Bringing the Love -
Celebrate the traditions of Saint Valentine's Day with the kids, too!
Celebrate Love, Kindness and long-lasting memories with fun-filled Valentine’s Day-themed activities
The benefits of celebrating the tradition of Valentine's Day with the kids
We all know that Saint Valentine's Day is a day to show love and affection.
So, let's use it as a fabulous opportunity to include our children in this hearty tradition!
No, it should not be commercially forced upon them, but how about turning it into a great day for them to express their emotions towards family, friends and loved ones?
Making fun activities based around the theme of ‘Love’ is simple and can turn the tradition of Saint Valentine's Day into a special day that includes children. It can also help teach children about the importance of expressing gratitude, empathy, and generosity.
This will result in families bonding in a creative environment, and lasting memories will quickly be built together.
With activities like making homemade cards, baking treats, playing games and singing songs, children can learn about the joy of giving and receiving love in a caring and interactive way.
Overall, Valentine's Day can be a great way for children to not only participate in this celebration of love and kindness but also exercise important social skills, like communication and cooperation, disguised as a day of pure fun!
Here are some adventurous ideas for making this Valentine's Day the best one ever—with kids included!
This is a comprehensive Blog Post that covers non-commercial ways to make Valentine's Day a family affair - fun, creative, and full of the theme of caring love.
There can be so much more to Saint Valentine's Day than just adults rushing out in a panic to buy roses, chocolates, and any old thing that has a heart shape on it!
Table of contents:
PERFECT books that we recommend for kids to read for Valentine's Day.
A yummy Valentine's cookie recipe for iced shortbread hearts.
Exciting Valentine-themed crafts, games & activity suggestions - Including:
Air dry salt-dough hearts - with a video tutorial by Red Ted Art.
Face painting - something simple, fast, and oh-so effective!
Valentine's Day is a day full of LOVE - and kids thrive off of love
Explaining Valentine's Day to children.
Give your child a brief and simple explanation as to what Valentine's Day means:
Every year, on February 14th, we celebrate our love for one another. We express our love to those close to us by sending them a loving message and giving them a special card. We show our love by sharing the old tradition of giving them a gift, such as chocolates or flowers.
We need to love and care for one another every day, but on Saint Valentine's Day, we can express our love more by doing special things and showing it physically.
Red love hearts are the classic symbol of Valentine's Day. Children can look out for them, as they will start appearing everywhere just before February 14th.
Two big FAQs that kids should know about Valentine's Day...
Question: Who was Saint Valentine?
Answer: Saint Valentine was an actual, living Roman Saint...
Here's a summary - You can shorten it some more depending on the child's age...
Saint Valentine was born in 266 in the 3rd century. However, little in-depth information is known about him.
It is thought that he had arranged marriages between soldiers and women at a time when it was highly forbidden to do so.
That is why poor Saint Valentine was thrown into jail.
But it was in jail where he is believed to have fallen in love with the jailer's daughter.
Saint Valentine was doomed to never leave jail - he had been sentenced to death. So, just before his awful fate, he lovingly left a letter to the jailer's daughter and signed it with his name...
From Your 'Valentine'. That's why we write that very same sentence inside our Valentine's cards without signing our own names. The receiver then has to guess which potential admirer sent them the card.
We celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th because that is the date when the good-hearted Saint Valentine met his fate aged 42/43 in 269 AD
Question: Why did we actually start to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day?
Answer: The Romans started to celebrate the coming of Spring with a festival (Called Lupercalia in the year 496)
Boys and girls would dance together during the festival and pretend to be boyfriends and girlfriends for the duration of the festival.
Later on, the Christians decided to use this festival as a day to remember Saint Valentine!
After you've told your child that Saint Valentine's Day is a day to show love to those we care about, let them have some fun making small heart gifts or cards.
They can listen to and learn easy, fun songs about caring for one another. Plan a few age-appropriate heart-themed activities. Why not cuddle up and share a special Valentine's Day story?
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The perfect storybook recommendations for Valentine's Day.
Pour your heart into storytelling for Valentine's Day 2023
Love From The Crayons
Ages 3+
Find out why each coloured crayon represents the colour of love in its own unique way.
By Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers
Pete The Cat Is Cool
Ages 4-8 years
Come with a poster, stickers and punch-out Valentine's Day cards.
By James Dean & Kimberly Dean.
Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse!
Ages 2 - 4 years
By Laura Numeroff
Get baking!
Yummy Valentine's Day cookie recipe for shortbread hearts
Here's our quick and easy-to-follow recipe for iced cookie hearts
This recipe is from a cookie-baking course that I completed. I instantly fell in love with its simplicity, especially the fabulous, tasty results!
Of course, you can make any shaped cookies you want, and in any shape - but as these ones are aimed at a Valentine's theme - we have to go with heart shapes and ice them in bright colours that emit love.
Recipe...
Makes 12 shortbread cookies
Ingredients...
150g of unsalted butter at room temperature
75g icing sugar powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
250g of plain flour
1/2 tsp of salt
Icing...
250g icing sugar powder
2 egg whites
Food colouring in your desired colours
Optional - 5 drops of white wine vinegar (to make the icing shiny)
Optional - sprinkles!
You can download the full recipe for our Valentine's Day Cookies...
If you don't want to ice your cookies, no problem - Play around by colouring the raw shortbread dough with food colouring. The results will make you a star!
Exciting Valentine-themed crafts, games and activities
Make a Valentine's Day card.
All you need is:
Some card, crayons, felt-tip pens, or coloured pencils. Sheets of white paper. Scissors and glue. Glitter (Optional)
Fold the card to make it into a stand-up card.
Draw and colour hearts onto white paper any way you like.
Cut them out and glue them onto the front of the card. (Your child could also use paint to do heart shapes by pressing down their painted fingertips in 2 slanted positions!)
Optional:
You can use glitter to add some sparkle to your card if you like!
Let your child draw inside the card. Small children love to attempt to write even if they don't yet know how. It looks so cute and makes a memorable keepsake.
Keep it simple and sweet - Let your kids say it with love
Air-dry salt dough hearts.
We made these salt dough hearts with a group of preschoolers.
After making the no-bake salt dough recipe, red food colouring was added - but I guess I didn't add enough as my dough turned out pink!
I let the children stamp out the hearts with a cutter. Now is the time to prick a hole into them if you wish to make them into pendants)
I let the dough air dry for two days. Then, I coated both sides with white glue and let them dry again. You can choose to do one more coat of glue and sprinkle them with sparkly glitter!
Easy salt dough recipe to make heart-shaped DIY ornaments.
A video tutorial by Red Ted Art
Face painting!
Something simple, fast, and oh-so effective.
Don't be put off thinking you need to be a skilled artist to do face painting. You really don't need to be an expert at all.
Just paint big, bright hearts on your little one's cheeks or forehead. Outline them and add some white stars and curved swipes for the perfect effect.
Both girls and boys will love having these hearts painted on their faces.
Play 'Pin the Hearts on the Love Bug'
Draw a 'Love Bug' (or another loving insect/animal of your choice) onto a large sheet of card. Paint it and cut it out. Stick it on a wall.
Cut out some heart shapes that will be large enough to decorate the Love Bug's body.
Use blue tack so that a blindfolded child can attempt to pin the hearts on your cut-out Love Bug.
And there you go - Your Valentine's game is ready for the kids to enjoy!
A game of 'Heart 'n Seek'
We're Going on a Heart Hunt!
Children can make their own love hearts by painting on card.
Cut them out and then hide them around the room.
(Alternatively, you can buy small heart-shaped gifts such as delicious cherry-flavoured lollipops) See who can find all the DIY hearts. There will be no winners and no losers - children should be encouraged to share their hearts equally.
More Valentine's Day fun for kids
A game of Valentine's Bingo!
For all ages.
DIY, winged papier-mache hearts
Why not make your own love heart with the kids?
Use paper mache - it's fun and very easy to do!
Instructions: How to make a paper-mache heart with kids:
Cut out a heart shape from cardboard - any size you like.
Fold some newspaper into two puffy oval shapes and tape them together.
Tape them onto the cardboard heart shape.
Make your papier-mache mix. I like to use a tablespoon of wallpaper paste, a good squirt of white glue, and a cup of tap water. Mix and add more paste and glue until you get a thick, creamy soup consistency.
Tear newspaper strips and gently smother them with the papier-mache paste using your fingers or a thick paintbrush. Cover the heart with about 4 layers of papier-mache strips. Leave in a warm place overnight.
Even if your papier-mache heart is damp after 24 hours, you can proceed to paste 2 layers of red paper over it - or if you use newspaper, you will need to paint it red when it is dry.
Leave your heart to dry completely - this may take up to 2 days.
Meanwhile, you have the choice to make some wings for your heart! Cut out a length of cardboard and roughly shape it into wings.
Cover the wings with 2 layers of papier-mache - use white paper - or if you use newspaper, you will need to paint them white when they are dry.
Once everything is 100% dry, glue a string loop in place so that you can hang your heart on the wall.
Use strong glue (or a glue gun) to attach the wings to the back of your heart.
Gifts do not have to be expensive or extravagant at all.
Offer your child a small token of love to cherish
Only choose to buy a little gift if you think it's necessary.
Our 6 top NON-Commercial
'Gifts for Kids' on Valentine's Day
A self-painted picture to hang on the wall
1. Heart-themed paint-by-numbers kit for kids.
Paint by numbers - creative fun, and the kids will get amazing results.
Two beautiful heart-themed paintings to hang on the wall as keepsakes and be proud of.
Paint on the canvases. Supplied with acrylic paints.
We see love everywhere
2. Quality heart-shaped sunglasses for kids.
Children will love running around in these and feeling loved. You could buy several pairs to be gifted if the kids have a cute Valentine's Day get-together.
These heart-shaped glasses that we have carefully selected are unbreakable and polarized. Made by the brand Long Keeper.
They are available in various colours to suit everyone. They come with a lovely case shaped like a model car.
Love prickles
3. Cute little heart-holding hedgehogs 'Lovie & Dovey'.
Quality plushes from the Bearington Collection.
The ideal, adorable and snuggly Valentine's gift for both children and adults.
A bed of love
4. Easy Wash, 5-piece microfiber bedding.
Twin, Full/Queen sizes. Available in PINK or NAVY hearts! Plus, other designs are available!
By Amazon Basics - Top ratings!
A cushion full of love
5. A soft heart-shaped plush cushion.
Kids can snuggle up and always feel loved.
Let your child show their love for all to see
6. A knitted love-heart sweater for kids
A good quality sweater for 1 - 5-year-olds.
Available in Red or Pink.
Your little ones will be able to show their love wherever they go!
By Simplee Kids. Top ratings.
Don't forget a few
Valentine's decorations
The feeling of parental love is in the air
Set a caring mood for children -
We really like this multicolour paper heart streamer - you really don't need to overdo things.
It's environmentally friendly as it's made from double-sided cardstock.
Wonderful to use a room decoration for many occasions, and not just on Valentine's Day.
Now you're all ready to get singing!
3 fun songs for Valentine's Day
Kids can quickly learn these sweet Valentine's songs...
'Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink'.
By 'Super Simple Songs'
We LOVE this version!
I Have A Little Heart
By the Kiboomers
A superb action song for preschoolers!
'Boom-Chick-A-Boom'
By The Learning Station
It's a really fun song with lots of moves for children...
Children get a chance to sing along and repeat the lyrics.
Happy Valentine's Day to families and children everywhere!
This ‘HOW TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY WITH KIDS’ Blog Post is brought to you by
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