14 Sweet Ideas for Celebrating Valentine's Day

Brighten your kids’ day and make special family memories celebrating this lovely holiday with these sweet ideas.

Table of Contents

1.

Wake the kids up to a heart-shaped breakfast. Use a cookie cutter to cut out hearts on pancakes, waffles, toast, biscuits or a PB&J sandwich. You can reshape cinnamon rolls to resemble hearts; instructions at pillsbury.com.

2.

Spread the love. Encourage your child to think about the people he loves with a craft. Decorate cards together to send love notes to long-distance loved ones. Create gift bags for nearby friends and neighbors.

3.

Bond with a game night. Set up a washi tape tic tac toe board and use HERSHEY’S HUGS and KISSES for themed Xs and Os. Stick heart stickers on Connect 4 discs for a fun game. Play musical chairs to a playlist of love songs. Search online for scavenger hunt cards or find printable games on Etsy.

4.

Create a heart garland made of construction paper, twine and mini clothespins from the craft store. Use it for decoration, or ask your family members to write notes of love and appreciation to each other on the hearts.

5.

Purchase a sand bucket and a shovel. Fill the bucket with little trinkets, treats and an “I dig you” note for a sweet surprise.

6.

Go out for dessert. Visit Sweet Hut Bakery & Café, The Peach Cobbler Factory, Five Daughters Bakery, Sugar Factory or The Yard Milkshake Bar. Find more sweet spots here.

7.

Purchase a beautiful bouquet. Show your kids how you can make the flowers last by drying them via air drying or pressing; find instructions online.

8.

Bake and decorate sugar cookies using heart cookie cutters, frosting, sprinkles, red sugar, cinnamon candies and pink, red and white M&M’s.

9.

For dinner, see if your favorite pizza place is offering heart-shaped pizza, or create a build-your-own pizza bar. Shape the dough into a heart and let your family members add their favorite toppings.

10.

Pop some popcorn to have a family movie night at home watching a sweet love story, such as “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown,” “Cinderella” or “Lady and the Tramp.” Or, go to the Starlight Drive-In Theatre for a special showing.

11.

Tuck your kids into bed with a story. Check out these new releases: “Heartfelt” by Elaine Vickers and Samantha Cotterill; “Valentine’s Day in Salem” by Kristian James and Alisa Aryutova; and “Some Bunny Loves You” by Helen Foster James and Petra Brown.

12.

While your kids are asleep, decorate their bedroom doors with heart-shaped sticky notes to celebrate the things you love about them.

13.

Spend uninterrupted time doing an activity with each of your children. Let her choose — head to her favorite restaurant, walk around the neighborhood or attend an art class together.

14.

Visit your neighborhood park for a delicious, themed picnic. Cut sandwiches, cheese and meats into hearts for a charcuterie board, and serve red foods, such as strawberries, raspberries or TWIZZLERS.