Valentine's Day

My 3-Step Plan for Celebrating an Elementary School Valentine’s Day

Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
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updated May 30, 2019
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(Image credit: Meghan Splawn)

Valentine’s Day is my favorite small holiday as a parent. We don’t make a big deal about celebrating it as grown-ups (we’re more likely to have a date night at home), but we do make a big deal about celebrating our kids and showing them our love on Valentine’s Day. This year our oldest started kindergarten and between classroom cards and their classroom “Friend’s Day” celebration, here’s how we are tackling Valentine’s Day celebrations with love (and organization).

(Image credit: Meghan Splawn)

1. Make Homemade Valentine’s Day

My 6-year-old is a maker at heart. She loves creating snail mail for grandparents with watercolor envelopes or hand-drawing birthday cards and wrapping paper for family birthdays, so store-bought Valentine’s Day cards are not for her. To cut down on supply costs, we will make a date of going to the dollar store the weekend before Valentine’s Day and create a craft based on what we find. The rest of the afternoon we will work together to paint, glue, and glitter 18 homemade Valentine’s Day cards for her classmates. We will be checking an item off our list, but we will also be spending quality one-on-one time together.

More ideas here: 5 Classroom Valentines You Can Make Using Dollar-Store Finds

(Image credit: Leela Cyd)

2. Send Treats for the Friend’s Day Class Party

Our elementary school calls Valentine’s Day Friend’s Day. The kids will have a treat and exchange cards to celebrate. At this point, I’m pretty much designated to bring treats for every celebration. Rice Krispies treats are one of my go-to desserts because they can be low-sugar and allergy-friendly, and we can add heart sprinkles to make them more festive. I’m skipping cutting these into hearts with a cookie cutter and using that saved time to pack an extra-special lunch box.

Our favorite recipe: How To Make Better-than-the-Box Rice Krispies Treats

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

3. Pack a Valentine’s Day Lunch Box Sweet

In the evening we will make a special family dinner and have dessert (a special weeknight exception to our dessert-on-the-weekend-only rule!), but school lunch is another opportunity to send a little love to my tiny valentine. I’m packing heart-shaped pasta, two chocolate-covered strawberries, and a little Valentine’s Day card just from me.

How do you celebrate Valentine’s day with your little ones?

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Tips & Techniques