Since many children are still missing out on their usual traditions, why not make Valentine’s Day extra fun this year? Here are fourteen ideas to help make this the best Valentine’s Day ever despite the pandemic.
1) Make a Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board
While a simple cheese plate used to suffice, today the charcuterie board is all the rage. Technically a charcuterie board means a board of prepared meats, but these days anything goes! Why not cut cheese or salami into heart shapes to make one of these beautiful food presentations?
2) Send Valentines in Many Ways
By email - Sites such as Blue Mountain Cards, American Greetings, or Punchbowl allow you to email fun cards for free.
Postcards - For a small charge the Touchnote app lets you send postcards and add a picture. They do the printing and mailing for you and your valentine receives a special postcard.
Or go the old fashioned route - Some post offices will have more selection than others, but children love picking out their own stamps and mailing out valentines. Depending on your child’s age, you can address the envelopes for them or use this as a time to teach the finer points of letter writing.
3) Decorate In Hearts
So many items can be found in heart shapes these days. Heart-shaped balloons or simple pink and red balloons for Valentine’s Day will make your child’s day!
4) Make a Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt
Put clues around the house and let your kids search high and low for a box of candy hearts or similar treat.
5) Have a Valentine’s Day Photoshoot
Admittedly, this may be more for you than for the kids, but a heart is an easy shape to cut out of construction paper for props. Dress the kids in red and have a Valentine’s Day photo shoot!
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6) Surprise Your Kids with Love Notes
Leave Post-It Notes of love or encouragement for your kids on the fridge, their bathroom mirror, or other places around the house. For extra fun use pink ones for Valentine’s Day or put them together into the shape of a heart.
7) Put Up a Valentine’s Day Tree
Haven’t taken down that Christmas Tree yet? Don’t despair! Just switch the decor form ornaments to hearts!
8) Break a Heart Shaped Piñata
Kids love the fun of breaking a piñata and these can be easily incorporated into your celebration. Heart shaped piñatas are available on Amazon if you can’t find one locally.
9) Play Tic Tac Toe
Nothing says Valentine’s Day quite like the X’s and O’s in this game that kids already love. Winner gets the number of kisses and hugs on the board!
10) Get Baking
Of course there’s the old standby… pink frosted cupcakes or sugar cookies are sure to be a big hit.
11) Make Heart Shaped Food or Heart Shaped Pizza
A heart shaped pizza is a lot of fun! Whether you make the dough yourself or buy prepared dough, kids will love having their own personal sized heart shaped pizza. Or make lunch heart shaped with sandwiches cut into hearts with the help of a cookie cutter.
12) Make Pink Smoothies or Milkshakes
Recipes for strawberry smoothies or milkshakes are plentiful online.
13) Read a Valentine’s Day Themed Picture Book
There are many, many great picture books that complement Valentine’s Day. Try Mama Do You Love Me by Barbara M. Joose or Henry In Love by Peter McCarty.
14) Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries
These are actually not very hard. Just melt chocolate chips in the microwave, dip the strawberries in the melted chocolate and then place on wax paper. They’re beautiful, delectable, and quick to make!
Freelance writer Jill Morgenstern has 13 years teaching experience and is the mother of four.