"Just Keep Swimming"... The end of the school year is almost here!!

The school year is fast approaching us! As teachers, we get so excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, that light seems very hard to see on some of these LONG end of the year, spring/summer-fever kind of days. The kids are for the most part out of control and it is hard to even want to try to control them any longer. We had our last team meeting on Friday for my K-3 team. I hosted our party in my classroom. Every month, a different teacher hosts our meeting and gets to choose a pot-luck theme for lunch. I choose to do a salad bar with all the fixin's! It was so delicous!

I wanted to do something fun since it was our last meeting. I thought of how hard teachers work and how hard it is to stay focused somedays to get through the day. Let's face it... the kids are done and so are most teachers. We only have 4 weeks of school left. I kept thinking of Finding Nemo and Dori's famous line, "Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!" I thought that was perfect for our theme for our last team meeting. I decorated my room up a bit with fish, bright colored lanturns, sunglasses, beach balls, and other sea related items. It turned out to be a huge success and was perfect for our last meeting. I made some really darling tokens for everyone to take with them. I used small baggies and filled them with Sweedish Fish and stapled a tag to the top. It was so simple, and made a huge impression.

Sometimes all you can do at the end of the school year is just endure! So to all my fellow teachers out there, you can do it! Just keep swimming! It will be over soon!

If you need something for your coworkers, teacher friends, child's teacher or just anyone who needs a bit of encouragement for the rest of the school year, you can print a FREE PRINTABLE of my Just Keep Swimming sign and also my treat tags!  Click Here to Download!

Thanks for reading! Come back soon for more ideas to TEACH, CREATE, and PARTY!

Candyland Birthday Party with FREEBIES!

Last week, my 2nd oldest turned 4! I can't believe it! She is such a sweetie and as sassy as they come. We love her so much! Since she LOVES candy so much, we threw her a Candyland Birthday Party! It was so much fun to plan! Everything bright, colorful, and made of sugar was on the guest list! We transformed my husband's parents backyard into a Candyland wonderland!

I made simple yellow cupcakes and put a cute mini lollipop in them. Super easy and so festive! I purchased the mini lollipops from Oriental Trading. They were super cheap and came with lots in the package. The kids loved them! 

We served watermelon lemonade, cream cheese, turkey, and roast beef roll ups, yummy fruit salad, and lots of delicious, sugary treats! We even made sugar cookie lollipops!

I made a cute topiary out of colorful gumballs from the dollar store. I just hot glued them onto a foam ball, used a wooden dowel in the middle, and put it all inside a small planter pot with some foam in the bottom. I then used cupcake wrappers folded in 4ths to hide the foam inside the pot. I just hot glued them in as well. It turned out so great! Perfect for the Candyland centerpiece!

This is what we used for the gift table I purchased a vintage Candyland game at our local thrift store and propped it up with wooden dowel. I made tons of these cute balloon suckers. Just wrap a balloon in clear cellophane and attach a wooden dowel to the bottom, add some ribbon and it looks just like a giant sucker. The kids got to take these home as gifts when the party was over.

The kids also got to take home a box of candy, of course, and also a small toothbrush. I attached a small saying that said "for your sweet tooth." The kids loved getting a toothbrush too! Go figure!

Here is a copy of the SWEET TOOTH tags! You can DOWNLOAD it for FREE. Click here!

We painted colorful squares using spray paint all over the back lawn. This created a huge Candyland game board. We used extra large balloon suckers to mark the start of the game.

First stop... Peppermint Forest. I made candy canes out of red and white pipe cleaners. Just twisted them together and formed a candy cane. (Let's face it.... who sells candy canes during April! I wasn't going to special order any in either!)

Second stop... Gumdrop Mountain! I wish I could have had more of a mountain for this one. The trampoline/garden area had to do! ;)

Next stop... Ice Cream Slopes! Perfect spot to have a break and play on the playset!

Last stop... The Candy Castle! We borrowed a jump house for the end of the game. What a perfect destination! It was a great incentive to win the game! I used 2 more giant suckers and placed them at the entrance to the jump house.

And the winner was... my oldest daughter! I don't know how she sneaked that one by us all, but she won. Fair and square! She was pretty excited! The birthday girl was too interested in the jump house, her friends, and all the CANDY to even notice! ;)

You can DOWNLOAD all of the Candyland Signs here! For FREE!!!

The kids had so much fun playing this life-size Candyland game. Having lots of friends and treats along the way wasn't so bad either! It was a total success!!

I loved throwing this party for my sweet little girl! She deserved it and everyone had a blast. I hope you enjoyed and can maybe use some of my ideas at one of your parties. Thanks for reading. Come back again for more ideas to teach, create, and PARTY!