Valentine's Day with Rigor

It's not all work and no play in my class, but I do like activities to be rigorous, even those linked to the holidays. Just a few examples of how we challenge them a bit for Valentine's Day:

1) Valentine's Sudoku-very easy to make with clip art. I erase one of each shape to start with and put them on the line on the bottom. The kids cut out those pieces and place them strategically with only one in each row vertically and horizontally. Great for critical thinking. I always make a few for a bigger challenge with more missing, just make sure you move them to the bottom row so they can add that to what they need to cut out.

2) Use the heart shape in a different way. The kids used cutouts so they could manipulate the shape, turning it in different ways. They made a list of 5 things they could make with that shape and then chose one to illustrate. I love seeing all the different ideas they come up with-they know my expectation is that no two papers be the same-they need to try to come up with something that no one else thought of.

an elephant

the pendulum of an old clock

a parachute

a harp

3) Invent a new candy and write about the steps of its production.

4) Create a new symbol for Valentine's besides the heart.

5) Compare Valentine's Day to other holidays.

6) Write a coded Valentine to trade with a friend. See if they can break the code.

Just some ideas to put a little rigor into holiday activities.