14 Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Your Kids

You have heard of the 25 days of Christmas, so we have created the 14 days until Valentine’s Day! Our main goal: Keep it simple, spread some love, and have fun! Because let’s be honest…some of us are still recovering from the Elf on the Shelf! These 14 activities will put some love in our hearts (which we could all use these days) and keep your kids entertained on these cold (or rainy) days! 

1. Make a Love Jar- Each time we see our children do something kind for their siblings, cousins, parents, strangers, grandparents, anyone really, we put a Hershey’s Kiss in the jar. We set a goal to fill it by Valentine’s Day and enjoy some of the chocolates at the end too!
2. Make Strawberry Homemade Ice Cream with this delicious recipe. Strawberry Ice CreamYum!
3. Go on a heart hunt- Cut out paper hearts together. During nap time or when you can, hang and hide the hearts all over the house. Give each child a basket to collect their hearts. This is a great activity to help with counting and colors. 

   

4. Reasons I love you: Each night after they go to bed, write a reason you love them on a heart. Hang it on the outside of their door. What a fun way to wake up and start your day on a positive note! By the end, they should have 14 reasons why they are special and loved.

   

5. Make homemade Valentines- Get your kids involved in making valentines for their classmates, friends and family members. This will teach them the importance of recognizing those people that are special in their lives! No age is too young to express gratitude. 
6. Random Acts of Kindness- We have been trying to stick to this since our November article of doing a random act of kindness at least once a week. Try to think of Valentine’s Day related ones- give your strawberry homemade ice cream to a neighbor, make valentines for a police officer or firefighter in your community. Let your kids brainstorm some ideas too! Their responses will amaze you. 
7. Create a craft from your leftover toilet paper rolls – Who doesn’t have toilet paper rolls ready around the house (especially with toddlers who enjoy taking the toilet paper off the rolls?!) Enjoy these crafts today! Toilet Paper Roll Crafts 
8. Kissing jar estimation game– At the end of your love jar from above, have the kids estimate how many kisses they think are in the jar. The person closest to the number gets to eat the first chocolate. This is a great way to incorporate math and estimation! 
9. Red carnations: Purchase a bundle of white carnations and give them to your little ones. Have them help put 1/4 cup of water into the vase, along with 10-20 drops of red food coloring. This is a fun science activity that allows you to discuss the role of the stem and transporting water. At the end, you will have a bouquet of pretty red flowers. 
10. Make cutout cookies together – Use Grandma’s favorite recipe and prepare to make a mess. The mess can be wiped away, but not the memories! 
11. Make a Valentine box for school- Kids love to help and make their own things. Let them be creative when decorating their Valentine’s Day Box. Choose a theme that interests them and run with it! 
12. Make Valentine slime- It’s time to bust out the Elmer’s glue and glitter and create your very own slime. Use the recipe here: Valentine’s Day Slime 
13. Heart shaped meals– Heart shaped pancakes, turn pepperonis into hearts on homemade pizza, heart-shaped eggs, fruit…the possibilities are endless! Shapes always make meal time more fun, right? 
14. And on Valentine’s Day- Greet them with a warm hug and a kiss followed with a big I love you! This one means the most every time. 

We hope you find a way to make those you love feel special this month. Remember LOVE is all you need!