SHELLEY HEAPHY for The Parents’ Voice
Valentine’s Day is coming up in a few weeks, which leaves tons of time for you to make a difference in that special person’s life. I know a lot of people comment about Valentine’s Day being a gimmick to make you have to go out and buy things for people. I have to say I definitely disagree with that sentiment. Although I understand that statement, I also think there are hundreds of other ways to celebrate a day of love – and lots of those ways are without spending money. Although I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day (I still remember coming home to homemade chocolate cupcakes with big gummy hearts on top when I was little) I love it even more now that I can celebrate it with my family.
Some great ideas to celebrate Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is all about . . .
the crafts — hearts, hearts and more hearts. There are heart people to be made, heart bugs/animals, heart crowns, heart garland and on and on and on. I love making heart shaped people. The difficulty of this craft can vary depending on the age of the child. The idea is to fit as many hearts as possible onto your heart person. A large heart for the body, a smaller heart for the head, little heart shaped eyes and nose. Add some yarn for hair and heart hands and feet. I love the addition of accordion arms and legs (cut out white strips of paper and let the child fold it back and forth making accordion like arms and legs).
This year with it being difficult to find store bought valentines, take a day and make them with your kids. There are tons of ideas online. Each of my kids have chosen different ones, one of them chose heart shaped cats, one made ice cream cone valentines and the third one chose heart shaped ones with stickers! The beauty part – we used craft supplies we already had at home and spent an afternoon making them.
Valentine’s Recipe — Get the kids to help make some heart shaped mini pizzas for dinner. Cut the English muffin (naan bread or dough) into a heart shape, add sauce, toppings of your choice and top with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Finish dinner up with a simple chocolate fondue with fruit. The kiddos will love helping cut up the fruit and will love even more getting to dip it into chocolate. You can also work together to make a batch of muffins or cookies for someone special in your lives. Maybe they’ll be for daddy/mommy to bring on their lunch or to deliver to grandma and grandpa, whoever the recipient your little baker will enjoy helping make and deliver these treats.
Spread the love to your extended family — make a craft for grandma and grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins or neighbours. There are some simple cards to be made. You can use baby’s feet to make the shape of a heart with the caption “love you from the bottom of my heart” or let your toddler fill a heart with squares of construction paper with the caption “Love you to pieces.” There are endless things to create; a quick search online will provide you with countless ideas.
If you can’t see your loved ones make sure to make a special phone call with the message of love floating over the phone waves, you can also try Skype or FaceTime for some face to face chatting. A few minutes out of your day will make a big difference to someone who loves your little ones!
Try and encourage siblings to make a special valentine for each other, (a card, a cookie, breakfast in bed) secretly. A surprise from your big sister or little brother will go a long way in your household!
Each year on the first of February we start sticking hearts on our kids doors, until Valentines day. Each day we write a new caption about that child (you are kind, you’re a great sister, you are so determined). They collect 14 hearts over the month and my kids hold onto them for a really long time. They love reading the captions and look forward to it every year.
Our Valentine’s tradition has always been a Valentine’s book.
We write a quick message on the inside flap with the year and year after year when we pull these books out in February our kids smile so wide at the messages from years passed! These books are keepers in our home!
However you decide to make the people in your home feel special enjoy a few more kisses and hugs this Valentine’s day!
