By December, you may notice staff members are becoming tired and may need a treat to lift their spirits. December treat bags are a hands-on, fun idea to do with your class to boost staff morale during this time! Keep reading for how to implement these sweet treats!
Gather Supplies
For this project, you will need:
- Staff list
- Snack or sandwich baggies
- Red, green, and silver kisses
- Red and green markers
- Visual task analysis
- A sweet message card
- Student signature card
First thing first, you’re going to need a staff list of your building, team, or whomever you want your class to make treat bags for. I include office staff, the director of special education, custodial/maintenance staff, cafeteria staff, pre-k staff, related service providers, and teachers and paraprofessionals.
Next, prepare a sweet message card. My message is simple and to the point with a cute picture (see below). Once you have your message prepared, construct a task analysis. I include three simple steps on mine:
- Three kisses (one of each color), message card, signature card
- Put all in baggie
- Zipper baggie
Involve Your Students
First
I implement these treat bags three times per year (December, February, and June). It is a great way to work on following directions, matching, fine motor skills, and job/daily living skills with your students. Before we put the December treat bags together, I have the students trace or write the names of each staff member in our building on the back of the message cards using red and green markers. This helps us with a task later on!
Next
It’s time to put the December treat bags together! I choose to do this as a group activity, as they work on waiting for materials and social skills. As noted above, the task analysis includes three simple steps. Each student will put a kiss of each color, a message card, and a signature card in each baggie. They will then close the baggie and place it in a basket/bin for safe keeping. After they complete a few, I let them have a kiss for their hard work! This also motivates them to keep working hard to earn more!
Last
Once each staff member’s December treat bag is completed, we work together to put the names in proper orders or groups. I have done alphabetical order when we have run out of time and I need to place them in staff mailboxes. Typically, however, we group staff together by grade and position. To assist my students with this, I will write the names on a piece of paper and they match the baggies to the correct paper with that staff member’s name. For example, all of the first grade teachers and aides are listed on one sheet of paper, and the students will match those names.
Delivery Time!
Now that your treat bags are organized in groups, it’s time to deliver! Having your students deliver the staff treat bags is a great way to get them comfortable with the school building, practice social skills, and for them to become familiar with other staff members in the building. This is also a great way for the students to practice job-related skills! When delivering the December treat bags, I break my students into pairs with an adult to supervise, or we go as a whole group and practice taking turns. We do this in the afternoon, so that the staff receives a midday pick-me-up!
My students have so much fun making and delivering these December treat bags for the staff members in our building! It’s always so great to see the staff light up as they receive their treats and interact with my students. Do you implement something similar with your class? I’d love to hear what your class does to help increase staff morale during December! Let me know in the comments below!
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