necklace. So when you have all different colors of Warm Fuzzies, their necklaces turn out so cool!
Basically they are just yarn necklaces in an assortment of colors. But then there's meaning behind them. Do you see how he's got little yarn pieces tied to the necklace part? Well, each of those was from a friend at school. What happens is that the kids take a string out from the ball part of the necklace and then give it to a friend, but with a compliment or appreciation. Then, they tie it on their friend's necklace. So when you have all different colors of Warm Fuzzies, their necklaces turn out so cool!
Here's a quick tutorial for making Warm Fuzzies! I'd love to have to try them out this year and then report back about how it goes. I'm telling you - they are golden for middle school...and this year I'm hoping to try with some K-5 kids!
Here we go!
You will need:
Some yarn in a few colors (the more the better depending on how much money you have to burn) and a pair of scissors.
Start wrapping the yarn around your hands until you get a bunch. How much? Shoot for more than less, but once you make a few, you'll know better...
After you've wrapped a bunch of yarn, snip the end, and then cut along the top of your hand.
Then, cut the yarn again in the middle.
Cut one long string to be the necklace part of the Warm Fuzzy.
Tie up all the little pieces and then tie a knot at the top of the necklace, and...
There you have it! If you buy a few different colors you can make solids and mixed colors. The kids will love them!
On the big day:
When you hand them out, make sure you model how to do the appreciations and complements. I usually have one kid come up and we do a demonstration. Don't forget: Take out a little string, give a compliment, then tie it on another's necklace.
I always had the kids exchange first with our homeroom only, and then since we were a middle school team, we would have the whole team get together and exchange, too.
I've been doing this since my first year and I love it every year. It's such a great time to build relationships with your students and as for the kids to be kind to one another, too. I went back through my pics...here's a few I found:
So what do you think? I hope you'll give it a try with your class...I know they will love it as much as my former students did!
Once again, I'm linking up with Two Writing Teachers to share this slice of my life! If you're writing on Tuesday, share your writing with their community of teacher writers!
Happy Tuesday!
Here we go!
You will need:
Some yarn in a few colors (the more the better depending on how much money you have to burn) and a pair of scissors.
Start wrapping the yarn around your hands until you get a bunch. How much? Shoot for more than less, but once you make a few, you'll know better...
After you've wrapped a bunch of yarn, snip the end, and then cut along the top of your hand.
Then, cut the yarn again in the middle.
Cut one long string to be the necklace part of the Warm Fuzzy.
Tie up all the little pieces and then tie a knot at the top of the necklace, and...
There you have it! If you buy a few different colors you can make solids and mixed colors. The kids will love them!
On the big day:
When you hand them out, make sure you model how to do the appreciations and complements. I usually have one kid come up and we do a demonstration. Don't forget: Take out a little string, give a compliment, then tie it on another's necklace.
I always had the kids exchange first with our homeroom only, and then since we were a middle school team, we would have the whole team get together and exchange, too.
I've been doing this since my first year and I love it every year. It's such a great time to build relationships with your students and as for the kids to be kind to one another, too. I went back through my pics...here's a few I found:
So what do you think? I hope you'll give it a try with your class...I know they will love it as much as my former students did!
Once again, I'm linking up with Two Writing Teachers to share this slice of my life! If you're writing on Tuesday, share your writing with their community of teacher writers!
Happy Tuesday!
What a great Valentine's tradition. You must have a great relationship with your middle schoolers because I have found them to be excruciatingly shy at that age. Brava.
ReplyDeleteBernadette