Valentine's Day Ideas for Kids: 20 Things to Do at Home

The best Valentine's Day ideas for kids are small ways to tell everyone they love that they love them: a note under the cereal bowl, a heart-shaped pizza, a game of musical statues, a card posted to Nan. Here are 20 for children aged 3 to 8, done at home and sorted from breakfast to bedtime. Most need only paper, pens and the kitchen.

How many Valentine's ideas should you plan?

Valentine's Day is 14 February, a day for telling the people you love that you love them. Pick three or four ideas, not twenty.

Each idea says the age it suits, and these Valentine's Day ideas for kids at home need nothing you'd have to buy. Food and small craft bits carry a note for under-fives, because the NHS says children, particularly those aged from 1 to 5, "often put objects in their mouth".

20 Valentine's Day ideas for kids, from breakfast to bedtime

Five groups of four, in the order the day runs.

Breakfast

• Heart toast. Press a heart-shaped cutter into toast, or cut a heart freehand. Say: "You press, I'll do the knife." Age 3 and up.
• A note under the bowl. Slip a note under their bowl saying one thing you love about them. For pre-readers, draw it and read it out together. Age 3 and up.
• Strawberry hearts. A strawberry cut in half lengthways is roughly heart-shaped. For under-fives, cut it smaller: the NHS says to "think about size, shape and texture" when preparing a child's food. Age 3 and up.
• "I love you more than..." Take turns finishing the sentence with something silly: more than puddles, more than jam on toast, more than the dog loves socks. Age 4 and up.

On the mat

This group is ours, built on the numbered poses on a Yogi-Me mat, though a rug works too. The NHS suggests at least 180 minutes of activity a day for three- and four-year-olds, spread through the day. New to poses? Try our beginner's guide to kids' yoga.

• Find pose 14. It's the 14th, so find pose 14. On our Sun Salutation mat the poses are numbered, and 14 is tree. Stand on one leg, foot on your ankle or calf, while everyone counts to fourteen. Age 4 and up; at 3, hold a hand.
• Two trees make a heart. Our take on the double tree from our partner yoga poses, not a pose on the mat. Stand side by side in tree, hold inside hands, and reach your outside arms up and over until your fingertips meet. The grown-up supports, nobody pulls, and you both come down if anyone wobbles. Age 5 and up, or 3 with a grown-up.
• Valentine's musical statues. Dance, and when the music stops, freeze in a heart shape. The Department for Education's Development Matters guidance lists "hold a pose for a game like musical statues" among what 3 and 4-year-olds are learning. Age 3 and up.
• Airplane post. Arms out like an aeroplane (airplane, as the Sun Salutation mat spells it), and fly a paper heart to each person in the house. Age 3 and up.

Valentine's activities for kids at home: making things

• Thumbprint-heart card. Two thumbprints in paint, pressed in a V, make a heart. Print a row on a folded card. It's the simplest of the valentine cards for kids to make at home. Age 3 and up.
• Snip-and-stick garland. Fold paper, snip half a heart along the fold and open it out. Development Matters gives "making snips in paper with scissors" as an example for 3 and 4-year-olds. Use child scissors. Age 3 and up.
• A family post box. Turn a shoebox into a post box with a slot in the lid. Everyone posts notes and drawings in the days before, opened at teatime on the 14th. Age 3 and up.
• Fourteen hidden hearts. Cut out fourteen paper hearts, hide them round one room, and count them back in. Counting practice, dressed up as a hunt. Age 3 and up.

For people you can't see today

• A card in the post. Post a card to a grandparent, an aunt or a godparent a few days before the 14th, so it arrives in time. Age 3 and up.
• A love list. Your child says five things they love about Grandma or Grandad, and you write them down exactly as said, however odd. Then post it. Age 3 and up.
• A phone call with a joke ready. Practise one: "What did the stamp say to the envelope? Stick with me and we'll go places." Then ring a grandparent and tell it. Phone, not video, so it stays screen-free. Age 4 and up.
• A heart in the window. Stick a big paper heart in the front window for the neighbours, the postie and anyone walking past. Age 3 and up.

Teatime and bedtime

• Heart pizza. Shape the dough into a heart and let your child choose and place the toppings. You do the oven. For under-fives, cut round toppings such as cherry tomatoes and olives small. Age 3 and up.
• Open the post box. At tea, open the family post box and read every note out loud. Pre-readers "read" their drawings to the table. Age 3 and up.
• Back-to-back breathing. Sit back to back on the floor and breathe slowly. Feel each other's back rise and fall. No mat needed. Age 4 and up.
• Goodnight heart. Draw a heart on their back with one finger, then a letter, then a short word, and they guess each one. End with "I love you". At 3, stick to shapes. Age 4 and up.

How do you explain Valentine's Day to a child?

Say: "Valentine's Day is a day for telling the people you love that you love them." That's enough for a three-year-old, and it covers everyone they love, not just grown-ups in couples.

Older children may ask who Valentine was. BBC Newsround says the day gets its name from a saint, but "we don't actually know exactly who Valentine was". The oldest known Valentine's message in English was written in 1477. In Wales, Visit Wales says St Dwynwen's Day is celebrated on 25 January every year, and BBC Newsround calls it Wales' very own version of Valentine's Day.

A Valentine's weekend, school night or grandparent visit

Three examples, not a timetable.

• A slow weekend morning: a note under the bowl, find pose 14, then open the post box at tea.
• A school-night half hour: a thumbprint-heart card, delivered by airplane post.
• A grandparent's visit: teach them two trees make a heart, then write a love list for them to take home.

For the other 364 days, we keep a list of screen-free activities for any day of the year.

Find pose 14 on Valentine's morning. Every Yogi-Me mat has 15 numbered poses laser-engraved into the surface, so a four-year-old can go looking for 14 by the number. Choose a colour: each is £34.99, with free UK delivery and 30-day returns.

What can parents give kids for Valentine's Day that isn't sweets?

The best Valentine's gifts for kids from parents are small and a bit personal: something to keep, time with you, or something to grow. None of them needs to be chocolate.

1. A card with a note they can keep. One specific thing you love about them, in your handwriting.
2. A voucher for time with you. A bike ride, choosing Sunday breakfast, or twenty minutes of a game they pick.
3. A packet of seeds. Sunflowers or cress, to plant together when spring comes.
4. A mat of their own. Fifteen numbered poses and a carry strap, and at 183 x 61 cm it's full length, so they won't outgrow it by eight. Two or more mats are 10 per cent off. We keep more presents that keep them moving in our gift guide.
5. A book about families. Read it together at bedtime on the 14th.

Valentine gifts for grandchildren

Grandparents can skip the chocolate too. A photo of the two of you, seeds with a promise to plant them together, or a voucher for a trip to the park all travel well by post. Buying a mat? It's full length, so there's room for you to try tree too. More gift ideas for grandchildren here.

What if your child finds the hearts embarrassing?

Drop the hearts and keep the pizza and the game. Some children find hearts and kissing faces embarrassing, especially by six or seven, and that's fine.

Valentine's Day is for anyone who loves someone: boys and girls alike, grandparents, cousins and the dog. Nobody has to make a card, and a dinosaur drawing posted to Grandad counts.

Frequently asked questions

Is Valentine's Day always on 14 February?

Yes. Valentine's Day is 14 February every year, so the day of the week changes. On a school day, pick one idea for breakfast and one for teatime. At a weekend there's room for three or four. In Wales, St Dwynwen's Day on 25 January gives you a second go.

Are these Valentine's ideas OK for toddlers and three-year-olds?

Most start at age 3, and each idea says the age it suits. With under-fives, keep small craft bits such as beads and buttons out of reach, cut strawberries and cherry tomatoes small, and do the knife and oven work yourself. The NHS says children aged 1 to 5 often put objects in their mouth.

Should you give your child a Valentine's card?

That's up to you. Our view: if you'd like to, write one specific thing you love about them rather than a long message. It's one more way of saying it, not a test, and a child who'd rather have a high five and a heart-shaped pizza has got the message too.

What are some free Valentine's Day ideas for kids?

Most of the 20 above cost nothing: a note under the bowl, musical statues, airplane post, a family post box, fourteen hidden hearts, a love list for a grandparent, a heart in the window, back-to-back breathing and the goodnight heart. You need paper, pens and some music.

Sources

• Department for Education - Development Matters: non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage
• NHS - How to stop a child from choking
• NHS - Physical activity guidelines for children (under 5 years)
• BBC Newsround - What is Valentine's Day and how did it start?
• BBC Newsround - What is St Dwynwen's Day?
• Visit Wales - St Dwynwen's Day