February has come around once again, and the season of love has arrived. Stores are filled with colors of pink and red for this special holiday. Shelves are stocked with cards, sweets, gifts, and the smell of roses. Elementary kids are happily picking out the best sweets to go with their cards. And they can’t wait to pass them out at school. But if you homeschool, like me, celebrating looks a bit different than traditional schools. We have to get a little more creative on how we celebrate Valentine’s Day. The nice part is, you don’t have to spend a ton of time or money to enjoy the day. There are plenty of great ways to get into the spirit of love and kindness (most things you may already have in your home). Keep reading for a list of 10 ideas that you can do with your kids this February. 🩷
1. A Homemade Valentine’s Card
💌Theres nothing cuter than a homemade card from your kids. And you know who loves them just as much, grandparents! Help your child make a homemade card to send to their family members for Valentine’s Day. Paper, a stamp, crayons and envelopes are all you need. You can help them write what they love about that person or a simple Happy Valentine’s Day with a drawing of their liking.
You can also make a homemade card yourself for your child. A list of top 10 things I love about you, is sure to make them smile. If there are multiple siblings in the family, help them write one to the other. You can save these cards in a folder each year and give it to them when they get older as a cute keepsake.
For online options, Shutterfly has great personalized Valentine’s Day cards for purchase. You can check out some of their stuff here → https://www.shutterfly.com/t/valentines-day-cards-stationery/
2. Read Themed Books
📕A trip to the library is a free activity that is easily accessible to most people. Take your child or children to your local library and explore the children’s section in the month of February. There’s a variety of Valentine themed books that are super fun to read to your kiddo. A current favorite of my daughters’ is, Grumpy Monkey Valentine Gross-Out by Suzanne Lang. It’s a silly book that talks about the different types of love there is, for friends, family and partners. If your little one finds a book they absolutely love, head to your local bookstore to purchase and bring home.
Theres also the option of creating your own homemade book. Some pink or red construction paper with a few white sheets folded in half will do the trick. Write or type what you love about your child on each page. Get creative with your story and designs or make it simple. Add it into the bedtime book rotation as a surprise and see their faces light up when you read to them a book made by you. They may even want to make their own.
If you’re not into making your own homemade book, there are online options that will create a personalized book for you to purchase. A favorite of mine, that I have purchased through before, is a company called Hooray Heroes. They have a variety of options, not just for Valentine’s Day, and are good quality books that will last. Click the link to check out their cute products → https://hoorayheroes.com/personalized-products/vday-book-for-kids-and-parents
3. Create A Valentine Journal
✏️A fun new tradition that the entire family can share is a Valentine journal. Pick out a small, cute journal (can be valentine themed but ok if it’s not) and assign everyone in the family a page. For example: page 1 is dedicated to Dad, page 2 Mom and so on (tip: don’t forget to date). After or before dinner when everyone’s gathered around the table, pass around the journal and everyone writes one thing they love about each person on that page. You can start this journal on February 1st and keep it going until the 14th or you can just bring it out on the 14th every year. Whatever works best for your family. You can bring out the Valentine journal every year and read what every member wrote about you on your page. It’s a nice little reminder of all the different things your family loves about you. Continue as long as you’d like for a loving and inexpensive keepsake.
4. Door Hearts
💕This next activity only requires construction paper, a pen or pencil, scissors and tape. You’ll want to pre-cut 14 big or small hearts out of the construction paper. On each heart, you’re going to write one thing you love about your child. For example: I love how creative you are. The night before or morning of, you’ll stick one heart on their door. Your child should wake up to a new heart every morning and start their day with a loving note. If you have multiple children, I understand that this can become messy very quickly. Another option is to cutout one large heart and each day you’ll write one thing you love about your child until the 14th. They’ll still wake up to a new loving message every morning and you have less of a mess but the same meaningful impact.
5. Heart Baking
🧁Heart shapes are everywhere this time of year. It’s the perfect opportunity to get creative at home and bake things into heart shapes with your child. You can bake things like cookies, cakes, pancakes, bread, and pizza into the shape of a heart. Heart shaped molds can be found at plenty of stores, and most are pretty inexpensive. There are other foods you can make into a heart shape as well such as sandwiches, Jell-O’s, frozen yogurts, or fruit if you’re not a fan of baking. You can surprise them with a little heart shaped meal or have them help you in the process and share heart shaped snacks together.
6. Red & Pink Food
🍓You can find the colors pink, white and red everywhere on Valentines Day, even in food. Add a bit of pink or red into your meals this February. Some ideas are pasta with red sauce, red rice, enchiladas, pizza, or red stews or meats like birria or salmon. Some snack ideas are strawberries, watermelon, grapes, pomegranates, dragon fruit, beets, and Jell-O. You can make red or pink smoothies, ice cream, slushies, yogurts or drinks. It’s easy to incorporate a splash of pink, red or white into everyday meals for the Valentine holiday.
7. Crafts
🧶Stores are filled with cute craft activities for kids this time of year too. You can easily find a kit to make a Valentine themed craft. A homemade idea you can make with your child is a picture frame with popsicle sticks. You can color the sticks or add cute stickers to make them pop. Then add a photo of theirs and gift it to a family member or keep the cute frame for yourself. Another idea is a heart hand cutout. You’ll need to cut out a medium heart with construction paper and trace or paint your child’s handprint right in the middle. Your child can decorate it however they wish and add stickers or google eyes for a fun detail. These look great on the fridge and if you save them, you can track how big they grow every year. Pinterest is a great online option for more Valentine craft ideas.
8. Scavenger Hunt
🔎If you’re able to get outdoors, a Valentine themed scavenger hunt is a fun activity for kids. Look around for things that are pink, red, white or heart shaped. Playing “I spy” can make it more fun. You can do this while driving, walking in the park, in stores or around the neighborhood. It’s a nice way to get out of the house and enjoy the fresh air. If you can’t get outside, try an indoor scavenger hunt. Secretly place things around the house for your child to find. You can make this a daily activity in February or just reserve it for the 14th.
9. Themed Shows
📺In February, there is no doubt you’ll find themed episodes and movies for Valentine’s Day. Kid friendly shows will have specials for the holiday that are great to watch together. You can cuddle up with your little one, maybe have some themed treats or snacks and watch an episode together. This can also give you the opportunity to teach your kids and answer their questions about the different types of love there is. As well as teaching them how to show kindness on a special day like Valentines Day. Some shows to check out are:
Bluey
Sesame Street
Bubble Guppies
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
Curious George
Charlie Brown
Cat in the Hat
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Paw Patrol
Peppa Pig
10. Kindness Challenge
💗This next activity doesn’t have to be reserved for just Valentine’s Day. At the beginning of the month, challenge your kids to 14 days (or the month if you’d like) of kindness. Every day, they are challenged to do something kind for someone or something. Toddler aged kids can help with simple tasks such as, cleaning up their toys, helping feed the pets, helping with laundry and so on. School aged kids can do something kind for their teacher, friend, sibling or parent. Later on, at dinner (or when everyone is together) share what act of kindness was done for that day. They may even say what types of kindness they received or observed. It’s a fun and easy way to build the habit of always trying to be kind and it literally costs nothing!
Enjoy The Day With Your Loved Ones
Valentine’s Day can be a fun holiday to celebrate with your kids. Whether you homeschool or not, activities like these are sure to bring the Valentine’s spirit into your home. These are fun budget and time friendly ways to create new traditions and memories. For a holiday that is notorious for stress and overconsumption (mostly for adults), it’s important to note that there are plenty of meaningful and intentional ways to show and teach love and appreciation to your little ones. These activities are not strictly reserved for small children. Some can even be done with your teen or significant other. There is no age limit in showing how much someone means to you. Happy Valentines Day! 🩷