For the most part, people associate Valentine’s Day with romance, nice dinners, and cliche gifts. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be more than that.
It can actually be a day where your children can participate, too!
Children deserve to partake in the love and the care that V-Day promotes. Besides, it will greatly serve the world to have more people to understand love, especially with so many adults missing the concept altogether.
Do the following to have an inclusive Valentine’s Day — one where your kids can celebrate alongside you.
Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts can be a great way to expose your children to the meaning of Valentine’s Day. You can create 3-D heart pop-up cards and write love letters to the world. You can also create a bouquet of flowers with the outline of their hands on colorful construction paper. Extend the activity by getting a paper cup and having them decorate it as well. There are so many arts and crafts activities that revolve around love. Seriously, the possibilities are endless — you can find more of them here.
Books about Love
Children love asking questions, and their curiosity is ideal for Valentine’s Day. They want to know why or what we celebrated exactly. If you don’t want to get into the history bulk on the day (completely understandable!), we suggest you read them books about love. It doesn’t have to be about romantic love per se. It can be about caring for others different from them, loving nature, or a book on familial love.
Love for Nature
V-Day is perfect to showcase the importance of caring. Teaching your children about loving nature can also be a fun activity for them on this day. Check if you have dried beans or any produce seeds lying around your kitchen. If you do, have them plant these seeds or beans outside. Give them a label and tell them to decorate with their name on it. Use this opportunity to teach them about the wonders of nature and why they should never be neglected. For those of you who don’t have any spare seeds or dried beans, a quick trip to your nearest appliance or gardening store will sell you plenty of these pebbles for a low price.
Cooking with Love!
The Hispanic kitchen is sacred. We are well-aware of this. However, on special days, such as Valentine’s Day, a few exceptions can be made. On this day, you can have your children help you out in the kitchen. Maybe you can create a menu that the entire family will enjoy. A menu of mid-day snacks can work as well. A popular one is heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches.
Make sure the children get the lighter tasks, though. For instance, have them add the slices of cheese to the bread for the heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. You, on the other hand, will cut out the hearts and grill them on a pan. There are plenty more of these cooking activities that you and your children will enjoy.
Self-love
Use V-Day to elevate the spirits of your kids by celebrating them. You can have them create a “selfie” wall at home where they cut positive words out of construction paper that describes them. Let them take as many selfies as they want. Perhaps you can print out the photos at a later date.
You’ll also want to tell them that one of the most significant steps in loving someone in the future is their love for themselves. Teach them while young. They’ll thank you later in life.