Kids' harvest party ideas
It's an ideal alternative to Halloween if you're looking for a different slant on end-of-October celebrations. Let's look at ideas for harvest party games, fun group activities - and how a school celebrates their Harvest Festival. Kids' harvest party gamesPrintable kids' harvest party games provide a great group game activity, and are quick and easy to prepare. Print out as many copies as you need - and follow my recommendations below on how to use these games effectively with your children:
Harvest Bingo Either use the pre-filled game sheets or create your own bingo version with simple words for the kids! For example, you could create a bingo card using: Simple animal words - duck, goose, rabbit, cow, pig, hen, sheep, cat, dog, deer, ox, rat, goat, zebra, ox, horse, frog, fish, donkey, bull, snake, parrot, pony, hamster Names of children or grown ups in the group. You'll need 24 names to fill the card, so this idea is for school or church groups. Kids love seeing their names on the bingo card! Numbers - simply prefill your Harvest Bingo card with the numbers 1 - 24 and enjoy a harvest number bingo. Generate as many bingo cards as you need - the call sheet is automatically created for you. Give the kids a minute to read through the words on their card first before the game begins.
Harvest Draw Younger kids can skip the blindfold part, of course, getting busy with their own little Harvest Draw on a table with markers, crayons or even stickers. Then display the results!
Harvest Rhyme Time It's a good idea to read out loud the words at the top first, then the words they rhyme with - you could check the meaning of any unknown words as you go along. Add a competetive element by giving a time limit - for the kids, ten minutes, for adults - five! Harvest party activity ideasA simple craft or coloring-in activitySee my reviews of the best coloring page websites, which often provide alphabet color-ins, animal coloring pages, printable bookmarks and other harvest or farm related activities to print out and get crafty with! You can give each child a prize when they've finished, and pin the pictures up on a bulletin or display board at church - or let the children take them home afterwards.
If you'd like to make your own play dough in advance, check out these play dough recipes from the CanTeach website. For your kids' harvest party, cover a table with a disposable tablecloth and get the kids sitting comfortably. Provide each child with a paper plate. Now the children can get inventive! They can make all sorts of play dough food
- the list is almost endless! You might also like to provide cutters, shapers, and kid-friendly scissors - the children can create to their heart's content. Again, this makes a nice display. And you don't have to use the "food" theme - you may decide on animals, or fish, or people, or faces - whatever suits you and the children.
Children love getting their hands sticky - so why not get them making some real food! They can help out with
Getting the children to participate in preparing a meal or picnic or community snack is a fun and meaningful way to celebrate harvest. One school's kids' harvest partyAs I was growing up in the UK, we always had what we called a Harvest Festival at school. If you'd like to see how a typical British school celebrates harvest time, why not take a look at Woodland Junior School's page about their School Harvest Festival.Do check out the inspiring festival photos, and the traditions and customs mentioned. Wow - that page certainly brought back some memories! Or for farm-related activity games for a kids' harvest party, check out the ideas for barnyard party games for little kids.
|
