February Fun Days Teacher Q & A

 

Another teacher recently asked me these questions.  So, here are my answers along with our school's February Fun schedule for this year.  Happy last day of January!  

With it being almost February, I thought I’d ask about the February Fun Days. Would you do that every day, all day? 

Yes, we do that every day.  I will attach our schedule below.  It is a bit of work, but a huge morale booster and I find February Fun Days well worth the effort.  I do try to keep extra work on our parts to a minimum though.  

And did you find it very hard to keep them focused on their work during the February Fun Days? 

Sometimes, yes, but we have a good classroom culture that is mixed with fun and hard work, so usually, their grades actually go up during February.  I do stress that we are going to have fun, but that they must get their work done.  I have found that our students usually handle it really well.  

February FUN Days Schedule 2023

 

 Thur. Feb. 1 - Funny Sock/Shoe Day

Mon. Feb. 5 - Balloon Day 

Tues. Feb. 6 - Backwards Day

Wed. Feb. 7 - Favorite Toy Day

Thur. Feb. 8 - Cupcake Day

Mon. Feb. 12 - Popcorn Day 

Tues. Feb. 13 - Cookie & Chocolate Day

Wed. Feb. 14 - Hat Day

Thur. Feb. 15 - Nztufsz Ebz

Mon. Feb. 19 - Frito Bandito Day

Tues. Feb. 20 - Schedule Out of a Hat Day

Wed. Feb. 21 - Donut Day 

Thur. Feb. 22 - Switch Rooms Day

Mon. Feb. 26 - Show and Tell Day

Tues. Feb. 27 - No Electricity Day

Wed. Feb. 28 - Pizza Day

Thur. Feb. 29 - No Desk/Pillow &

                         Blanket Day 

Related Post: Get Ready for February Fun Days!

Happy Valentine's Day

As part of our February Fun Days, we had Cookie Day this week and made cookies and valentines for family members.  It is always good to let the people in our lives know that we love them, and the cookies were delicious.  

Note:  St. Valentine was a clergyman who ministered to persecuted Christians in the 3rd century and was martyred for his activities.  

Donut Eat My Donut

This final February Fun Day, like Cupcake Day and Creative Day, was another new day we added this year.  It also was the brainchild of one of the students.  


On days like this, I always make sure that I have enough donuts for everyone, and thus, it truly is a Donut Day.  The students are always told that they are welcome to bring in whatever item it is for that day, but that they are not required to.  This usually keeps the parents happy.  Well, lots of the students brought in donuts, and we had quite a plethora of them. 

It was a yummy way to wrap up the month of February.   
Welcome, March!  

Creative Day for February Fun

I was at a thrift store when I found a box of wooden dominoes, and it got me thinking how fun it is to line up a row of dominoes, touch one, and then watch the chain reaction.  I wanted my students to experience that as well, so I began collecting dominoes.  
 .  


On another thrift store adventure, I found a huge bag of wooden train tracks and trains.  Then later I found Gears, Tinker-Toys, and a marble run.  I decided to have a February Fun Day called "Creative Day," where the students could just be creative and make things with their hands.  We gave them an extra 10-15 minutes out of a few classes and let them create.  As usual, they amazed me.  

I told them that they'd get extra points if they built something from history into their creations.  Stonehenge appeared in the middle of the train tracks, the popsicle stick table produced the Mona Lisa and The Girl With the Pearl Earring, the marble run became the Roman aqueducts, and dominoes became the pyramids of Giza.  


                                     Roman aqueducts 

Stonehenge

                                           the pyramids of Giza 



 .   .     

Happy Balloon Day!

Give Me a Cupcake. I'm HUNGRY!

  

I snagged this nifty cupcake thingy at a thrift store one Friday.  

Happy Cupcake Day!  Every year, as a journal assignment in January, I challenge my students to think of creative new February Fun Days. Some of the best February Fun Day ideas we've had have come from our students.  

This year, one of them wrote "Cupcake Day" in her journal, and I thought that was a grand idea.  So the night before, I made twenty-four cupcakes and then iced and decorated them.  Several of the students brought some in, too.  During our Writer's Circle, (Wasn't that good planning?) we enjoyed yummy cupcakes.  I think Cupcake Day is a keeper.  

A Blurry Construction Day

It wasn't blurry in real life, it was just my bad phone camera that I'll never use again.  Last week we enjoyed Construction Day.  The hallways were full of cones and caution tape.  Many of the students dressed up as well, and it was fun to have a change of pace.  

I had fun stringing flagging tape all over my room.  The students happily went over and under it all day.

Feb. 25 PBVWHUB GDB

             Here are a few of the 7th grade gentlemen trying to figure out the next clue.

For one of the last February Fun Days, we had a special day.  If you deciphered the code in the title of this post, you already know what it was.  Mr. Caleb came up with all sorts of creative codes and clues. The students were given papers like the ones below, all in some sort of code which they had to decipher.  These led to other clues, and after about five of these they received a reward.  The first one was 10 minutes of extra time at lunch, the second was lemonade and Swedish fish, and the third was a gallon of ice cream and chocolate syrup.  It took them all day and part of the evening to figure out all of the clues.  This day was great fun; it's a keeper!  







And here is a recap of the month.  Happy March ! ! ! ! ! !

A Black Chicken and a Red Day

Today was the first day of Spirit Week, a week where we get to wear a different non-uniform color each day.  So, today the color was red.  Today was also the day that the chicks incubating in Mr. Caleb's science lab decided to make their appearance.  It was a good day.  

Happy Balloon Day!

February Fun Has Begun!

 

Sock Day 2019

 

I Got Shoes, You Got Shoes

Today was Funny Shoe Day.  I've never had a student wear flippers before, but it happened today.  We also had a few pairs of roller blades, cowboy boots, someone's sister's pink tennis shoes, moccasins, and a pair of enormous tennis shoes.  
Then, since it was seventy-four degrees outside, we spent a little extra time enjoying the warm temperatures before the snow and slush return.  

Hello Again! And Now Do You Like My Hat?

We always enjoy Hat Day.  My favorite hat, which I first thought was a tissue box, was actually an original creation.  Fun!  

 

Coffee, Hot Chocolate, and a . . . Toilet Mug

While I did enjoy some extra coffee on Coffee and Hot Chocolate Day, I did not partake of it out of the above pictured mug; however, one of my more gregarious, fun-loving students did.    

Art and Story Day - More February Fun!

Each year in January, I ask my students to write down suggestions in their journals for new February Fun Days.  They always come up with some amazing suggestions, and these were two of them.  One student suggested art day, and another suggested story day.  We decided to do them both on the same day.  

In between most of the classes I would read a story as the students sat together in the all-purpose room.  I read Rachel, a Hutterite Girl and Matthew Grady Loves His Enemy, both of which are based on true stories.

Then they had a few minutes to work in groups making art projects out of recycled materials.  We had so much fun that I think both ideas merit their own days next time.  (We had too many good ideas and not enough days in February, so we combined a few.)