5 thoughtful and fun Valentine’s Day activities for kids

Help your kids’ hearts grow beyond the chocolates in their goodie bags

A pink heart-shaped box sits on a background scattered with small pink, red, and white hearts.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, a fun mid-winter celebration for kids and adults alike. But this day can be so much more than chocolates and dollar-store cards. It can be an opportunity for your family to take a minute to think about the people who are important in your lives, and for you to encourage your kiddos to express what they love about their friends and family and show their appreciation.

We’ve rounded up 5 fun and thoughtful activities for Valentine’s Day that go beyond the conversation hearts. 

Ideas for kids on Valentine’s Day

1. Perform a song and dance

Do your kids miss grandparents or other relatives who live far away, or who it’s been hard to visit lately? Distance doesn’t have to mean you can’t express your love for them! Spend some time to help your child prepare their favorite song or even a dance routine, then set up a video chat and let them shine.

2. DIY Valentines

Store-bought valentines are sweet, but the gesture of giving one means so much more when you’ve made the card yourself. This activity is easy to adapt to any kid’s age and is great if you have several kids of different ages. Let them cut, glue, place stickers, paint, and draw valentines for their favorite people. Take a moment to think about why they really like someone in their life and help those who are too young to write put the message into words.

3. Love posters

This is a great activity for preschoolers that can be modified for older kids as well. Write each family member’s name on a separate poster board or a colored piece of paper, then ask your child to list all the things they like about each person. Ideas for things to mention include: 

  • How they’re a good friend to others

  • If they’re good at giving hugs 

  • Skills like drawing, crafts, scootering, climbing, jumping

  • Grown-up skills like making yummy food or silly faces

  • How much they love to sing or dance

  • All the ways they make other people happy.

Decorate the posters with stickers, glitter glue, or heart cut-outs and hang them somewhere in your home where you can see them all month. For younger kids, you may need to write out the thoughts, whereas older kids can practice writing it themselves. School-aged children may want to work independently and then surprise you with what they’ve made. The kids will feel good about reflecting on why they like the rest of you - and they’ll feel great hearing what you all love about them!

4. Hearty learning for little ones

Even the littles kids recognize and delight in the bright colors and fun shapes of Valentine’s Day. Make a sensory bin to let them explore things they love! Fill a bin with pink colored rice or dollar-store rose petals, then add in any fun, love-related items you can find. They may be colored hearts of various textures and colors, cut-out pictures of family members, pets, and friends glued onto heart-shaped paper, or anything fun that looks and feels different in the bin.

Encourage your kids to explore freely, or ask them to find something specific, and watch their faces light up when they discover the hidden treasures!

5. Hearty learning for almost-readers

Set up an alphabet matching game full of love! First, on pink or red poster board, draw large hearts with one letter of the alphabet in each one. Then, cut out many little hearts and write one letter on each heart.

Now, let your learning reader pick one small heart at a time and place (or even glue!) it to the corresponding letter on the board. For older kids, you can write words on the poster hearts and let them find all the letters that correspond with each word. A great way to practice the alphabet, and festive too! 

Do you have any fun ideas or tips on great Valentine’s Day crafts for your kiddos or the kids you work with? We’d love to hear them and spread them in the Smart Sitting community! Hop over to our Instagram or Facebook pages and join the conversation.

For more tips and tricks delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter for families or for nannies. Happy Valentines Day! 

holidays and seasonsCajsa Landin