Discover practical and simple ways to make Valentine’s Day special for children without stress or overwhelm for you.
Valentine’s Day is often associated with romance and couple-centered activities, but it can also be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate love and kindness with our children. Creating special memories on this day can foster a sense of belonging and joy, emphasizing the importance of love in all its forms. Whether it’s through simple gestures, fun crafts, or delicious treats, there are countless ways to make Valentine’s Day memorable for the little ones in your life. In this blog post, we’ll explore my favorite creative and heartwarming ideas to help you make this Valentine’s Day truly special for your children. One of my favorite things to do is have a Valentine’s Day tea party! But there are many other things to do if that isn’t your cup of tea. (No pun intended, okay maybe just a little 😉 )
Here are the things I like to do for my boys each year to make the day special – because they are all my greatest love gifts! Keep reading to find out my very favorite ways to make Valentine’s Day special for my children. Perhaps you’ll find some new favorite ideas for your family!
How to Make Valentine's Day Special for Children:
1: Slow down and enjoy the time together.
First and foremost, don’t stress or overwhelm yourself to make all of this picture perfect. It will mean more to your children to have a present and happy mother spending time with them and showing them a little extra love. That is what will make the day meaningful for their little hearts.
2: Set up a festive table.
This doesn’t have to be elaborate; I tend to use whatever floral, pink, and red items I already have. I may grab something new only if it’s something I know that I’ll use again. You may be like me and have a couple of red things in your Christmas decor that you can use or possibly some spring decor too. (Hobby Lobby is probably my favorite place to shop if I do go shopping for festive decor.)
3: Make a festive sweet treat.
Some favorites that I make are cheesecake topped with cherries, heart sugar cookies, pink chocolate covered pretzels, and pink frosted cupcakes. (All of those are easily made glute-free if needed.) Have fun with natural food dyes and sprinkles (I get Simple Truth locally) to take the festive feeling up a notch. Allow the children to join in if you want or have a little peaceful mom baking time. You can find my favorite No-Bake Cheesecake Recipe here.
4: Serve some family favorite foods.
Whether it’s a dessert, a snack, or a full-blown meal – food is a great way to make the day memorable. You know what your family likes, have fun with this, don’t make it stressful.
5: Write a personalized Valentine's Day card or letter.
Compose one to each one of your children telling them something that you love and find special about them. This is probably my favorite thing to do! It is so meaningful, and if it’s the only thing you do this year you will be winning!
6: Let them make homemade Valentine's Day cards.
Gather up all the old-fashioned supplies like construction paper, heart doilies, stickers, glitter glue etc. Allow them to use their imaginations and ask them to think of something special for each recipient. If your children are young and unable to write, you can help them out with the inside their cards real quick.
7: Make them each a little treat bag or give them a small gift.
My boys look forward to their little treat bags each year, so I always do this. However, the choices are endless here. I think a new book for each child would be fun for the mid-winter gloominess, or a family gift like a puzzle of game. This year I am doing a family gift along with the treat bags, it is this new stacking game.
8: Read Valentine themed picture books to them.
Read a couple of Valentine themed picture books together; if your children are antsy you can read to them while they eat their special food. One book that we read every single year is The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting – it is just the perfect sweet book for the day! If you need some more book ideas you can check out my Valentine’s Day Picture Book post here for some fabulous ideas.Â
I hope this post gave you some simple and fresh ideas to make Valentine’s Day special for you and your children! Happy Valentine’s Day friends! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you have some ideas to add to my little list above!!Â
