February Tips & Tricks

By. Meredith Biesinger 

February can be fun, I promise! The key to engaging students during February is implementing the different holidays and special events taking place this month, and there are several, including Black History Month, President’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, and Kindness Week, to name a few! 

Here are some tips and tricks for you and your students to kick off the month of February!

For the Classroom

Create a Timeline: February is a great time to celebrate and honor Black History Month in the classroom. Creating a timeline is an important and meaningful way to honor and celebrate African Americans’ achievements, struggles, and contributions throughout history. A timeline or Black History Month bulletin board can help to provide context, perspective, and understanding of the significant events, people, and milestones that have shaped the black community. Students can create timelines in several different ways. A simple way would be to use sentence strips as the timeline, attaching printed pictures or paper labels. Depending on the age group you’re teaching, this can be as detailed and involved as you’d like. Get creative and get every student involved! 

President’s Day Report: February is also President’s Day, which presents a perfect time to research U.S. Presidents. Each student will research a U.S. President and write a paper about their life. You could also allow them to present their reports in front of the class and dress up like their elected President. If that’s not a viable option, drawing a self-portrait of their selected President is another way they could visually represent their President’s report. 

Other FUN Ideas

Valentine’s Day Craft: Make a stained glass heart with your students. They are beautiful and impactful! 

Supplies needed: Black card stock, contact paper, scissors, and different colors of tissue paper. 

Directions: 

Print out a heart template and trace it onto a piece of black card stock.

Draw a smaller heart inside, then cut out the inside heart to create a frame.

Stick a piece of clear contact paper on one side of the heart so the sticky side comes through the middle, and trim off any excess contact paper.

Students can then stick small pieces of colorful tissue paper all over the inside of their hearts. 

Once they’ve finished covering the contact paper, cover the tissue paper with another piece of contact paper.

Trim off any excess, and voila! They are now ready to hang around the classroom! 

Kindness Day Ideas: Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 14-20. Engage students with these crafty ideas while teaching them the importance of being kind. 

Rocks of Love—Gather a bunch of small-medium-sized rocks and have students paint them with hearts or kind words. Then, create a rock garden outside the school or get permission to put it somewhere in the touring community as a service project. 

Heart Attack—Cut different-sized hearts from construction paper and have students write kind words on each heart. Then, “heart attack” someone at school, like another classroom, your principal, the custodian, or anyone you appreciate!

Send a Love Note—In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, have your students write notes or make Valentine’s Day cards to send to a local children’s hospital or nursing home. 

Happy Teacher—Hearts and love often represent the month of February. Be sure to love yourself too! Remember, it’s impossible to pour from an empty cup. Fill yours back up with some self-care, and accomplish a small short-term goal. Happy February–you’re amazing!