Valentine’s Day is often seen as more of an adult celebration. But who’s to say that your children can’t enjoy the day with you too? @MichelleObama uploaded a family snap on Valentine’s Day with a message that said: ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, my loves. You make even the coldest days feel warm.’ The photo was of her husband and two children making snow angels. In this article, we’ve listed five easy ways to put a love-themed twist on some at-home activities to keep the kids entertained. They can be tailored to different ages too so it’s fun for all the family.
1) Make some Valentine’s Day cards
A great one for the arty types, crafting your own Valentine’s Day cards at home is a great way to get creative juices flowing. You can also make them earth-conscious by using materials, odds and ends from around the home to give them a new lease of life. Bits of string, used wrapping paper, spare buttons etc can all be glued onto pieces of card to create unique designs. Young children can then draw and paint around the motifs for a fun-filled activity. With older children, they can enjoy freer rein by using more “grown-up” tools such as scissors and glue.
2) Play Valentine’s Day word scramble
Suitable for children who can competently read and write, this fun game is a word puzzle with love-themed anagrams to unjumble. You can create your own or download templates from online. Add little prizes for the quickest players and it’ll turn into a competitive game that the family can enjoy for hours.
3) Instead of “Simon Says”, listen to what Cupid says
The traditional game has had a love makeover. Instead of listening to the commands of Simon, it’s Cupid who’s in the driving seat. Suitable for three or more players, one person takes on the role of “Cupid” and gives instructions for the other players to follow by saying “Cupid says…” These can be physical actions such as “…jump in the air” or “…stick out your tongue”. Players are eliminated from the game by either following instructions that are not immediately preceded by the phrase “Cupid says…” or by failing to follow an instruction which does include the phrase “Cupid says”.
4) Make some paper roses
With just a few square pieces of coloured paper, some scissors and some glue, you can make an authentic-looking rose to display at home. Children will love creating flowers that they can give to others. Here’s how to make paper roses:
- Take one A4-sized sheet of coloured paper and fold it to make a square
- Trim and remove the excess, then cut the leftover square piece into four smaller pieces
- Take three of the smaller square pieces to make one rose
- Fold the square diagonally three times to make a small triangle
- With a pencil, mark a semi-circle in the middle of the triangle, cut around it to create a teardrop shape
- Snip of the end of the point of the triangle
- Open it up and you’ll have a flower shape with petal segment and a hole in the middle
- Repeat the whole process twice more so you have three flower shapes
- Cut one petal segment from the first flower, two segments from the second flower and three segments from the third
- Use a toothpick to curl the edges of the three flowers outwards
- Glue each flower together from where you cut out the segments, then use the segments you cut out to create smaller flowers and glue the edges together too
- Assemble the flowers together from large to small, all inside of each other
- Allow to dry and then place them in a bowl as a beautiful Valentine’s Day table display
5) Write some secret love notes
As Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love, what better way than to get your children declaring their love for members of the family? Each child can write down what they love about someone and post it into a cardboard box (you can decorate this too). On Valentine’s Day, each love note can be read out loud to the group to get everyone feeling good about themselves.
So, there you have it, five easy activities to celebrate Valentine’s Day with young children.