If I’m being 100% honest, I am not really a Valentine’s Day person. I won’t turn down some pretty roses and yummy chocolates, but I want my love to be celebrated more than just one day a year. Somehow I feel like celebrating when everyone else is celebrating somehow makes it smaller. That’s just me.
I do think Valentine’s Day is a nice opportunity to talk about love with my kids. Love is such an abstract concept. There is no doubt kids feel love, but it’s hard to articulate even for most adults.
The book I picked to focus on isn’t particularly Valentine’s Day focused, but it is all about love. One of the first loves that young children experience – that between parent and child. It seemed a fitting book to read with my little ones for the holiday and then we did a lovely watercolor painting.
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Books about Valentine’s Day + Friendship
I Love You Because You’re You by Liza Baker
The activity for table time below is based on this sweet story. Gently illustrated by the wonderful David McPhail, this is a darling story about a mom and a little boy. The mom shares that she loves her little one when he’s happy, sad, and everything in between. It ends with “I love you any way you are. I love you because you’re you!” I love the message. As a mom I ride the waves of my children’s strong emotions all day long, yet good or bad at the end of the day I love them always. This beautiful idea is well articulated by Liza Baker in this sweet story. 1+
3 More Great Read Aloud Books about Love
1.Be A Friend by Salina Yoon
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Salina Yoon has a darling penguin series and this is a completely intriguing departure. The illustrations are muted and the concept draws you in. Dennis is a small, shy boy who dresses and acts like a mime. Stop here if you are frightened of mimes, but truthfully he is the most adorable mime. It is a book about imagination and being unique and finding true friendship. 3+
2.Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick
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This is the true story of Winnie the Pooh and a quite remarkable one at that. In 1914, a veterinarian named Harry Colebourn was headed to World War I when he came across a bear cub and rescued her. It turns the beloved British Winnie the Pooh was a girl bear named Winnepeg who was born in Canada. Harry’s great-granddaughter tells this fascinating story that spans from Canada across the ocean to England where Winnie ultimately meets the real Christopher Robin at the London Zoo. The Caldecott Winner is filled with heart and friendship and the most incredible journey to the stories that have won the hearts of millions of children. 3+
3.Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry
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A sweet book about friendship. Stick and Stone are all alone and lonely until Stick stands up to a bully for Stone. A fast friendship is formed and the two are side by side until a storm carries Stick away. Can Stone find and rescue his special pal? Thoughtful limited text and gentle but quirky illustrations, this team of Ferry and Lichtenheld is a perfect 10. 3+
More Valentine’s Book – for the Toddler Crowd!
Valentine’s Day Board Books – from The Jenny Evolution
Songs + Rhymes for Valentine’s Day
Love, Love, Love song – from Lawteedah
If You Love Me + You Know It – from The Kiboomers
Group Activity based on I Love You Because…
After we read the story, we had a conversation.
First we talked about feelings.
Feelings of all kinds. This was an open conversations, but I helped it along with some questions. Try something like;
What makes you feel mad?
When do you feel happy?
What do you do when you feel sad?
How can you help someone who feels sad?
Then, we focused on Love.
We talked about who we love. Daddy is on our mind a lot because he’s away for work this month. I wrote their words down on a chart that we brought with us to the table for our creative activity. See more below!
Still Need Valentine’s?
Order these fun unique ones from JoyinCo
Amazon Link
Goodbye song.
The Goodbye Train is Leaving. (Watch on YouTube) from Jbrary
Table Invitations for Valentine’s Day
I Love You Because Creative Invitation
These are simple invitations to encourage children ages 2 and up to create and think about the people they love.
Materials:
Watercolor Paper
Watercolor Brushes
Watercolor Paints
Sharpie
Pen
Red Ribbon
Stapler
Scissors
Set Up:
Before story time, I drew hearts with a sharpie on several pieces of watercolor paper.
I also gathered basic watercolor painting supplies and made a spot for each child. Each spot had a place mat to define their work space, a piece of paper with hearts drawn, a pen, watercolor paints, a paint brush, and a cup of water.
Activity:
I brought the chart from group time over to the table area after story time.
We started the activity by writing with our pens. On our hearts we wrote out things that we love about the people in our family. Young children have a somewhat limited ability to articulate their love. Their responses were primarily of the concrete kind “I love my brother because he plays with me.” Write down their responses, whatever they might be, then to the fun part.
When I did this at home, I worked with my 3 year olds to copy the words they dictated from the chart we created during group time. They did some writing and I helped some too. Tailor this part of the activity to each child’s writing abilities.
When I did this at school with two year olds, I had them dictate their ideas to me and I wrote them on the hearts for them.
Next, we painted.
Offer your kids the basic waterpainting supplies for a simple painting session. Watercolors are one of my favorites. They are soft and flow across the paper. I love the colors and the way they blend. Fortunately my kids seem to feel the same way.
When we were done we set them aside to dry.
In the afternoon, I cut the hearts out with scissors. Older children would be able to do this step on their own.
When I did this activity at home, we stapled the hearts to the ribbon. My kids decided to hang our bunting across the fireplace. I think they are missing our Christmas stockings.
When I did this in a classroom, we strung the bunting across a whole wall in our room. I typed a brief note to hang below it on the wall to share our process and conversation. Parents enjoyed reading the love notes their kids had dictated to us.
If you’re doing this at the library, you could make a simple hanging by punching a hole in the heart and sending it home with a piece of ribbon to hang on the wall.
More Table Invitation + FREE Valentine’s Unit Ideas
Play I-SPY or BINGO with classroom sets from Joyin Co.
Valentine’s Day Heart Hidden Treasure Cookies – from Crafty Mama
Valentine’s Day Free Math Worksheets – from iGame Mom
Valentine’s Day Printable Game – from Craft Create Calm
Preschool Letter Match Valentine Match – from Schooling a Monkey
