5 Things To-Do to Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Your Kids (Not just crafts!)
- Courtney Medeiros
- Feb 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Valentine’s Day! Spreading love, cards, and candy. Chances are when you hear “holiday activity” your first thought is of crafts. This might make you cringe. Crafts are not every parent's favorite. That's okay! You are still a great parent even if glue, scissors, glitter and mess are not your thing. Here are a few options of activities you can try that are not crafts. They might still get a little messy, but they don’t include glitter!
Baking - My son absolutely LOVES baking. I don’t mind baking and find it enjoyable sometimes. For this activity I have learned that I have to have a full cup of patience in order for it to be enjoyable for all of us. It can be very messy, like crafts, but at least I get something tasty at the end.
If baking brings you joy, do it! Make valentines themed sugar cookies, decorate the heck out of them, and enjoy. My son absolutely loves to bake and will never say no to making, decorating, or eating cookies. Even if you’re not a big baker this activity can be fun. Here is a sugar cookie recipe I like that doesn’t require the dough to be chilled ahead of time. (Little kids do not want to wait between making the dough and eating it, I mean making shapes from it!) Once your cookie masterpieces are complete you can give some away, we love taking things to Daddy’s office to share.
Supplies:
Baking ingredients (listed with this recipe)
Cooking sheets (Yes I always thought they were called cookie sheets, turns out they aren’t.)
Mixer (stand or hand-mixer)
Books - I love to read my kids books on just about everything. It can be hard to come up with great ways to explain things to them or teach them. Books get the conversation started for me. There are tons of kids books out there on just about every holiday. The best part, you can get them from the library! (Yay, free activities!) We make an entire morning out of going to the library, picking our books, wondering the library and saying high to their fish, scanning our books at check out, and walking home.
Outings - If you are home with your little ones on Valentine’s Day I highly recommend getting out of the house. Plenty of places have holiday specials or treats which can be a lot of fun. We like to pick up a bouquet of carnations and some candy, and take them to my husband at work. The kids hand out a flower to each employee, and they get a special visit to see Dad at work (he gets the candy). Everyone enjoys it, and the kids get to see how giving and thinking of others can make them feel good.
If a parent or grandparent’s work isn’t an option for this, you could try reaching out to a local nursing home or retirement center. I know the residents would love seeing some young faces and receiving flowers! Weather permitting, you could even go to a park or downtown and pass them out to whomever looks like they could use a flower (at your own comfort level).
Photo Shoot - This is great for the kids who like playing dress up. Have your littles pick out valentine’s colored outfits, or even crazy outfits. Set up a backdrop together and let them go wild with fun poses. You could even make, or buy, photoshoot props. Let them take turns being in front of the camera and being the photographer. Even my 18 month old likes to dress up silly and take funny photos. The whole activity can be kept free, and you get pictures at the end as a keepsake. I love being able to share these experiences with my husband thanks to the photos.
Supplies:
Okay I know I said no crafts, but here is a way to make something you might actually like. I also explain how I keep things relatively clean during this craft. Plus I promise there is still no glitter or glue involved!
Crafts - Arts and crafts are awesome and kids love them, but they can also feel very messy and wasteful to an adult. Instead of painting on paper I will recycle, I like to have the kids paint on wood. The Dollar Tree has a whole section of unfinished wood decor that is seasonal. For valentines day they had these adorable holders for the kids valentines to go in. They usually have a bunch of options and the end result is something the kids made that is functional.
I’ve found markers or paint work best on the wood. Don’t freak out, I know paint can be a scary word, but watercolor paints are so much more manageable than regular pain. If you choose paint you can also write over it once it's dry if you want to add your child’s name or a phrase. You can even get paint from the dollar store. We’ve used watercolor paints and they’ve worked out just fine. I like them with smaller kids too because they can’t spill it. The paint is dry until water is added and quickly dries again after. It still shows up just fine on the wood items, and it's much easier on my anxiety. (I can handle spilled water, but not paint.) It dries faster than regular paint too so the kids project is complete sooner. You could probably get most of these supplies at the dollar store but you’d have to go in-store, so I’ll link them from amazon in case you just want to order them.
Supplies:
Smock (definitely must have the smock with full sleeves for winter months crafts)
Vinyl table cloth or newspaper
Paint (watercolor means less mess and easier to clean up)
Wood item (these make awesome gifts for the grandparents)
Water container (I linked one that is harder to knock over, but a solo cup works)
The best way to celebrate anything with your kids, is to do it with something YOU enjoy. If you absolutely hate baking, your kids probably aren’t going to have a lot of fun doing it with you either. Don’t try to change who you are, just work parenting around what you already love. Alos, remember that kids love simple things too. Not every holiday or activity has to be a full production. Choose what to do and at what intensity based on your own energy level. I promise this will make whatever you do a lot more fun and a lot less stressful.
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