Happy Valentine's Day - Happy 100th Day!

I looked and looked, I was sure I blogged about last year's 100th day...but alas, I did not. I created a layout for it, but never did blog about it...bummer.
In case you are the teeniest bit interested, here are the layouts:


So this year, here we are again, we've barely finished the party itself, and I've downloaded the photos, fixed the red-eye and am ready to blog!

Several years ago, friends of mine had given me an ice cream sandwich mold kit. It has a cowboy theme. I finally got around to using it! Because I had it, and really wanted to use it, I decided to go with a rodeo theme for our 100th Day/Valentine's Day party...we called it our 100th Day Valentine Rodeo, kinda catchy, eh?

We had several families come over, kids ranging from age 3 into 5th grade. The invitation asked the kids to wear western gear, bring 100 of a specific snack item (to make the "ultimate trail mix") and to bring valentines to share. (One thing I've always felt homeschoolers miss out on is sharing valentines! lol)

The kids were met at the door with a couple activities...color a bag to receive your valentines and an Estimation Station which consisted of four glass milk bottles filled with different items. The kids were to estimate the number of items in each milk bottle and then determine whether that number was less than, more than or exactly 100; putting their answer in a pocket chart.

Once inside, the kids were divided into older and younger groups...

The younger group participated in a "Buckaroo Glyph":


Then did a valentine m&m sort:


After that they did some numberline jumping while counting by 10s to 100, and making "10" trains with unifix cubes to put them together and create a long "100" train:


Lastly, they read a story about 100 m&ms.

The bigger kids first created a picture by working some math equations, then coloring the answer on a one-hundred chart:


They then played "I Have...Who Has?" This was the first time I was able to play this game with my kiddos, and once they got the hang of it, they really liked it, and wanted to play again!


The big kids then made their "Buckaroo Glyphs"


By then the kids were ready for some wiggling... that meant it was time for the Rodeo to begin! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but I'm sure the other moms will share those they were able to get. I had two spinners, one spinner told the rodeo volunteers which action to perform, the other spinner told the audience how to count those actions (by 5s or 10s to 100!) It was alot of fun, and I had alot of volunteers! It seems everyone wanted to be a prancing pony or a bucking bronco...or even a horse that was jumping or galloping!

Whew! By then we were really tired and ready for some refreshments! Out came the ice cream sandwiches...shaped like a cowboy boot, cowboy hat and sheriff's badge. They were a big hit with the kids, and with the moms once they knew the Sneaky ingredients each held (the brownie sandwich part was made with spinach, blueberries, wheat germ and whole wheat flour.)


We made the Ultimate Trail mix by dumping each child's 100 item ingredient into a big bowl while we counted by 100s to 1000 and beyond! The trail mix was put in baggies for the cowpokes to take on the trail with them! lol

To finish our day, the kids delivered their valentines, then explored their overflowing bags of treats while the moms chit-chatted! It was a fantastic day!


*Ü* Blessings,