Celebrating a Meaningful Valentine’s Day with Children

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3 Days to Celebrating a meaningful Valentine's Day with your Children. Focus on Hands of Love, Voice of Love, and Deed of Love. Great ideas!

Valentine’s Day. How do we turn this holiday into one of meaning for our children? Today I’m going to share with you ideas to use on the three days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Ideas that your kids will enjoy and that will also make lasting impressions on them.

Gather your kids together and tell them that Valentine’s Day is coming up and the next few days you are going to be doing things to help prepare. You can do as many or as few of the ideas as you’d like and can easily adapt for age.

Day 1: Hand of Love

These ideas focus on writing and drawing.

Draw a picture

It could be as simple as drawing hearts or as elaborate as coloring pictures of ways people show love or minister to others.

Make Up A Poem

Get the creativity flowing. It could be about images that come to mind on Valentine’s Day or ways love has been shown to you. Maybe a way a parent or grandparent has shown love.

Write a Story

How much fun could this be? Older kids could write it out and younger ones can dictate their plot to you. Fiction or non-fiction, this would be something you’d want to keep for when the kids are older.

Write a Song

If you are super creative, you could even write it for a melody that your kids know well. (Twinkle Twinke Little Star is a favorite of my daughter.)

Make a Heart Mobile

Cut hearts of various sizes out of red, pink, white and whatever other color construction paper or card stock you’d like. On each heart, write names of people you love and those who love you.
“Mommy loves little brother” “Daddy loves mommy” “Sister loves Grandma”
Hang the hearts to the light fixture above your dining room table with string or twine.

Create Invitations for a Tea Party

More on this fun idea coming up!

Day 2: Voice of Love

Here we focus on our voice and verbally communicating love to others.

Phone Call

Make that phone call to the friend, relative, or individual that your child has been influenced by or who has done kind things for them. The call doesn’t have to be fancy. Keep it simple and if your child feels uncomfortable help them come up with a simple script before hand. They can even rehearse it with you.

“Hi, Mrs. Sue! I want to say thank you for being my Sunday School teacher. I always want to come to class and I love the Bible stories and crafts you do with us.”

Or perhaps they can call someone that’s sick and just let them know they are thinking of them and give their love.

Call Daddy

Have your child surprise Daddy with a call at work just to say, “I love you.”

Visit

Maybe there’s a shut it you know or an individual that’s going through a rough time that would appreciate a short visit and maybe a picture drawn or poem written yesterday.

Skype

Some people we care about live too far away to visit and it can be costly to call. Skype is a great alternative. Set up a date for your child to call the missionary friend that moved to the other side of the equator and let them know they are being thought of.

Day 3: Deed of Love

Finally, we are going to do an act of love.

Tea Party for Widows

This one would take a little bit of advance planning, but would be memorable.

  • If your children are young and your space is limited just have over 1 or 2 widows (this is often a lonely day for them).
  • Simple invitations would have to be mailed or phone calls made before the afternoon of the    event
  • Plan a basic menu. Cookies and tea or juice that your child helps make would be sufficient.
  • Your child could even draw a picture for each guest.
  • Help your child come up with conversation starters.

Make Cookies or Treats

Make up little goody plates (similar to what we did here). Attach a valentine your child made and and deliver to widows, widowers, friends, and others that could use the encouragement. Your child can carry the plate, ring the door bell, say Happy Valentine’s Day, and give a hug. Depending on age, you can watch from the car.

Financial Donation

Your child can do some extra chores and collect their change. You can make a donation online or in person to an organization that helps care for and love others.

Toy Donations

Have your child pick out a toy and donate it to a pregnancy center, shelter, or any where else that could use it.

How do you make Valentine’s Day meaningful for your children?

Come back Thursday for ideas on how to celebrate the actual Valentine’s Day in your home with your children!

Linking up to Tending the Home Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, A Wise Woman, WFMW, Welcome Home Wednesday, Homemaking Link-Up, Lovely Ladies, Wednesday Link Party, Show and Share Wednesday,  Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Proverbs 31 Thursday, Thriving Thursday, House to Home, Pin It Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, The Weekend ReTreat, Hearts for Home, Family Fun Friday, Let’s Get Real,  Frugal Homeschool Friday, Follow Our Thrift, Essential Fridays, Fellowship Fridays, Strut Your Stuff, Link Party Palooza, Weekend Wind Down, Show Stopper Link Party, Happiness is Homemade, Mindful Mommy Monday, Motivation Monday, Living Proverbs 31, Modest Monday, Monday’s Musings, TGIM, Mama Moments Monday,  Pin It Monday, Good Tips Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Babies and Beyond, Share Your Stuff Tuesdays, Titus 2sday, Do Tell Tuesday

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27 thoughts on “Celebrating a Meaningful Valentine’s Day with Children”

  1. Tracey

    These are sweet, practical ideas to reinforce the concept of loving others! The tea party for widows would be a wonderful way to teach our children about serving.

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  3. Becca

    What an awesome idea to really teach about Valentine’s and love others well, together! Pinned it and thanks for sharing at Walking Redeemed!

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  4. Keri @ Growing in His Glory

    Deanna, I really like how you broke each of these ideas up into hand, voice, and deed. I love the service aspect because too often Valentine’s Day is about me, what I get, and I really want my kids to learn that it’s about loving others and how we can do that. So many great ideas here but I love the widows’ tea idea the best. That’s something I can see us doing at our church as we have a lot of widows. Thanks for sharing your heart and ideas.

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    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      Thanks, Keri! You are right, it’s a great way to practice loving others. We did a widow’s tea with a group of homeschoolers when I was younger and it was a blast. We all invited a widow as our date and sat with them and served them. I can’t wait to do it with Kenna!

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  6. Britni

    Deanna I love this! My 10-month isn’t old enough for all of these things yet but we can definitely celebrate three days with your different themes, love it! Thanks for sharing on the weekend re-Treat link party!

    Britni @ Play. Party. Pin.

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    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      So glad you like it! You are right, it’s so easy to adapt the idea to work we different ages. I’m looking forward to celebrating with my daughter this year. Thanks for hosting, love your party. Just got done linking back to you guys.

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    1. Deanna Michaels Post author

      Aww, thanks Carrie! I do my best and sometimes it works and other times not. 🙂 This year is a fun one for holidays with our daughter. I don’t thing we remembers anything from previous ones so everything is a first again.

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