Valentine’s Day is almost here! This year, it falls on Family Day Long Weekend, making it easier than ever to plan family Valentine’s Day activities.
Looking for fun, easy, and low-cost Valentine’s Day ideas that keep kids entertained? We’ve put together simple crafts, games, and treats that families across Edmonton and Central Alberta will love – no matter your budget!
Beyond the tried-and-true Valentine’s Day cards, here are our favourite low-cost crafts.
Valentine’s Day Crafts
Heart-Shaped Stamps
Make your own heart stamps! You only need three things: an empty toilet paper roll, tape, and paint.
Materials:
- Empty cardboard toilet paper roll
- Your favourite colour of paint (tip: dollar store paint works great!)
- Tape
How to:
- Take your toilet paper tube. Press down on the top to make a dent. Pinch the bottom to create a heart shape.
- Wrap some tape around the heart-shaped tube to help it keep its shape.
- Dip the heart-shaped stamp in your favourite colour of paint, and stamp away!
Watercolour Surprise Paintings
Send the kiddos in your care a secret message of love with this fun craft!
Materials:
- White wax crayon
- White paper
- Watercolour paints (tip: check out your local dollar store)
How to:
- Write secret messages to each other using the white wax crayon on white paper.
- The recipient of your hidden message can then paint over your writing with watercolours to reveal what you wrote! Ask an adult to help if needed.
Paper Heart Stuffies
These adorable heart-shaped stuffies can be stuffed with tissue or candy. Easy and no sticky glue hands required!
Materials:
- Construction paper
- Markers
- Stapler and staples
- Stuffing: Tissue paper, candy, Valentine’s… whatever you want!
How To:
- Cut out two large hearts (same size) from construction paper, or download and print the free template from here.
- If you want to give your heart stuffie some arms and legs, cut out four rectangles, two longer ones for the legs and two shorter ones for the arms.
- Design the fronts and backs of your stuffie using the markers. Ideas to try: Cute faces, sweet messages of love, etc.
- If you have arms and legs, tape them to the inside of one of your hearts.
- Use the stapler to staple your front and back hearts together, leaving a large gap at the top.
- Stuff your stuffie! You could stuff it completely with crumpled tissue paper and staple up the top, or use it as an envelope to carry your Valentine’s Day candies or cards.
Once you’ve finished crafting, try these fun games and activities.
Valentine’s Day Games & Activities
Crossroads Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt
Kids of all ages love the thrill of a treasure hunt, and it makes getting their Valentine’s treats even more memorable and special!
Hide clues around your house. Each clue leads to the next one. The last clue leads to a treat!
Write your clues on paper and hide them around the house. They shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out or find. For example, your first clue could send them to the fridge where they’ll find the next clue under a magnet on the door.
To make it even easier to play, download and print this Crossroads Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt!
You can continue on your Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt journey with this Things I Love Scavenger Hunt worksheet!
Conversation Heart Stories
Use candy hearts to make funny sentences. Each person picks hearts and reads them in order. The sillier the story, the more fun you’ll have!
Kind Words Jar
During the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, have everyone in your household add one positive message a day into a jar. The notes could be something good that happened that day, a kind word someone said to them, or a moment that brought them joy. Read them together on Valentine’s Day!
After all that playing, everyone will be ready for these easy Valentine’s treats.
Valentine’s Day Treats
Tic-Tac-Toe Graham Crackers
Delicious, festive, and fun to make! These graham cracker snacks are the Valentine’s Day gift that keeps on giving.
Materials:
- Graham crackers
- Icing
- Candy hearts (use whatever your family likes, such as cinnamon hearts or conversation hearts)
- Plastic sandwich bag or piping bag
How To:
- Lay out your graham crackers as your tic-tac-toe board game base.
- Put icing in a plastic sandwich bag. Cut off one corner. Now you have a piping bag!
- Use your piping bag to draw two vertical lines and two horizontal lines on each graham cracker to create a tic-tac-toe board.
- Let them dry for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Let the games begin! Using your candy hearts, play tic-tac-toe on the crackers. First player to get three of their hearts in a row wins!
Strawberry Hearts
Easy and healthy! Put a little extra love into your child’s lunchbox by cutting strawberries in half, then cut out the green stem in a small V to make it look like a heart.
Valentine’s Pancakes
Start February 14th off strong with heart-shaped pancakes! Use some red food colouring in your batter for an extra sprinkle of love, then pour your batter in the pan in the shape of a heart. Tip: a large heart-shaped cookie cutter could come in handy here!
Valentine’s Day and Family Day are perfect times to celebrate connection and love. At Crossroads Family Services, we believe every child deserves to feel this warmth year-round.
Whether you’re spending the day with your own family or considering opening your home as a foster caregiver, these simple activities remind us that love is what makes a house a home.