Valentine’s Day Activities For Kids

Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday this year.  You know what that means…  Your kids won’t be in school and it is up to you to keep your little love bugs entertained all day.  Don’t panic.  I’ve got you covered.  Here are some kid-tested and approved Valentine’s Day activities and crafts I’ve done at my daycare.  Have fun and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love Jumps

Individual or Group Activity: Have your child use a stethoscope (a toy one will work just fine) to listen to their heartbeat and/or another child’s heartbeat.  Make sure they take note how slow and steady it is.  Now have your child(ren) jump up and down for two full minutes.  After the two minutes are up, immediately have them use the stethoscope to listen to their heartbeat and/or another child’s heartbeat.  They will hear how fast the heart is beating!  (Note: Make sure you have water on hand for your little one(s) to drink after their Love Jumps!

Acting Out Acts of Love

Individual or Group  Activity: Brainstorm ideas with your child that are acts of love and then act them out.  Get creative!  I did this activity at my daycare with four children ranging from ages 2 to 3 and together, we came up with three examples:

1. Helping fix someone’s broken heart.
2. Giving a flower to someone you love.
3. Helping someone you love feel better if they got a booboo.

L-O-V-E Run Challenge

Materials:

• Red foam (Or precut red foam hearts)
• Scissors
• Black Marker

Instructions:

1. Use scissors to cut out four red foam hearts.
2. With a black marker, write “L” on the first heart, “O” on the second, “V” on the third, and “E” on the fourth.  (If your child is older, have them write the letters.)
3. Scatter the hearts around the house (or outside if you have a “no running indoors” rule).
4. Have your child find the four hearts as quickly as possible.
5. Have your child identify the letters they found, say their letter sounds, and then put the letters together to form the word “Love.”

X’s and O’s Patterning

Individual or Group Activity: Print and cut out 20 squares of X’s and O’s.  (For older children, have them practice writing the X’s and O’s on the squares themselves instead of printing them out.)  Mix up the squares and then have your child create patterns using the X’s and O’s.  (Ex. “X-O-X-O” or “X-X-O-X-X-O.”

Love Bug Craft

Materials:

• Two red heart doilies
• One red pipe cleaner
• One pink pipe cleaner
• Two google eyes
• Glue
• One piece of white construction paper

Instructions:

1. Glue the two red heart onto the paper (as pictured) to create the wings.
2. Twist the two pipe cleaners together (as pictured), leaving the ends open to create the body and antennas.
3. Glue the pipe cleaners onto the paper in between the wings.
4. Glue the google eyes onto the paper.

Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Materials:

• Pink foam (or a precut foam heart)
• Pink pipe cleaner
• Four red popsicle sticks
• 4 White Pompoms
• 4 Red Pompoms
• Stickers
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Use scissors to cut out a heart from the pin piece of foam.
2. Glue the four red popsicle sticks onto the heart to make a Tic-Tac-Toe grid (as pictured).
3. Decorate the heart with Valentine’s Day stickers.
4. Use scissors to cut 1/4th off of the pink pipe cleaner.
5. Now you’re ready to play Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe!