Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to show kids a little extra love and make them feel even more special. This year, instead of sharing just gift ideas to give to your kids, I wanted to include activities you can do with them to make the day a little extra special. Some of these you can grab some cute, heart shaped accessories, or just use what you already have at home.
Of course I always love getting outside with my kids so I have plenty of ideas that will get you out of the house on Valentine’s Day. As well as some fun activities to do in the house if that’s what you prefer! Each activity has a little gift idea you could give your kids if you want, or you can just focus on time together and skip the gift all together.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t just have to be about showing your significant other love. If you already have Valentine’s Day plans, save one of these ideas for the weekend to celebrate the holiday with your kids.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Kids | Valentine’s Day activities and gifts
1. Hot Chocolate on a Hike: One of my favorite things to do in the winter is pick an easy, snowy trail to do with my kids and carry up some hot chocolate in a thermos. It really doesn’t add a lot of weight to my pack and I love that it just makes the hike a little more special. You can tell your kids ahead of time to help keep them motivated to keep hiking, or surprise them in the middle or end of your hike with the sweet treat.
2. Heart-Themed Nature Scavenger Hunt: Create a list of things to find in nature that resemble hearts—heart-shaped rocks, leaves, tree knots, or even clouds. You can write these things down on a brown paper bag or just use a reusable tote with empty boxes to check when they find them. For the items like rocks and leaves, they can collect them and put them in their bag. Take your kids out on a local trail and enjoy the afternoon looking for heart shaped nature items!
3. Heart Shape Crafts: Snag these 2 pack silicon-heart-shaped trays off of amazon for a great deal. With so many DIY options, I love the variety of activities you can do with them. You can fill the trays with water (add a little red food coloring for extra fun) to make heart-shaped ice cubes, use them for play dough, or pour in warm chocolate to create the perfect little hearts treat. You can even recycle old crayon bits and melted them in the molds, giving kids a chance to create something new from old supplies. It’s an easy, creative, and fun way to celebrate the season—win-win!
4. Valentine’s Day Hike & Picnic: Pack some heart-shaped snacks (sandwiches, cookies, or fruit) and go on a kid-friendly hike. Choose a scenic spot to enjoy a simple Valentine’s-themed picnic together.
5. Make Snow or Sidewalk Chalk Love Notes: If you live somewhere with snow, bundle up, head outside, and bring along some food coloring in spray bottles and let kids draw hearts, write messages, or make Valentine’s designs in the snow. If there’s no snow, use sidewalk chalk to decorate a driveway, sidewalk, or park path with love notes and drawings.
6. At-Home Spa Day: Create a fun, casual, in-house spa and salon event. Paint nails, practice deep breathing, enjoy face masks, or do some yoga together. Yoga with Adriene has some great kid-friendly practices. This cute kid’s hooded bathrobe comes in lots of patterns and had adult sizes to match!
7. Family Bike Ride with a Sweet Treat Stop: Take the kids on a fun bike ride and stop at a bakery, café, or your local grocery store. Head on in to pick out a fun sweet treat. Check out the Valentine’s Day candy, pick up a card to give to a neighbor, and have fun with it!
8. Heart Attack Surprise: Spend some time cutting out hearts in various sizes to stick on someones door or mailbox. A quick and fun way to show some love on Valentine’s Day and keep kids busy for a little while. You could even write little messages or have kids draw pictures on the cutout hearts. I’d recommend these kid friendly scissors from Amazon. They have fun designs, great for a variety of crafts, and are safer for little hands.
9. Build a Lego Bouquet . How cute are these? Legos can be pricey, but I love how long they keep kids focused and engaged on something tactile. This wildflower set look fun and very Valentines-ey when completed. Spent some time building together for a beautiful homemade flower display.
10. Read books about love together. There are many loved themed classics like Dr. Seuss’s Who Loves You, Love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or a modern classic Love from Bluey. You could explore the library to find books about love and check them out to read at home. Library’s will often have a special Valentine’s Day event, so check your local branch’s website for details.
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