Valentines Day Craft Swap

Yesterday I came up with the idea of organising a craft exchange for Valentines Day. I emailed a few, mostly homeschooling, families. Some have signed on but due to the time constraints a few declined saying that would love to do one with us again some other time but they were ALL very enthusiastic about the idea.

 

 

 

 

The idea is for groups of girls (up to 5 in a group) aged between 7 and 12, to make and exchange a Valentines gift with each girl in their group. If we had enough girls I would have split the groups into age groups of 7-9 and 10-12 but we didn't this time around so they are a bit mixed up. A friend suggested also having a 5- 6 year old group exchange handmade cards. which could have been great if we had of had more time to get the info out there. I did say that boys could be involved but they must be prepared that they could possibly receive a lot of pink, red and hearts.

Each participant is asked to make five gifts, 4 for their group participants with the last one being popped in a letterbox, or handed to someone at a store counter, club, etc. I thought this would be a good lesson for the child in giving something, without expecting or ever receiving anything in return. With this anonymous gift a little note should accompany it, saying something along the lines of "Although you don't know me and I don't know, know that this 8 (9, 10, etc) year old wishes you a very Happy Valentines Day. This is a Random Act of Kindness - Spread the joy!" Something like that so that the person knows that this is an Act of Random Kindness by a child. The reason for the note is that I didn't want any hubbies or wives wondering why their partner was receiving things in the post for Valentines Day from some anonymous person ... we want to bring joy not cause an argument ... can you imagine. I can also imagine the smile brought to a face by receiving an anonymous Valentine from a child.

We requested that the items be of a reasonable quality as I think it would be disappointing if one little girl sewed up, say a pile of felt hearts and then received something slapped together in a few minutes made from paper and glue.

All the girls that have signed on are anxious to get moving, so I can't wait to see what little treasures they all come up with.

I have been toying with the idea of organising a kids Christmas Ornament swap amongst the homeschooling community of NZ, so this will be a great way for me to iron out any ruffles before trying that, which will be on a much larger scale.