How to Involve Your Children in Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to have some family fun! You can help your children get into the spirit of the occasion by planning enjoyable crafts, activities, and cooking projects on a valentine theme.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Craft Supplies
• Valentine's Day Greeting Cards
• Children's Books
• Greeting Cards
• Baking Pans
• Baking Supplies

1. Talk about the meaning of Valentine's Day with your children; explain that there are many different kinds of love, and talk about the holiday as an occasion to remind people that we care about them.

2. Help them choose or make, write, and sign valentines. Get a list of classmates so you can be sure no one is left out.

3. Organize a special craft to help your child get into the spirit of the holiday. You could make dough-art decorations and jewelry, or use fabric paint to cover a T-shirt or apron with hearts and flowers.

4. Make some Valentine's Day goodies together. You could make and decorate cookies, or bake a heart-shaped cake and let your children decorate it with candy hearts. These can be eaten at home, taken to school on Valentine's Day, or given to grandparents and special friends in pretty decorated bags or boxes.

5. Serve a special Valentine's Day dinner ' even normal, everyday foods can be transformed easily. You could serve a meal of heart-shaped meatloaf slices or red-tinted mashed potatoes, or even sprinkle organic rose petals on a salad!

6. Read Valentine's Day stories or poems together ' your local library or bookstore should have a selection of good books on the theme.

7. Get some input from your children, and ask them to suggest activities that are connected with their interests. A child who likes writing might enjoy composing a Valentine's Day poem or story.

Tips & Warnings

• Save the valentine cards your child receives from friends and relatives, and put them away for use in crafts projects next year. These work well for collage or decoupage projects, and are a great way to recycle the cards.
• Let your children use sponge shapes, stencils, stamps, or potato prints to make unique and easy valentines, rather than using store-bought cards.
• Remember to supervise any craft activities that involve scissors, paints, or glue.
• It can be tempting for the whole family to overindulge in candy and chocolate around Valentine's Day, so set some reasonable limits, and make sure everyone brushes his or her teeth.