This February, I’m participating in #LoveBlog hosted by Brita of Belle Brita. LoveBlog is a month long blogging challenge centered around blogging every weekday using the prompts provided. Another one of my blogs used to participate in it and since I’ve closed that particular blog, I decided to host it here this year. I’m excited to take on the challenge and try my hand at blogging regularly once again! I’m not going to ramble on with all of the details and prompts since you can find those in this post.

My husband and I have never really been big on celebrating Valentine’s Day. We have our reasons, including rarely being together for the holiday between long distance dating, deployments, and work schedules. I like the sentiment behind Valentine’s Day (celebrating love) but I also believe that love is an everyday occurrence and big gestures on a commercialized holiday just don’t appeal to me.

When I saw that the first prompt for the month was Valentine’s Day, I debated for a while on how I would address it. It didn’t take me too long to settle on the obvious – celebrating Valentine’s Day with kids. There’s so much potential for a fun, love filled day!

Five Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Kids

When I was teaching in a classroom, I loved celebrating the holidays and doing fun things with them. It breaks up the routine and makes things fun. Now that I’m a mom, I’m trying to do the same thing with my kids. My boys are still little so I’ll be keeping it simple this year but I wanted to type up a few ideas that can be used year after year with kids.

Fun with Food

One of my favorite ways to make a holiday special is with a special meal or snack. For Valentine’s Day, I often use heart cookie cutters to make sandwiches, pizza, and other goodies special. One year, I even made easy heart-shaped pizza bites! Another idea for using food to make the holiday special is baking and a decorating cookies together. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter and create a bunch of heart cookies to decorate! If you’re like me and don’t want a platter full of cookies sitting on your counter, you could extend the activity by delivering cookies to friends, family, and neighbors.

Movie Night

A movie night can be a lot of fun – especially if you make it a bit special. When we do movie night, we like to buy pizza, spread out a blanket, and watch the movie while we eat. We’re big on eating at the table as a family so this is a nice little treat for everyone. We’ve even given it the nickname of Pizza Picnic. You could adapt movie night in a variety of ways. For Valentine’s Day, pick out a movie featuring love and enjoy it together as a family. (Movie night is also a great at home date you can do after the kids go to bed!)

Make Playtime Special

Playtime is so important for kids. While we have plenty of free play, I also like setting up activities for them to do. These are often things that require a bit more supervision but work on various learning skills. If you don’t want to search and prepare special activities, you can also keep it simple by decorating the play space or including a few extra play props that go along with the holiday (such as hearts and teddy bears).

Books

We always have books available for the kids. As the seasons and holidays change, I rotate our books around to feature the ones that are related. For Valentine’s Day, I like to put out books that feature love, family, and the holiday. I save money on holiday books by using our library, used book stores, and after holiday sales. The kids always love seeing which new books have been put out when I change them.

Crafts

I know the thought of crafting with kids can seem messy and overwhelming but hang with me for a second. You can find something on Pinterest and go all out. Or you can keep it simple and make cards together. A little paper and crayons can go a long way! (You can add in paint, scissors, and glue based on the abilities of your kids.) Kids still enjoy a simple craft and the chance to create something special. You could extend the craft by delivering the cards to those around you. It’s the perfect opportunity to talk about kindness and how it relates to love!

I hope these ideas inspire you to do something fun with your own kids! Even if you don’t celebrate the romantic side of the holiday, it’s still a great time to talk about love and being kind to others. Your kids will enjoy the chance to do something just a little bit different!

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! (If you have a blog post about the topic, then use the link up below to share it with us!)

Co-Hosts

I’m actually a cohost for today’s prompt! I’m not cohosting all of the prompts but there are a few here and there. Each time that I cohost, you’ll get the chance to learn a little bit more about the other ladies hosting. I’ve shared all of the bios and links below (including my own in case you’re new here!). I highly recommend checking out these ladies!

Brita Long

Brita Long is the pink and sparkly personality behind the Christian feminist lifestyle blog, Belle Brita. On her blog and social media, you’ll discover more than authentic storytelling–she’s brutally honest about pursuing a fulfilling and joyful life even with Crohn’s Disease and depression. You can find her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Amy Hartle

Amy Hartle is the co-founder and owner of Two Drifters, where she blogs about romantic and couples travel, relationships, honeymoons, and more. With a Master’s in English and a BA in Musical Theatre, Amy loves to write quality content as well as to entertain, and she hopes to do a bit of both here on the blog! Amy is happily married to her husband Nathan, and when not working on their sites, Amy & Nathan can be found cuddling, reading, and enjoying delicious lattes. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Pamela Hodges (me!)

Pam is a former teacher turned work at home mom to two little boys. She blogs about motherhood and all it’s messy moments on her blog Hodge Podge Moments. She also shares play based learning activities at Little Learning Moments. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.

Link up your Valentine’s Day posts!