It’s hard not to associate the month of February with the color red and hearts and all things LOVE, am I right? I never got too excited about Valentine’s before having kids, but now I embrace it as a fun opportunity to show some love to my little guys and teach them about loving and serving others. I appreciate how each holiday/season provides great opportunities for family bonding and creating traditions.
Making homemade valentines is a sweet little tradition to do with your kids, and what grandparent or neighbor wouldn’t appreciate a little handmade card? Here is a little twist that adds a fun dimension to your valentines and might surprise your kids.
Wax Resistant Watercolor Valentines
Supplies Needed:
- White Crayon
- White Cardstock
- Watercolors
- Other various Valentine supplies- Construction paper, stickers, glitter, glue, scissors
Start by drawing designs with the white crayon on the white cardstock. If your child is old enough let them do this step. My guys are a little young, so I drew hearts, X’s and O’s and wrote “Love” on pieces of cardstock that I had cut into small squares. Then I handed them off to my boys to paint. The paint will not stick to the wax from the crayon revealing the hidden design when they paint the paper. Then create the rest of the valentines using your other supplies and add the hidden message papers for a fun twist. My boys were pretty impressed by the hidden messages and loved adding them to their valentines.
10 More Ways to Celebrate Love as a Family this Month
- Get in the kitchen and make a special treat. Use a family recipe or make something super simple like these treats: dip wafer cookies or pretzels in melted almond bark and add sprinkles.
- Package some of your treats up and share them with neighbors, family or friends.
- Send a special care package to someone that may go unnoticed this month. Send a card or special treat.
- Have a themed family movie night. Add some chocolate candy or conversation hearts to popcorn and show a special movie. We like The Peanuts Valentine Movie.
- Have a themed picnic. Cut sandwiches into hearts and serve with red foods such as strawberries and red grapes. Or cut cheese slices into hearts and serve with pepperoni and crackers.
- Paint hearts and simple phrases such as “you are special” or “you matter” and leave them around your home or local park.
- Check with a local nursing home about the possibility of delivering Valentines to residents.
- Have a family Valentine’s breakfast. Serve heart-shaped cinnamon rolls or heart-shaped pancakes with whipped cream, strawberries and sprinkles.
- Leave out boxes for each family member and encourage each other to leave love notes or compliments for each family member. Make it extra fun by pretending that you are secret agents and trying not to get caught leaving the notes.
- Read some Valentine’s Day books. Here are some of our favorites:
- Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse by Laura Numeroff
- Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson and Lucy Trapper
- Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
- The Story of Valentine’s Day by Nancy J Skameas
- Olivia and the Perfect Valentine by Natalie Shaw
For even more ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day with kids, check out our round-up of our best resources for family fun.
About the writer: Formerly a school counselor, Megan now spends her days playing trucks, reading dinosaur books, dispensing snacks and adventuring with her three little sons.
