I love holidays and pretty much any of them. It gives me a special reason to be creative, not that I don't take advantage of most days anyway (when there's time). However, holidays give me a reason to justify making huge pretty messes because there's usually a mess somewhere.
Here are some simple, but fun ways we celebrated Valentine's Day this year.
Of course there was fun food. We all love to eat. We had fresh fruit bowls with whipped cream and mini muffins for breakfast one day.
Heart waffles with syrup, whipped cream and fruit was another breakfast idea. The twins had heart shaped waffles and fruit too without the syrup and cream. And do you know what? Even the teenager came out of the room and was like, "Ma, I want heart shaped waffles." What?! Did my eyes deceive me? He doesn't even eat breakfast at home anymore because he likes to eat at school with his friends. However, he got heart shaped waffles today too and I was happy.
Now these are fun to make and fun to eat. Heart pancakes and strawberries that are cut in half and put on skewers. We had little bowls of syrup and whipped cream nearby for dipping.
Some Activities
I made this heart number matching set a while back. We initially used these to match the correct number of dots with the correct number. Then we added the number words to identify and match to the correct numbers. Now we use them for adding, subtracting and less than, greater than, and equal to. These aren't laminated, but I need to if I want them to last.
We used colored pom poms for math and learning too. Caleb was learning measuring at school this week so here's one "Valentine" activity we did. I took two jars and had him guess how many he thought would fit into each jar and write the number down. Then he put them in, counted them and wrote the number down to compare his guess and answer. He also asked everyone in the house for their guesses too.
This is a cute little story book that we read together. It subs in pictures for some of the words in the poem.
Hershey kisses became a fun game of tic tac toe. All the kids played against each other. Caleb even earned bragging rights when he beat big brother AJ.
To incorporate some science activity in, I decided that they'll make "love boats" to see if they would sink or float. I put lots of different items on the porch to see that they would build with. They did have a friend to come over while they were making these and they were trying to hurry and finish. They couldn't get off that porch fast enough. They were like, "See ya!"
Here's an activity that I came up with to teach in Children's church, but you could use it anytime. We certainly need reminders all the time.
First, I thought of 3 categories - God's love for us, Our love for Others, and Our love for God. Then, I looked up scriptures to go along with each one. With the help of Cate, we made two sets of these. The class worked in groups to read each scripture to discuss and decide which category it fell under. Afterwards, we discussed the scriptures and talked about ways to apply them in our lives and the lives of others.
Now, this is my kind of crooked crossword! I was in a hurry and didn't realize how off it was, but it worked. The kids enjoyed trying to find the words. I'll be making sure they are lined up better next time, though.
Yall, I love this tablecloth. I found it at Walmart one year. It's thicker and has a soft back and you just wipe it off and reuse it. I so prefer this than buying a countless number of the thin plastic tablecloths that get thrown away.
So for Vday we had heart waffles again and a really poor attempt at making bacon hearts. Do you see a heart? I tried. lol Please note that Christmas clearance bag being decorated with paper hearts to carry school treats in. I improvise like that!
We had a mini VDay treat that night as well. I love these cute polka dot cups and napkins from Walmart.
We made some simple Vday lunches, not too much, because I couldn't get myself together. Check out that heart muffin, though. I found the silicone muffin pan at Walmart.
The twins got in on some Vday fun with some sensory play with rose petals. These rose petals are so old that they were actually used in our wedding 10 years ago. I may be a bit of a craft/education hoarder. However, they loved making a mess with these and putting them in each container.
And when I say mess, here is the reality. This is a different day and the big kids were playing with them too. However, this is how it looks after everybody has gotten into them. It's like something exploded. Spread the love. lol
Don't they look like little big boys here? GOSH!
And then Valentines isn't the same without grandmas!
Hope you enjoyed this post and hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!
