7 Meaningful and Fun Valentine's Day Traditions for Families
Celebrating Valentine's Day has morphed as we have gone from being a couple, to a family with babies and toddlers, to now a family with kids ranging from 5-13 years old. Our understanding of the importance of the holiday has shifted too! Here are some ways we celebrate, and links to some resources I've created along the way!
1: GET COZY IN A FORT
On our first Valentine's Day together, we were frustrated at the "going out to eat" option with long waits and busy restaurants! So, we decided on our own tradition of getting take-out instead, and building a fort in the living room to get cozy and watch a movie together! We still enjoy the fort building tradition, and it's become a cozy and fun part of our Valentine's Day traditions with the family!
2. HEART SHAPED FOOD
For breakfast, heart shaped biscuits are festive and easy! Really, any food that can be heart-shaped is a hit on Valentine's Day! Think: pancakes, pizza, sandwiches cut out into heart shapes with cookie cutters, cheese slices cut with a heart cutter, soft pretzels made into heart shapes, and more! I love cutting apple slices cross-ways into disks and then punching out the center seeds with a small heart shaped cookie cutter. The kids love them, and they are a healthy addition to an otherwise sugary day!
3. SHARE THE VALENTINE'S LOVE
We like to craft, and I always have a bin of Valentine making supplies stored with our Valentine decor to pull out every year. Die-cut hearts, doilies, rhinestones, washi tape, ribbon, stencils, and heart paper punches are a source of endless fun! The kids always enjoy times to create and having it all in one place to pull out and add to keeps it simple! We love to make Valentine's for family, friends, neighbors, and especially people in our lives that might feel a little lonely on Valentine's Day.
4. DAILY LOVE NOTES/ENCOURAGEMENT NOTES
One tradition I've kept up with the kids starts February 1. I made these chair back "envelopes" that are copycats from a Pottery Barn version. Mine are just made of white felt, red rick-rack, and I hand embroidered their names on them. They slip onto their chairs in the dining room.
This is the Pottery Barn inspiration:
And these are ours:
Each morning from February 1-14, I slip a little note in the envelopes describing something I love about them. I also include a small piece of candy/sweet. They all look forward to opening their envelopes each morning and seeing what's inside. They also serve as a spot for them to deliver sweet Valentine notes to each other!
You can purchase the notes I designed here:
5. VALENTINE'S MORNING SURPRISES
On Valentine's Day morning, my husband gets all the girls in the family candy and flowers. It's a sweet tradition and he always does such a good job of making us feel valued and loved and cherished. I always save the sweet notes he writes for each of us! I am in charge of Valentine's surprises for the guys, which typically involves their favorite candies and a small toy/sports cards for my son.
6. RETELLING OUR LOVE STORY
We heard this idea from another couple, and we've also added in the tradition of retelling our love story to our kids on or around Valentine's Day.
7. MEANINGFUL VALENTINE CARDS
For the Valentine's that my kids pass out at school, I've always tried to find something that is meaningful without any "romance," especially for their ages! I created some printable Valentine cards that are full of Scripture. These are simple but meaningful and FULL of truth!
What are your favorite Valentine Traditions? I'd love to hear how you celebrate with your family!
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