You don’t need the romantic dinner for two and the long-stem roses to make a memorable Valentine’s Day. Love starts at home with a bunch of family activities; spending time with the kiddos this February 14th is infinitely better.
Here are some tips to make a kid-friendly, fantastic family-fun Valentine’s Day:
Family Dinner Planning vs. Night-Out for Two
Plan a fancy 3-course meal with your family. Then make the food together. This can be a game—break-up into teams to conquer the work more quickly while adding a dash of fun and a pinch of competitiveness. Make foods you and your kids LOVE—it’s the theme of the day! Get out the fancy silverware, glasses and cloth napkins. Set-up candles and flowers on the table and that romantic dinner for two has grown to epic, family-sized proportions.
Heart-Shaped Everything
- Construction Paper Hearts: Get out the construction paper and cut out hearts of every size and color. Decorate with hearts everywhere. Write love poems, love notes to family and friends, scavenger hunt clues, favorite movies, quotes or songs on the hearts. Or just use the hearts like an egg-hunt. Whoever finds the most wins some pre-determined prize like a new book or a “Get out of a chore” card.
- Homemade Valentines: Send Valentine’s Day cards to loved ones, neighbors and friends. Hand-deliver with some heart-shaped sugar cookies, send them in the mail, or Instagram pictures of the cards to their intended recipients.
- Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter: It’s Valentine’s Day! Eat some sugar. Baking and decorating sugar cookies are a tried and true Valentine’s Day success story. Get kids involved in the mixing, the cutting and the decorating. Use smaller heart-shaped cookie cutters for a number of other heart-shaped foods like PB& J sandwiches, apples, pears and bananas. TIP: Use the cutters on toasted grilled cheese sandwiches and serve with tomato soup for the first course of your big family dinner.
Take a Trip to the Library
There’s a plethora of family love and Valentine’s Day books for kids out there. Your local librarian has probably made a table display for easy access. Spend some time curled up on the couch or floor reading to each other today.
Love the Outdoors
The days are getting longer. Spend some afternoon or early evening time outside. If there’s snow where you live, build a snowman, or two or three—a snow couple celebrating Valentine’s Day! Don’t forget the best part of playing outside as a family in the winter is going into the house for hot chocolate and more laughs.
Cupid-Friendly Yoga Poses
Get a little more centered with these kid-friendly, Valentine-themed Yoga poses. Everyone can try poses like Bow, Cupid and Arrow—the family that stretches together has more fun together.
Love is in the Air
- Reasons Why I Love You: Whilst you’re eating dinner, go around the table and list 5 things you love about the person to your left.
- Love Craft: Get out the paper, crayons, paint and play clay and draw, paint or sculpt what you love. When everyone is done, make sure to share what and why.
- Love Song Competition/Dance Party: Just be silly as a family! Pick songs with the word love in them and start singing. You can come up with songs on the fly or pick song titles out of a hat. If you don’t know the lyrics, look them up or make up your own family version and sing that. Preferably very loudly and with crazy dance moves. And because every fantastic family-fun day should end with a dance party!
Keep the conversation going; share your ideas for celebrating with kids this Valentine’s Day on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.
Inset Photo Credit: San Jose Library
Main Photo Credit: Angelia’s Photography
