How to Celebrate Valentines Day with Your Kids

Valentine’s Day has long been celebrated by those who fancy romance (and by those who feel obligated by the pressures of Hallmark!).

Many of us spend time looking for the perfect gift for our loved one and we sometimes forget that children love to celebrate this holiday too. If you have children and are looking for ways to celebrate this holiday with them, read the steps below for guidance.

Step 1: Check out some books about St. Valentine and Cupid at your local library. Or, if you’d like to add these books to your child’s personal library, visit a bookstore and allow your child to choose one to take home. Read the stories together and talk about the connection between the stories and the traditions that exist today.

Step 2: If your child’s class plans on exchanging Valentine’s Day cards, obtain a list of all of the students in your child’s class. Let your child pick out the Valentine’s cards he or she likes the most and help him or her address each one to the children in the class. If your child’s class is going to celebrate the day with a party, be sure to volunteer to attend this upcoming party if your schedule allows.

Step 3: Help your child write a poem or handmade card to your spouse. Moms and dads love to receive these tokens of love on Valentine’s Day and it helps your child to recognize that all types of love are worthy of recognition and appreciation.

Step 4: Spend some time in the kitchen. Every holiday should be celebrated by creating some sort of baked item! Make sugar cookies and use cookie cutters to cut hearts out of the dough. Then offer your child a variety of items with which he or she can decorate the cookies. Sprinkles, festive m&m’s, and red hots are a good place to start as far as decorations go.

Step 5: Make something with your hands. After all, kids love crafts. Enchantedlearning.com has a plethora of craft ideas, most of which can be accomplished with materials you probably have around the home.

Step 6: On Valentine’s Day, present your child with a Valentine’s Day card and gift. The card you give your child can be homemade and should explain all the ways you love your child. The valentine gifts you give your child doesn’t necessarily have to be candy. (When my family lived in the mountains, it became a tradition that each Valentine’s Day we would receive a new hat and gloves.) The gift doesn’t have to be expensive either, it’s just a way to celebrate your family’s love for each other and create one more holiday tradition.

This Valentine’s Day, focus on the love that your family shares. Teach your children about the story behind the holiday and spend some time with them, participating in activities that will help them to remember the story behind Valentine’s Day. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or time thinking of on unique gift ideas this Valentine’s Day; spend time creating traditions that you all can enjoy each time February 14th rolls around.