Loving all the moms and dads out there.....

When it gets close to Valentine's Day, I am always in the mood to make some pretty Valentine cards for my friends and family. With the snow days this week, I have plenty of time for that.

To me, Valentine's Day is a good time for a service project too, both for myself and for my students....kids are usually in a pretty giving mood.

Last week at school, I told my students that I would love for them to contribute some artwork to a special organization in town. I explained that the Ronald McDonald House is a place for families to stay when they have a sick child in the hospital. It is a place for mommies and daddies to go so that they don't have to go all the way home if they have a baby in the hospital, they can stay close by. Some of my students had stayed there, some had heard of it, and some have had other family members who have stayed there.

I told them that I would like for them to make something that would make the parents happy. Something that would make them smile. I showed them a blank door hanger, showed them how it hangs on the doorknob and asked them to draw and write a message about love.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results. This is something any teacher in any classroom could do for any organization. Door hangers are very cheap to reproduce (I printed mine on cardstock) and this could be a writing prompt with a bit of drawing thrown in, it only took about 10 minutes for most to complete the task.

One boy asked me, "Do you think these might make the parents cry?" And I told him that they might....seeing a message about loving kids, from loving kids....while your own child is sick....might make a few parents cry....I explained that it was okay....we were doing something very special and nice, just for the sake of doing it...and that was the most important thing.

Here are a few of my favorites.

  (Ronald McDonald House is the hero of the world)

 (And yes that 4th one does say 'may the force be with you')

I can't wait to deliver the artwork (as soon as the roads are a little more clear). 

Here is a link to a Google doc with the basic door hanger image. You might enlarge it on the copier a bit so that you don't waste too much of a 8.5" X 11" sheet of cardstock.