Valentine’s Day
Valentines Day with Littles
Valentine's Day isn't just for couples – it's a perfect opportunity to celebrate love and appreciation with the entire family, including toddlers and young children. While the traditional romantic gestures may not be suitable for the little ones, there are countless ways to make this day special for them. From heart-shaped snacks to adorable crafts, here are some delightful ideas to ensure a love-filled Valentine's Day with your little ones.
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Valentines Day Breakfast Ideas:
Pink Pancakes and Waffles: Whip up some Pink Pancakes by adding a splash of food coloring to your pancake batter, transforming them into a festive treat for a Valentine's Day brunch. For an extra touch of charm, use heart-shaped cookie cutters to create adorable pancake shapes that are sure to delight your loved ones. My toddler absolutely when I make him pink waffles with our mini waffle maker my aunt gifted me last Valentine’s day. It is so cute I couldn’t help but get the mini heart-shaped waffle maker as well!
This year I made little stacks of pink pancakes and topped them with heart-shaped strawberries and whipped cream.
In our family, Valentine's Day is synonymous with a special breakfast tradition. Our family enjoyed breakfast outside this year with a delightful spread featuring pink waffles, heart-shaped pancakes, a variety of berries, cherry yogurt on the side, and pink Cheerios. It's a festive way to start the day full of love and delicious treats
Valentine’s Day Snacks:
Heart-shaped Everything: Cut strawberries, watermelon, and other favorite fruits into heart shapes using cookie cutters for a healthy and festive snack. I also cut my son’s sandwiches into hearts as well!
Valentine's Trail Mix: Create a Valentine's Trail Mix by combining pretzels, dried fruits, chocolate chips, and heart-shaped candies for a delightful blend of sweet and savory flavors. Engage your little one by allowing them to assist in assembling the mix, turning it into a fun counting and sorting activity. It's a tasty and interactive way to celebrate Valentine's Day together!
Love-themed Cookies: Bake heart-shaped cookies with your little ones and decorate them with pink and red icing for a fun and delicious activity.
Here is the charcuterie board I whipped up this year! It's bursting with all things heart-shaped and delicious, making snack time extra special for my family.
This Valentine's Day for a little snack on the go, I whipped up pink heart-shaped pancakes adorned with strawberries cut into heart shapes, accompanied by a dollop of cherry yogurt in out Bentgo Snack Box.
Valentine’s Day Lunch Ideas:
Heart-shaped Sandwiches: Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to transform sandwiches into love-filled creations. Fill them with favorite fillings like peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese.
Love Notes: Slip handwritten love notes or sweet messages into your child's lunchbox to brighten their day.
This year, I packed my son's Bentgo snack box with all his favorite pink goodies for a picnic lunch at the park.
At home, our lunches look a little different. I serve our Valentine's Day lunches in heart-shaped baking dishes, adding an extra sprinkle of whimsy and fun to our mealtime routine. My son especially loves the heart shaped cheerios. Who wouldn’t?
Valentine’s Day Activities
Get ready to make Valentine's Day extra special for your little ones with these heartwarming activities! Whether you're crafting adorable cards, baking delicious treats, or enjoying fun-filled games, there are plenty of ways to celebrate love and togetherness with toddlers and young kids. Dive into a world of creativity and laughter as you create cherished memories that will last a lifetime. Let's spread love and joy this Valentine's Day with these delightful activities designed just for little ones!
Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin: A Valentine's Day sensory bin comprising pom-pom balls, rice, clothespins, small cups, buttons, and feathers offers a versatile learning environment for toddlers and young children. Through tactile exploration, they develop sensory processing skills and fine motor abilities by manipulating various textures and shapes. Sorting, counting, and categorizing items within the bin promote early math concepts, while imaginative play encourages creativity and social interaction, fostering holistic cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development in a fun and engaging manner.
Play-Doh with heart-shaped cookie cutters and red and pink Play-Doh is an excellent educational activity for kids on Valentine's Day. Through hands-on manipulation of the dough and cookie cutters, children enhance their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Additionally, they engage in imaginative play, creating various shapes and designs while exploring color mixing and spatial awareness. This activity encourages creativity and self-expression while fostering a love for tactile exploration and artistic expression.
Popsicle Stick Heart Puzzle: A DIY popsicle stick puzzle with numbers on each stick is a fantastic educational activity for kids on Valentine's Day. Assembling the puzzle promotes problem-solving skills and cognitive development as children work to align the numbers in sequential order. It encourages critical thinking and numerical recognition, making it a fun way to reinforce basic math concepts. Additionally, the hands-on nature of the activity enhances fine motor skills and concentration, while the Valentine's Day theme adds a festive touch to the learning experience.
Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt: Hide heart-shaped candies or small toys around the house or backyard for a fun and festive scavenger hunt.
DIY Valentine's Day Cards: Set up a crafting station with paper, stickers, markers, and glitter, and let your little ones create homemade Valentine's Day cards for their friends and family.
Valentine's Day Dance Party: Create a playlist of love-themed songs and have a dance party with your children in the living room.
Valentines Day Crafts:
“I Love You to Pieces” Craft- This is such a cute craft! Cutting paper and gluing the pieces into a heart shape is a great Valentine's Day craft that boosts a child's fine motor skills. It helps develop hand-eye coordination and strengthens hand muscles. Additionally, arranging the pieces encourages creativity and spatial awareness while teaching about shapes and colors. Overall, it's a fun and educational activity that children will enjoy while creating lovely decorations for Valentine's Day.
Heart Shaped Paper Towel Stamp: Shaping a paper towel roll into a heart and using it as a stamp on paper is a wonderful activity for kids on Valentine's Day. Not only does it encourage creativity and artistic expression, but it also teaches children about shapes and symmetry as they mold the roll into a heart shape. Additionally, stamping allows children to explore different textures and experiment with color combinations, fostering sensory exploration and imaginative play.
Love Bug: Creating a caterpillar out of an egg carton is an excellent educational activity for kids on Valentine's Day. Assembling the caterpillar promotes fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as children manipulate the carton and attach various parts. Encouraging a red and pink pattern not only enhances color recognition but also fosters creativity and artistic expression. Additionally, helping your child write their name on the caterpillar promotes literacy skills and personalization, turning the activity into a meaningful keepsake while celebrating the holiday.
Valentine’s Bracelets: Creating beaded bracelets is a fantastic educational activity for kids on Valentine's Day. Stringing beads onto elastic cords promotes fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as children carefully manipulate the small objects. Encouraging a red and pink color pattern not only enhances color recognition but also allows for creativity and personal expression. Additionally, the activity offers opportunities for practicing patterning skills and spatial awareness while fostering a sense of accomplishment as children create wearable tokens of love and friendship
Heart Sponge Craft: Cutting a sponge into a heart shape and dipping it into red and pink paint is an excellent craft for toddlers on Valentine's Day. It's a simple yet engaging activity that promotes creativity and sensory exploration as toddlers experiment with different colors and textures. Additionally, it helps develop fine motor skills as they manipulate the sponge and practice stamping it onto paper. This hands-on craft allows toddlers to express themselves artistically while creating adorable heart-shaped artwork to share with loved ones.
Dot painting with Q-tips: This is a great activity for kids as it enhances fine motor skills, encourages creativity, and fosters concentration. It helps children develop hand-eye coordination while allowing them to experiment with colors and patterns. Additionally, dot painting provides a therapeutic outlet for self-expression and artistic exploration.
Valentines! Encourage your child to share healthier Valentine's treats with their friends. Consider sending them off with yogurt pouches adorned with sweet messages.
Handprint Hearts: Use washable paint to make handprint hearts on paper or canvas as a keepsake to treasure for years to come.
Heart Garland: Cut out hearts from colored paper and string them together to create a festive heart garland to decorate the house.
Love Bug Puppets: Create adorable love bug puppets using craft sticks, construction paper, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners for antennae.
Valentine’s Day Books:
"Love Monster and the Last Chocolate" by Rachel Bright: This heartwarming story follows Love Monster as he searches for someone who will love him just the way he is.
"Llama Llama I Love You" by Anna Dewdney: Join Llama Llama as he celebrates Valentine's Day with his friends and family in this adorable board book.
"The Day It Rained Hearts" by Felicia Bond: Follow along as Cornelia Augusta catches hearts that fall from the sky and uses them to create special Valentine's Day cards for her friends.
"Love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar" beautifully captures the enduring charm and warmth of Eric Carle's beloved character, offering a heartwarming exploration of love in its many forms.
Valentines Day Games:
Pin the Heart on the Cupid: Create a large poster of Cupid and cut out paper hearts. Blindfold each child in turn and have them try to stick the heart on Cupid while being spun around.
Heart Hunt: Hide paper hearts around the house or yard and have the children search for them. You can even write fun messages or clues on the hearts for added excitement.
Valentine's Day Freeze Dance: Play some love-themed music and have a dance party with your children. When the music stops, everyone has to freeze in place until the music starts again.
Valentine Bingo- Valentine Bingo is a hit with the older kids. My students eagerly anticipate Valentine's Day just for the chance to play!
Valentine’s Day Clothes:
Dress your children in festive Valentine's Day attire such as Valentine’s day jammies, heart-patterned leggings, or accessories like heart-shaped sunglasses. Let them express their love for the holiday with fun and stylish outfits that will make them feel special.
Valentine’s Day Decorations:
Don't miss out on starting the tradition of decking your halls for Valentine's Day! In our home, it's all about hanging garlands, scattering heart pillows, rolling out a festive Valentine's Day doormat, and adorning the table with a love-filled table runner. We're all about the holiday hoopla because, let's face it, it's an absolute blast for the kids!
Valentine's Day with toddlers and young children is all about spreading love and creating cherished memories together. From heart-shaped snacks and love-themed books to fun activities and crafts, there are countless ways to make this day special for the whole family. So, embrace the joy and excitement of Valentine's Day with your little ones, and celebrate the love that binds your family together.
10 Valentine's Day Traditions from Around the World
Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14th, is a day dedicated to expressing love and affection to those closest to us. While it's often associated with cards, flowers, and chocolates, the traditions surrounding this day vary greatly across different cultures and countries. From romantic gestures to unique customs, let's explore 10 fascinating Valentine's Day traditions from around the world that highlight the diverse ways love is celebrated and cherished.
Japan - Chocolate Exchange: In Japan, Valentine's Day is traditionally observed by women giving chocolate to men. However, it's not just romantic partners who receive chocolates—friends, coworkers, and family members also exchange homemade or store-bought chocolates as a token of appreciation. A month later, on March 14th, known as White Day, men reciprocate by giving gifts to women.
South Korea - Love Locks: In South Korea, couples celebrate their love by attaching padlocks to designated fences or bridges, symbolizing their commitment to each other. These "love locks" are often adorned with messages of love and hope, and the keys are thrown away to signify eternal love.
Wales - St. Dwynwen's Day: In Wales, Valentine's Day is also known as St. Dwynwen's Day, celebrated on January 25th. St. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, and couples exchange traditional love spoons, intricately carved wooden spoons symbolizing their affection and commitment.
France - Love Notes: In France, Valentine's Day is celebrated with handwritten love letters called "billets doux." Couples express their feelings through heartfelt messages written on beautifully decorated paper, often accompanied by flowers or small gifts. Paris, the City of Love, becomes even more enchanting as couples stroll along the Seine River or enjoy romantic dinners at cozy bistros.
Denmark - Gaekkebrev: In Denmark, Valentine's Day is celebrated with a unique tradition called "Gaekkebrev." Men and women exchange anonymous love letters or "joking letters," intricately cut and decorated with snowdrops, and signed only with a series of dots representing the sender's initials. If the recipient correctly guesses the sender's identity, they receive an Easter egg later in the year.
Italy - Love Locks in Verona: In the romantic city of Verona, Italy, couples flock to Juliet's House to leave love notes on the walls and attach padlocks to the gate as a symbol of everlasting love. Verona is believed to be the setting for Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," adding an extra layer of romance to this heartfelt tradition.
Philippines - Mass Weddings: In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is a popular day for mass weddings, with thousands of couples tying the knot in group ceremonies held in parks, malls, or other public venues. These mass weddings are often sponsored by local government agencies or businesses and provide an opportunity for couples to legalize their unions in a festive atmosphere.
Ghana - National Chocolate Day: In Ghana, Valentine's Day coincides with National Chocolate Day, celebrating the country's thriving cocoa industry. Ghanaians exchange chocolates with loved ones and indulge in traditional dishes made with cocoa, such as rich hot chocolate or savory cocoa-infused stews.
Brazil - Dia dos Namorados: In Brazil, Valentine's Day, known as Dia dos Namorados, is celebrated on June 12th. Couples exchange gifts, enjoy romantic dinners, and attend festive street parties and concerts. It's a lively and joyous occasion that celebrates love in all its forms.
South Africa - Love Songs: In South Africa, Valentine's Day is celebrated with music festivals and concerts featuring love songs and romantic ballads. Couples gather to dance and serenade each other under the stars, creating unforgettable memories and celebrating the power of love.
Valentine's Day is a time-honored tradition celebrated around the world, with each culture adding its own unique flair and customs to the day of love. From chocolate exchanges in Japan to love locks in France and mass weddings in the Philippines, these diverse traditions remind us that love knows no boundaries and is celebrated in countless ways across the globe. Whether you're exchanging love letters in France or attaching love locks in Italy, the essence of Valentine's Day remains the same—a celebration of love, affection, and cherished connections with those closest to our hearts