Valentine’s Day Can Teach Your Child About Friendship, Gratitude and Love

Valentine’s Day, celebrated widely across the globe, began hundreds of years ago in the middle ages, according to Britannica Kids. The holiday’s origin story includes several theories you can find on Romper, as well as some fun trivia and celebration ideas for your baby’s first Valentine’s Day.

While many people associate Valentine’s Day with romantic love, there are many others who choose it to celebrate their love and appreciation for family and friends. We know that young children need lots of positive interactions and nurturing, so any day that encourages others to say, “I love you” and show more kindness to them is alright with us.

This holiday is also a great opportunity to teach your children about the importance of love, kindness, and gratitude for others. Whether your child is a newborn or five years old, there are many ways to ensure they feel loved and to help them show their gratitude this Valentine’s Day. Here are 14 tips to help you get started: 

1. Decorate: Decorate your home with hearts, flowers, and any other decorations you choose. Make it a family-fun activity where your young child also can develop their fine motor skills with coloring and cutting out hearts from a template you provide.

2. Make cards: Making Valentine’s Day cards is a creative activity that you can do with your children. Let them decorate their own cards and write messages to family and friends.

3. Bake together: Young children love helping in the kitchen. Let them help you create some special treats for Valentine’s Day, such as these from Parenting.

4. Share treats: Share Valentine’s Day treats with friends, family, and neighbors. Include your child in the making or buying of treats and deciding who gets what. This will help your children understand the joy of giving and spreading love.

5. Read books: Reading Valentine’s Day books with your children is a great way to get them excited about the holiday. Look for books that highlight the themes of love, kindness, and appreciation. The Everymom has a great list of 20 books here.

6. Play games and craft: Play games and create crafts with your children that emphasize the themes of love and friendship. Check out Busy Toddler for some good ideas!

7. Share stories: Share stories about your own experiences with love and friendship with your children. This will help them understand the importance of these emotions and relationships.

8. Give hugs and kisses: Give hugs and kisses to your children often. Show them that love is a physical expression of affection and appreciation.

9. Volunteer: Volunteer together as a family or make Valentine’s Day cards for a local nursing home or U.S. troops. This is a great way to show your children the importance of helping others and spreading love.

10. Plan movie time: Watch some sweet, feel good movies together as a family. As a special snack, try some white chocolate popcorn mixed with sprinkles or candy conversation hearts.

11. Take a walk: On your walk, look for heart shapes in the clouds, on signs or in street art. Be sure to check rocks, sticks and flowers too!

12. Sing songs: Sing songs about love and friendship with your children. This will help them understand the joy and power of music.

13. Have a picnic: A picnic is a special treat and can make an ordinary day extraordinary. If the weather isn’t cooperating, make it an indoor picnic with a blanket spread on the floor. What’s on the menu? How about some heart-shaped sandwiches, fruit salad, and heart shaped pretzels?

14. Write special notes to your child: Leading up to Valentine’s Day, write a short and special note that says one thing that you love about your child, You can tape them to their bedroom door, place in their lunchbox or on their breakfast plate. If they can’t read, read it to them or draw a picture that represents what you would write and them tell them what it means.

There are many ways to celebrate and teach your children about Valentine’s Day and the broader message of sharing their love and appreciation with others. We hope you have a fun and special Valentine’s Day!