Valentine's Day is the perfect time to incorporate teaching units/skills on Community Helpers {i.e.. the mailman}, Friendship, the colors Pink and/or Red, the Letter C (candy, cards} or the Letter V for Valentines.  If you let your students make and write their own Valentine cards, you have the makings for a wonderful literacy center.  Below are some more great ideas that you might consider using as well.   So let your students have some fun, and they might not even realize they're learning as well! :)

Books:
The Valentine Bears ~ Eve Bunting
Mouse's First Valentine ~ Lauren Thompson
Legend of the Valentine ~ Katherine Grace Bond
Love Bugs: A Pop-Up Book ~ David Carter
Bob's Valentine Surprise ~ Kim Ostrow
Be My Valentine ~ Alison Inches
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch ~ Eileen Spinelli
Counting Kisses ~ Karen Katz 
Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink ~ Diane De Groat 
The Day It Rained Hearts ~ Felicia Bond 
Junie B. Jones And The Mushy Valentine ~ Barbara Park
The Runaway Valentine ~ Tina Casey
Love Is ~ Wendy Anderson 
All For Love ~ Tasha Tudor 
Saint Valentine ~ Robert Sabuda
Franklin's Valentines ~ Paulette Bourgeois
Love and Kisses, Kitty : A Lift-The-Flap Valentine ~ Max Haynes 
Biscuit's Valentine's Day ~ Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Valentine's Day ~ Gail Gibbons 
Arthur's Valentine Countdown ~ Marc Tolon Brown 
Little Mouse's Big Valentine ~ Thacher Hurd
Corduroy's Valentine Activity Book  ~ Don Freeman
Froggy's First Kiss ~ Jonathan London
Valentine's Day ~ Anne Rockwell
Olive You! : And Other Valentine Knock-Knock Jokes You'll  A-Door ~ Katy Hall 
Valentine Mice! ~ Bethany Roberts 
Valentine Cats! ~ Bethany Roberts
A Charlie Brown Valentine ~ Charles M. Shulz
Valentine's Day ~ Michelle Knudsen
The Story of Valentine's Day ~ Nancy Skarmeas
Clifford I Love You ~ Norman Bridwell 
One Zillion Valentines ~ Frank Modell
Village Full of Valentines ~ James Stevenson
"Bee My Valentine" ~ Miriam Cohen
The Night Before Valentine's Day ~ Natasha Wing
Arthur's Great Big Valentine ~ Lillian Hoban 
Pucker Up, Buttercup! ~ Simon Davies
Raggedy Ann's Candy Heart Wisdom : Words of Love and Friendship ~ Johnny Gruelle
Sergeant Sniff's Secret Valentine Mystery : A Sergeant Sniff Scratch-And-Sniff Mystery ~     Valerie Garfield
Four Valentines in a Rainstorm ~ Felicia Bond
Valentine ~ Carol Carrick
Big Bob and the Magic Valentine's Day Potato (Hello Reader.  Level 3) ~ Jill Pinkwater 

This is just a sample of the Valentine books that you can find at Amazon.com.  They listed over 300 books to choose from!

The Valentine Bears ~ Eve Bunting:  Jan Brett is the illustrator for this book and if you've been studying bears and/or hibernation, it's a must.  The Valentine Bears wake up from their winter naps to surprise each other with Valentine treats!

February Handprints Calendar:  Paint both hands with red or pink paint (or use a large stamp pad ... these can be found in the Lakeshore School Supply catalog).  Have student put all fingers together, with hands overlapping to form a heart.  Add the poem below:

A piece of me I give to you.
I painted the heart to say, " I love you!"
The heart is you, the hands are me,
To show we are friends the best there can be.
I hope you will save it and look back some day,
At the heart I made for you on this special day.

Interactive Bulletin Board Idea:  Cut out assorted colored hearts and program with sayings from Conversation Hearts candy.  When finished, provide each student with a conversation candy heart and let them find the matching heart on the bulletin board. 
Some of the sayings are:
Be Mine
So Cool
Sweetie Pie
Hugs and Kisses
My Friend
Give Me a Hug
Cutie
Pretty Girl
Dog Lips
I Love You
So Smart
Honey Bunch
Good Friend
Kiss Me
*Note* Because there are several different kinds of Conversation Hearts, you'd need to buy your candy then program your hearts to match.

Another Conversation Hearts Bulletin Board or Door Display:  Collect enough individual sized boxes of Conversation Hearts for each student.  Remove the candy and mount each student's picture in the heart shaped "window" on the box.  Mount these on the bulletin board or door with the heading ... "Better Than a Box of Candy!"  Fill in with colored hearts programmed with Heart sayings.

This idea I found down the hall last year. 
This door belongs to another one our talented K teachers.

"Kindergarten A Bloom" Bulletin Board or Door Display: This idea also came from down the hall at another K teacher's door. :) The heart shaped "frames" were cut from an Ellison die-cut and the students' pictures were mounted inside. 
 

Poems are always great things to use in a classroom. There are poems written for almost anything and Valentine's Day is certainly no exception.  As a matter of fact, how could we have Valentine's Day at all without poems?!  I know the first poem that I ever learned was

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you!
~ Author Unknown

Short poems such as this are wonderful to use in the Early Childhood classroom.  Even "non-readers" can become "readers" using such poems as these.  Making the connection that words  or print "says something" is one of the first stages of learning to read.  How I use poems and Poetry Journals can be found on the Literacy Connections page.   My students love the use of poems and songs in our classroom.  Even my "non-readers" feel successful reading and singing the songs.  (They're always given a printed copy of the songs as well, for their own use.)

I also use LOTS of poems in my pocketcharts.  Check out my Easter page.  How I use them is explained using the "Easter Bunny Happy" spinoff poem that I wrote.

More poems ...

Do you love me or do you not,
You told me once,
But I forgot ...
I LOVE YOU!
~ Author Unknown

Will you "bee" my valentine,
And bumble away with me?
I'd love to be your valentine,
Because you're my honey bee!
Bzzzzzzzzz!
~ Author Unknown

Rose are red,
Violets are blue,
I made some valentines ,
I cut and glued!

One for father,
One for mother,
One for grandma, too.

One for sister,
One for brother,
And here is one for you!
~ Author Unknown

Chocolate Hearts
Chocolate hearts are on the wall,
Chocolate hearts are on the ball,
Chocolate hearts are at the mall,
It must be Valentine's Day.

I gave my love a chocolate heart.
He ate it right away.
He gave ma a chocolate heart.
It must be Valentine's Day.

I gave my heart a valentine card,
And it said, "I love you!"
My love gave me a valentine card,
And it said, "Love you, too!"

Chocolate hearts are on my fish.
Chocolate hearts are on my dish.
Chocolate hearts are in my wish.
It must be Valentine's Day!
~ Author Unknown

*Note* The poem above is an excellent example of sometimes using only excerpts from longer poems when needed.  If your students aren't ready for such a long poem, you could choose only one verse and use it, denoting that it was an excerpt from the poem "Chocolate Hearts".

Also, the first and last verses of this poem would lend themselves wonderfully to teaching several skills such as phonemic awareness, the "al/all", "ch", and "sh" sounds.  This poem also contains many sight words for the first and second grade readers.

Probably one of my first and fondest memories of school was in 3rd grade when we each covered a shoebox with white paper, cut a slit in the top, and decorated it with red and pink colored hearts {cut by hand ... there was no Ellison machine back then! :) }, as well as a couple of heart shaped doilies.  Then that night at home, I would painstakingly go through each valentine that came in my box of purchased valentines and decide which person in my class would get what valentine.  The valentine would be addressed To: and From: on the back , stuffed in the envelope, and it would be addressed To: .  The next day, each student delivered each of their valentines to the "mailbox" of the recipients.  Then of course, at the Valentine's Party we all opened our valentines and read them.  It was always neat to see who gave you what valentine and how many you got from certain people.  :)  (I'll never forget that in 5th grade I got 5 valentines from the cute guy who sat behind me!!!) 

All these great memories and the fun that we had AT SCHOOL  .. and just look at all the reading and writing that went on!!  I've probably NEVER misspelled "to" and "from" since!  And what an opportunity to introduce the concept of "to and "from".  And that can lead straight into writing letters and addressing envelopes, which can lead into Community Helpers and/or the mail system.  Valentine's Day is a plethora of opportunities just waiting to be used!

Ok, ok,  all this was said as an introduction to Valentine Mailboxes!  What fun!!!

Valentine Mailboxes can be made from about any container that will stand upright and hold about 20 - 30 valentine cards. (And the teachers and assistants should each have one as well.)  As I described before, they can be made from shoeboxes covered with bulletin board paper, decorated white lunch bags, or even covered cereal boxes or spray painted coffee cans.  If you have the time to collect them, and your students are expecting a great "haul', then you could even use painted laundry detergent boxes with the handles.  For smaller classes, then a decorated  Kleenex box with the pre-cut opening might work well.  These smaller boxes would only be big enough to be used specifically as a mailbox, but the larger boxes could even become transports for treats and other Valentine goodies. Just remember to remind your students to leave a prominent place on the box for their name!

Berry Sweet Valentine: I saw this valentine idea in Pack-O-Fun.  I don't know how they made theirs, because I didn't read it.  I just looked at their photo and made my own.  I needed a quick Valentine for Dakota (my granddaughter), because I wasn't paying $4 for an ugly Valentine this year.  And this Valentine idea fit perfectly because at the end of the month she's have a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, plus I had all the stuff at hand to make this card and it was relatively quick and easy.  It would also be easy enough to make a template for your class to cut out the two hearts and strawberry top and make their own valentines.  You could even have the hearts preprinted if you wish.

 I cut two red hearts with the Ellison machine and then made the green husk for the top.  I used a black pen to make tiny upside down hearts for the seeds on the front of the strawberry, then stapled the husk to the two hearts.  I poked half a green pipecleaner through the middle of the husk and wrapped it around a pencil to spiral it.  I used a Sharpie marker for the message.

Valentine Party in a bag:  Send home a paper lunch bag with each student for them to decorate and fill with the following items:  1 juice box, 1 candy treat, 1 individually wrapped sweet treat (such as a Little Debbie snack or any other type purchased snack cake), one bag of pretzels or chips, and one valentine card addressed to "My Secret Valentine".  (Have these due back at school at least one day in advance so you can make adjustments for those who don't return theirs to ensure that everyone will receive a bag.)

Staple the tops closed, have students place their chairs in a circle, place their bag underneath the chair, and put on some fun music.  As the music plays, the children change seats.  After doing this a couple of times, have the students open their bags and  ... let the party begin! 

The same bag idea with a twist .. instead of using music, read the poem, "Pink! Pink!" below.   Every time you say "pink', the children hand their bags to the person on their right.

PINK! PINK!
Our favorite color
Is pink - pink - pink.
And we always write letters
With pink-pink ink.

We like our lemonade
To drink-drink-drink,
But especially when
It's a pink-pink drink.

We always use dishes
That are pink-pink-pink.
And wash them all clean
In a pink-pink sink.

If we had some pink paint,
We think-think-think,
We would paint the whole world
In pink-pink-pink!
~ Author Unknown

Heart People:  We made these in elementary school as well!  Provide each student with a large heart shape to cut out, as well as one medium heart, and four small hearts.  The large heart is the body, the medium heart the head, and the small hearts are the hands and feet.  Glue the head onto the back of the large heart with the point side down.  Add facial features with markers or crayons, and/or wiggly eyes.  A bow pattern can be provided as well.  It can be used as a hair bow for the girls and a bow-tie for the boys.  Accordion fold four strips of paper and glue on for arms and legs.  Glue the small hearts to the end of each.

Valentine's Day Breakfast:  This reminds me of something I use to do with my daughter when she was young.  When she got up on Valentine's Day, I'd already have her breakfast plate waiting.  I would tape heart-shaped balloons to the edge of the plate and use a cookie cutter to make an impression in her toast.  :)  Beside that would be her Valentine treats.

You can treat your class to breakfast as well!  How about pink scrambled eggs, heart-shaped waffles with strawberries and whipped  cream, Cran-Strawberry juice, and pink  or strawberry flavored milk.  Yum!!!  Go all out with pink and red paper, or Valentines paper plates, etc.  This yummy breakfast deserves it!

Love Trees:  Provide each student with a bare tree trunk to color.  Have them add candy conversation hearts and heart-shaped redhots for the "blooms".  An additional activity would be to have them write about whom they'll give their "love tree" to and why.

Estimation Station:  Fill a small jar with conversation hearts or heart-shaped redhots (hearts for the younger kids, redhots for the older kids).  Provide small slips of paper and a basket.  Each student will estimate how many pieces of candy are in the jar and write their answer on a piece of paper and place it in the basket.  After everyone has made their guess, count the candy with the class.  Discuss and graph the results. 


Is My Valentine at the Zoo?

Valentine, valentine, who will you be?
A yawning sloth that hangs from a tree, or a
Long-legged giraffe with big brown eyes,
Elusive elephant of enormous size,
Nattering parrot or yackety yak,
Thirsty camel with a hump on his back.
Itching monkey, bumbling old bear,
Nosy narwhale, or panda rare,
Earnest emu who cannot fly,
'Smallest chickadee in the sky, or

Dandy kangaroo who bounds so high?
All of these animals in the zoo
Yearn to be mine ... but I'd rather have you!
~ Author Unknown

*Note* Can you tell that the letters going down spell Valentine's Day?

Valentines Are Made to Share
(tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Valentines are made to share,
Made to share, made to share.
Valentines are made to share,
With my friends at school.

Be My Valentine
(tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

You're a special friend of mine,
Friend of mine, Friend of mine.
You're a special friend of mine,
Be my valentine.

Do You Know My Valentine?
(tune: Muffin Man)

Do you know my valentine,
My valentine, my valentine?
Do you know my valentine?
His/her name is _________.

Five little valentines were having a race.
The first little valentine was frilly with lace.
The second little valentine had a funny face.
The third little valentine said, "I love you!"
The fourth little valentine said, "I do, too!"
The fifth little valentine was sly as a fox.
He ran the fastest to your valentine box.

Walking , Talking Valentine Cards:  Turn your students into the Kings and Queens of Hearts!  Design a crown pattern for them to make or have them glue heart cutouts, stickers, etc. to a sentence strip.  Fit the sentence strip to their head to form the crown and staple. 

For the costume, cut a large rectangle of red or pink bulletin board paper.  Fold the rectangle in half.  Cut a "V" shape for the neck opening and round off the shoulders.  Then trim off the bottom into a point.  The neck opening is the top of the heart, and the points are the bottom.  Using a large font, type up the following poem and glue it to the front of the costume.  Students decorate as desired.  When complete, they slip the costume over their head and ... ta da!  King or Queen of Hearts.

There's a valentine standing at your door.
I'm just one of a kind -- you can't buy me at the store!
I've got something for you that you don't want to miss,
So just pucker up and give me a great big kiss!

*Note* As you can tell, this is a costume for wearing home to their mom or dad.  :)

Valentine Magnets:  We're back to those Conversation Hearts that come in the individual boxes! :)  Empty the boxes , insert a child's picture in the heart-shaped "window" on the front o f the box.  Hotglue a magnet to the back of the box.

Patterning:  Use red, pink, and/or white heart cut-outs to practice patterning skills.  They can be used to practice AB or ABC, etc. patterns.

These same hearts can be patterned and glued onto a sentence strip to make a hat or crown.

Missing Hearts: Cut out 26 heart shapes and sequence them in your pocketchart.  Remove some of the hearts and have your students work on getting them back into the correct sequence. 

These same hearts can be totally removed from the pocketchart.  The students put them back in order in the pocketchart.

Matching:  Heart shapes can also be used to make many matching activities.  Program one set with capital letters and a different color set with lowercase letters..  Students match the letters.  This can also be done with one large heart for the capital letters, and a small heart for the lowercase letters.

They can also match colored hearts to color words (words are all placed on the same color hearts).  They can match colored hearts.  They can match dots to numbers. (a new pencil eraser and an ink pad make perfectly round dots)   They can also match rhyming words, rhyming pictures; make compound words using one heart cut in half, match words to their contraction, match opposites, match synonyms, etc.  The list is endless!

Valentine  "Wreath":  This is an idea that I've never got to try out, but I'm going to try it this year.  Hotglue the crooks of two candycanes facing each other together, then hotglue the bottoms together to form  a point.  Now it should look like a heart.  Add a red bow. 

And somewhere, I read that you can do this same thing, but instead of gluing them together, you lay them on a nonstick pan and melt them in  an oven ... watching closely.  Then when they're cool, add the bow.  This idea my TA tried out last year.  It was pretty, but very fragile. 

Another Wreath idea:  For Halloween , we made paperplate wreaths using Ellison die-cut jack-o-lanterns and ghosts.  You could change that idea and use it to make a Valentine wreath.  You would need pink and red (maybe even white) heart cutouts, and another type of cut-out like a cupid or something. 

Cut out the center of a sturdy white paperplate (don't use styrofoam as the glue doesn't want to stick as well to it).  Glue the cut-outs around the paperplate in an alternating and overlapping style.  Hang on a pushpin, or glue a loop of yarn to the back as a hanger.

Optional:  curl some short pieces of ribbon and glue around in between the cut-outs. 

 

This is the wreath that I made to hang on my door.  I didn't have any raffia ribbon there that day, so I cut up strips of paper for the ribbon.  My students did these the next week in a Center.

Matching Hearts:  This is a whole group matching activity.  You'll need 8 1/2 x 11 inch hearts cut in half vertically.   Program them with a matching skill such as compound words, color words, etc.  Laminate. 

For instance, if you're working on compound words ... you'd program one half of the heart with the word "hot" and the other half with the word "dog"; programming each heart with a compound word.  Then each student would receive one half of each heart and the teacher would keep one half of each heart. 

To play, the teacher would hold up one half of the heart, and recite the following poem:

My friend gave me a valentine,
But signed it as "Guess Who?"
Our hearts are a pair, you see.
So stand up if it's you!
~ Author Unknown 
   (adapted by Cindy Montgomery)

The student with the other matching half would come forward.

This idea was adapted from one where the following poem was used and the activity was simply a matching activity for matching patterned/decorated hearts; such as hearts cut from wallpaper.

My friend gave me a valentine,
But signed it as "Guess Who?"
Our hearts are just alike, you see.
So stand up if it's you!
~ Author  Unknown

Measurement:  Cut out a huge red heart from red paper, or draw one on a paved surface using sidewalk chalk.  Read the book, A Village Full of Valentines by James Stevenson. Then allow each student to estimate  and pull off enough red yarn from a skein or roll  to go around the heart.  Cut off the estimated amount of yarn for each student.  After each student has their own piece of yarn, actually allow them the opportunity to measure the heart with it.  Graph the results ... too much, too little, shorter, longer, more, less, equal to, or just right!

Next, measure the heart using a strand of yarn and cut off the results.  Allow the students to measure their estimates against the actual size of the heart.

Valentine Mobile:  Using Ellison die-cuts, but out pink, white, and red solid and "frame" hearts.  (what I call "frame" hearts are ones with the centers cuts out)  Glue to varying lengths of color coordinated yarn.  You can also use cupid cut-outs if you have them.

These can be hung from an even larger heart shape, or a piece of red construction paper cut in half vertically.  Glue or tape the ends of the two pieces of construction paper together and have the students glue on white heart cutouts.  When dry, staple the two remaining ends together to form a cylinder.  Hole punch two holes and hang with yarn.

Fingerpainting:  For the younger ones, let them fingerpaint on a large sheet of paper with red and white paint.  When dry, cut out each piece of paper into a large heart shape.  You could also use this activity to introduce the color pink ... which is what you'll get by mixing the red and white.

An extension for this activity would be to place red and white icing in a ziploc bag for each student.  Allow them to smush the bag around until the icing is mixed.  Then they use their icing to decorate their own cupcake.  Candy hearts, red hots, etc. can be provided for decoration as well. 

Lacy Hearts:  Provide each student with two red pipecleaners and a length of white crepe paper streamer.  Demonstrate how to use a hole punch to make a small triangle shape using 3 holes (without the holes touching)  on one edge of the paper.  Repeat this pattern all the way down the streamer.  When gathered the streamer should have a "lacy" look.  On the opposite side of the streamer, punch holes  in a straight line down the streamer.  Again, make sure the holes do not touch. 

Next, thread the streamer onto the pipecleaner through the "straight line" holes.  When one pipecleaner is full, connect the other pipecleaner to it by twisting the ends together.  Continue threading the streamer onto the pipecleaners.  Once the streamer is totally threaded onto the pipecleaners, twist the remaining ends of the pipecleaners together.  Last, form the pipecleaners into a heart and adjust the "lace".  A red satin bow may be added.

Placemats:  For some reason or another, "weaving"  always seems to become a Valentine craft activity.  :)  So here's a woven Valentine placemat.

Start with a large sheet of red construction paper and the same size sheets of pink and white construction paper cut into 1 inch strips.  Cut slits in the red construction paper, making sure not to cut within an inch of the edge either way.

Now's the fun part .. trying to teach the kids how to weave the pink and white paper strips into the red ones.  Have fun! :)   When finished, glue down the ends and add tiny die-cut hearts.  Laminate.

Counting activity:  Empty a box of chocolates, but keep the paper candy liners and the heart shaped box.  (I'm sure you'll figure out something to do with all that chocolate candy!)  Program each paper liner with a stick on dot programmed with a number.  Have the students count out that many red hot hearts or candy hearts into each candy liner.  When they've completed the activity, of course they need to be able to sample some of the candy!

Lacing:  Cut different color and size hearts from posterboard.  Laminate.  Hole punch holes around the edges.  Supply appropriate lengths of color coordinated yarn that have had a "needle " formed on one end with masking tape.  The students use the yarn to lace around the hearts. 

Patterning:  Those colored candy hearts make excellent manipulatives for patterning activities.  Depending on the level of your students, you can have them use them to reproduce patterns that you've glued to a strip of cardboard or posterboard, or have them extend patterns that you've begun, or provided them with the candy and let them create their own patterns.

Graphing:  They can also be used just as well for graphing.  Provide each student with an appropriate graph and a small bag of hearts.  Have them graph their candy according to the graph.  They can graph by color or by saying.  Questions can also be provided at the bottom of the graph for them to answer.  To answer the questions, they must be able to interpret the graph.  If you need a "worksample", have them color in one square for each heart, then they can take their candy home as a treat.

Valentine Pattern Necklace:  Provide each student with a  heart shape cut-out and a piece of yarn.  Hole punch each heart with two holes side-by-side, but not touching (this will keep them from hanging side-ways).  Thread the yarn through both holes.  Provide each student with red and pink  uncooked, dyed  pasta.  If you want to include white, you can spray paint the noodles white.  Have them thread the pasta onto each side of the necklace in a pattern.

Mailing Center:  Set up a Post Office in your classroom as a Center.  Provide students with scrap paper, construction paper, stickers, markers, glue, scissors, stamps, old Valentine cards, etc. and let them make cards or write notes to send to their friends and family.   A small, multi-student class mailbox can be made by covering an empty wine or glasses box.  These types of boxes come with built in dividers to keep the contents from smashing together.  Each "cell" in the box can be labeled for a student using a stick on label.  Don't forget to put one for yourself and your assistant!

*Note* A brief lesson on appropriate letter content might also be in order.  :)

Florist Drama Center:  Turn your Drama Center into a floral hub of activity!  Flowers are abundant on Valentine's Day, and your classroom will be no exception.  Provide the students with silk flowers, ribbon; plastic pots, vases, and other containers fitted with styrofoam pieces glued into the bottom, as well as To: and From: cards, pens, pads, a calculator and a telephone.  Now just sit back and watch the orders roll in! :)

Fine Motor Center:  Provide red, white, and pink play dough and heart shaped cookie cutters.  If you have access to different sizes of heart cookie cutters, encourage your students to cut out the shapes, then line them up sequentially according to size.

Students can also be provided with laminated work mats containing heart shapes.  They use the play dough to fill in the heart shapes on the mat, then decorate the hearts with different colors of play dough.

Another activity for a fine motor center would be to provide each student with a large heart shape pattern photocopied onto white construction paper.  The students fill in the heart shape with either pieces of torn red or pink construction paper or tiny pieces of tissue paper twisted around the end of an unsharpened pencil.  They could also just twist the tissue paper, dip it into glue and stick it onto the heart. 

Just for fun:  Show your students how to fold a piece of construction paper and cut out half of a heart on the fold.  Once you open it up to show them the results, and they get the hang of it, there will be millions of hearts around! 

Heart Flowers:  Photocopy a vase pattern onto a sheet of construction paper vertically.  Provide each student with 3 heart cut-outs.  The students color or paint the vase, glue the hearts "above" the vase as the flowers.  Then use a marker or crayon to add the stems. 

*This would be a good time to introduce or reinforce the concept of  "above".

Kissy Fish:  Provide each student with a pattern containing a large heart, a medium heart, and three small hearts.  The large heart is the body (point towards the tail), the medium size heart is the tail (point towards the body and underlapping), one small heart for each fin, and the last one for  fish lips (also underlapping)!  :)  Add eyes with a crayon, marker, or wiggly eyes.  If you dare, you can have them make two fish facing each other on a large sheet of construction paper!

Money:  If you're looking for an idea to reinforce money concepts, a store is perfect.   This store contains supplies to make Valentine cards or crafts.  Each student is supplied with a certain amount of money, or the money could be earned through good grades, good behavior, and/or good attendance.  All supplies in the store are priced, and the students purchase what they need to make their Valentine cards or Valentine crafts.

A different spin on this concept would be to supply the students with the supplies and the money, then let them set up their own store and sell their ready made cards or crafts to their classmates.

Valentine Bracelets:  Have students thread red, pink, and white pony beads in a pattern onto a leather thong.  Tie carefully.

Parent Valentine Card:  Provide each student with  a flimsy, white paperplate and a sentence strip.  Have them decorate the paperplate as their face and glue on yarn hair, etc.  The students copy "I love you this much!" onto the sentence strip.  Then trace their hands, cut them out, and glue them onto the ends of the sentence strip with the thumbs pointing up.  Last, staple the paperplate to the back of the sentence strip in the middle.  Fold the sentence strip (arms) in towards the face with the hands resting under the chin.  When the parent opens the arms up, it will say, "I love you this much!"

Valentine Bulletin Board:  Make a large red heart, then lay it onto a piece of white paper  and make another larger heart with scalloped edges.  Glue or staple the red heart over the white one creating a red heart with white lace.  Staple white cupcake liners (Valentine ones would be great) inside the red heart giving the effect of a box of chocolates.  Glue each student's picture into one of the cupcake liners.  Caption:  Life is like a box of chocolates ... always full of surprises!

Susan Miller, a kindergarten teacher in Chestertown, NY at North Warren Central School, liked this Valentine bulletin board so much that she decided to use the idea to enter into their school door decorating contest.  Her class won First Place!  Congratulations, Susan, and thanks for sharing your picture of your door below ...

 

Feb. 2002

Wrinkled Heart:  This idea was shared on the 'net and I surely need to do it with my class.  Some of my students are into laughing at others and saying they aren't going to be someone else's friend.

The activity is to cut out a red heart and gather your class around you.  Have them say mean things to you or laugh at you.  Every time they do this, wrinkle the heart in your hands.  Afterwards, show them how their mean remarks where hurtful and that you can smooth out the wrinkles in the heart, but they're never totally gone.   Explain that when they do this to someone, it's the same as with the heart.  They may get over the mean remarks, but they never will be totally forgotten.

Heart Glyph:  Provide each student with a heart with a lacy edge and tiny die-cut hearts.
Boy ~ color your heart red
Girl ~ color your heart pink
Have a dog ~ color your lace purple
Have a cat ~ color your lace yellow
No dog or cat ~ color your lace green
5 years old ~ glue on 5 hearts
6 years old ~ glue on 6 hearts
7 years old ~ glue on 7 hearts
etc.

Valentine Memento:  Glue a white heart cut-out to a piece of red construction paper.  Have students make fingerprints using red ink on the white heart.  Glue the following poem to the bottom of the page:

Dirty little fingerprints
On windows, doors, and walls.
Prints that tell you I've been by ..
Cards to mark my call.

Now they are a nuisance, 
But soon I'll grow so tall ...
You'll miss those little tokens
That told you I was small.

And so to make sure that you'll remember me this way,
I've made this heart just for you on Valentine's Day!
~ Author Unknown

Snowman Valentine:  Provide each student with 3 die-cut white circles, a tiny red die-cut heart, and a piece of dark blue construction paper.  Have them glue the circles on the paper to form a snowman, glue the red heart to his chest, and add the other features with a crayon.  Glue the following poem onto the page as well:

I made a snowman yesterday
So jolly fat and fine.
I put a red heart 
On his chest.
And called him Valentine!
~ Author Unknown

Valentine Candy Colors
(tune: Miss Mary Mack)

I need a clue, clue, clue.
Do you like blue, blue, blue?
Which color candy, candy, candy
Tastes best to you, you, you?

Miss Jackie Jell-O, Jell-O, Jell-O,
She likes the yellow, yellow, yellow.

Mr. Sammy Sight, Sight, Sight,
He likes the white, white, white.

Miss Linda Link, Link, Link,
She likes the pink, pink, pink.

Mr. Benny Borange, Borange, Borange,
He likes the orange, orange, orange.

I need a clue, clue, clue.
Do you like blue, blue, blue?
Which color candy, candy, candy
Tastes best to you, you, you?
~Author Unknown

Number Words Pocketchart Activity:  This is another idea shared on the 'net.  The person posting the message said the text came from Kim's Big Book Ideas, but she turned it into a pocketchart activity.  So it can be a book or a pocketchart activity.

One heart
Two hearts
Three hearts
Four.
Five hearts
Six hearts
Seven hearts
More!
~ Kim

To use in a pocketchart, have students add the correct number of hearts to each row.  Personally, I'd use it for both simultaneously.  You could also change the number words to just numbers if needed.

The Love Bug
It begins with a grin  (smile broadly)
It turns to a giggle  (put both hands on mouth and giggle)
You start to laugh  (throw head back and laugh out loud)
Your legs start to wiggle  (put feet in the air and shake)
You look all around for someone to hug  (move eyes back and forth)
You've caught the love bug!  (hug another child or yourself)
ACHOO!
~ Author Unknown

Valentine, Valentine
Valentine, valentine,
Gooshy, gooshy, goooo.
Valentine, valentine
Always saying I love youuuuu!
~Author Unknown

Valentine
V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E
That spells valentine you see.

First, I take my scissors,
Then my glue.

Valentines from me to you!
~Author Unknown

Valentine Estimation:  Cut out a red heart shape.  Have students estimate how many candy hearts it would take to fill in the heart.  Graph the estimations of the students.

Some roses are red,
Some roses are white,
It's Valentines Day and
There's no homework tonight!
~ Author Unknown

I'm a Little Valentine
(tune:  I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a Little Valentine
Red and white.
With ribbons and lace,
I'm a beautiful sight!
I can say, "I Love You"
On Valentine's Day.
Just put me in an envelope 
And give me away.
~ Author Unknown

I'll Make a Valentine
(tune:  London Bridge)

I'll make a bright red Valentine
And give it right to you.

I'll trim it with lace and bows, 
Lace and bows, lace and bows.
I'll trim it with lace and bows,
And give it right ot you,
~ Author Unknown

Ten Little Valentine's
(tune:  10 Little Indians)

One little, two little, three little valentines,
Four little, five little, six little valentines,
Seven little, eight little, nine little valentines,
Ten little valentines here!

Five Little Valentines
Five little Valentines were having a race.
The first little Valentine was frilly with lace. 
   (hold up one finger or add a frilly Valentine to a felt board.)
The second little Valentine had a funny face. 
   (hold up two fingers or add this kind of valentine to feltboard)
The third little Valentine said "I love you." 
   (hold up three fingers or add this kind of valentine to felt board)
The fourth little Valentine said "I do too." 
   (hold up four fingers or add this one to felt board)
The fifth little Valentine was sly as a fox 
   (hold up five fingers and run behind back or make a surprise valentine to add to others)
He ran the fastest to your valentine box.

Patriotic Valentine
My Valentine is red.
My Valentine is white.
My Valentine is blue.
We'll cut and cut
And glue and glue
Then send it home to you!

Five Pretty Valentines Fingerplay
Five pretty valentines waiting at the store.
(Name) bought one and then there were four.
Four pretty Valentines shaped like a "V."
{Name} bought one and then there were three.
Three pretty Valentines said "I love you."
(Name) bought one then there were two.
Two pretty Valentines, this was so much fun
(Name) bought one and then there was one.
One pretty Valentine sitting on the shelf.
I felt so sorry for it, so I bought it for myself!

February Door:  This is a  door display that we did last year.  We were learning about Lincoln, Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Valentine's Day.  So this door depicts all of those things.  The lace on this heart was made from crepe paper as described in one of the ideas previously mentioned.   The silhouettes are of the three men , along with their dates of birth and death.

 Keys to My Heart:

 

 

 


Sites:

The Teacher's Bookbag

www.teachersbookbag.com/valentines.html

 

Printable Valentine Craft

http://www.theknackkids.com/ProjectView.aspx?ProjectCode=kn0562&mode=direct

 

Alphabet Valentines (printable)

http://printables.familyeducation.com/alphabet/printable/34088.html

 

Counting Valentines (printable)

http://printables.familyeducation.com/valentines-day/printable/55017.html

 

KD Craft Exchange -Heart Bingo
www.kidsdomain.com/craft/bingo-heart.html

 

Valentines Coloring and Cards
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/color.html

 

Valentine Note (printable to use in Mailing Center)
http://copycatpress.com/NavArch.htm

 

Poems
http://www.geocities.com/hickschicksk/valentines.htm

 

valentine
http://www.homestead.com/kindergarten2/valentine.html

 

Valentine's Day
http://www.geocities.com/calicocookie/valentinesday.html

 

DLTK's Valentine's Day Printable Cards
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/valentines/cards.htm

 

Valentine Projects in the Primary Classroom
http://www2.arkansas.net/~mom/valproj.html

 

Valentine Coloring Page
http://preschool.topcities.com/valencolor.htm

 

valentine word scramble
http://preschool.topcities.com/wordval.htm

 

Dot  to Dot Heart
http://preschool.topcities.com/dotval.htm

 

Valentines Day
http://preschool.topcities.com/valentines_day.htm#Songs

 

Valentines Day
http://preschool.topcities.com/valentines_day.htm

 

Easy Valentine's Day Kids Crafts
http://www.cabbey.com/Crafts/valentine.htm

 

Free Valentine's Day Crafts at AllCrafts
http://www.allcrafts.net/valentines.htm

 

Valentine's Day eCards from BlueMountain.com
http://www.bluemountain.com/eng/valentine/indexjump.html

 

Crayola Happy Valentines
http://www.crayola.com/valentines/index.cfm?dc_cid=197

 

Crayola Electronic Love Cards
http://www.crayola.com/cardcreator/index.cfm?cat_id=17&cat_name=

Love&dc_cid=197

 

Crayola Electronic Valentine Cards
http://www.crayola.com/credirect.cfm?id=2863

 

Crayola Creativity Central
http://www.crayola.com/parents/celebrations/celebrations.cfm?display=color_

heart.cfm&dc_cid=197

 

Planet Pals Valentine Craft
http://www.planetpals.com/valentine.html

 

Heart Basket - KinderCrafts
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Heartbasket.shtml

 

Printables:  Valentine Party Invitations
http://familyeducation.com/printables/piece/0,2357,22-11892- 669,00.html

 

Valentine Crafts - Tipz Time
http://familyeducation.com/printables/piece/0,2357,22-11892-669,00.html

 

New page 9
http://pages.cthome.net/jtburn/new_page_9.htm

 

february
http://www.kindernetonline.com/february.html

 

Index
http://sherrysseasonal.homestead.com/

 

Friends
http://www.geocities.com/melissajl2000/friends.htm

 

Valentine's Day
http://hometown.aol.com/il2teach/pubpage.valentines.htm

 

Love Letters - Mrs. Ritter's First Grade Critters
http://www.myschoolonline.com/folder/0,1872,23847-107973-26-18722,00.html

 

Nuttin' But Kids Valentines Day Page
http://www.nuttinbutkids.com/valentines.html

 

February
http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/months/February.html

 

Preschool Education Music and Songs - Valentine's Day
http://www.preschooleducation.com/svalentine.shtml

 

Preschool Education Arts & Crafts - Valentine's Day
http://www.preschooleducation.com/avalentine.shtml

 

Valentine's Day at ChildFun
http://childfun.com/valentine

 

Songs 4 Teachers - Valentine's Day Songs, Poems, & More
http://www.songs4teachers.com/valmain.htm

 

DLTK's Valentine's Day Butterfly Craft for Kids 
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/valentines/mvbutterfly.html

 

DLTK's Valentine's Flower Craft for Kids 
http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/valentines/mvflower.html

 

Everything A Teacher Needs For Valentine's Day
http://www.geocities.com/athens/thebes/9893/valentinesdaypage.html

 

Hearts reproducible emergent reader

http://www.teachersbookbag.com/valentines.html

 

Valentine's Day reproducible emergent reader

http://www.teachersbookbag.com/valentines.html

 

Electronic Valentine's Day Cards

http://www.valentinesdaycards.net/

 

Valentine's Day

http://www.geocities.com/mrs_pohlmeyer/valentinesday.htm

 

Valentine's Day Crafts

http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/valentinesdaycrafts.cfm

 

Valentine's Day Links - Debbie's Units Factory

http://www.themeunits.com/Valentine_bk.html

 

Valentine's Day

http://www.ecewebguide.com/valentines_day.htm

 

Crafts from the Attic

http://www.kathyross.com/craftweek14.html

 

Grandma George's Country Valentine Graphics

http://www.grandmageorge.com/free/valentine/valentine.html

 

Grandma George's Country Valentine Gift Certificates

http://www.grandmageorge.com/free/valentine/valcert.html

 

Heart Pinwheels

http://homeschoolzone.com/craft/ripplepinwheels.htm

 

Kate.net Valentine Game Match

http://www.kate.net/holidays/valentine/images/katevalmatch.gif

 

Kate.net Valentine Word Scramble

http://www.kate.net/holidays/valentine/images/katevalscramble1.gif

 

Valentines Word Ladder

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/word/ladder1e.gif

 

Valentines Word Ladder (2)

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/word/ladder2.gif

 

Valentine Recipes

http://parentingteens.about.com/parenting/parentingteens/library/sp/blval.htm

 

Valentines Coloring and Cards

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/color.html

 

Valentine Character Mailbox

http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson17.html

 

Secret Valentine

http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson18.html

 

Cast a Paper Valentine

http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson42.html

 

Valentine's Day Related Websites

http://www.123greetings.com/links/events/valentines_day/ 

 

February Ideas and patterns (including Conversation Hearts Graph printable)

http://www.abcschoolhouse.com./seasonal_pdfs/February_ideas.pdf

 

Valentine's Day E-Cards

http://www.valentinesday4u.com/

 

Valentine Turtle Tote

http://www.copycatpress.com/images/J-F98Pg.gif

 

Valentine Heart Mailbox

http://www.verybestkids.com/item.aspx?cat=ca&itemid=200211151220181921681620

 

Heart Health - Units on a Healthy Heart

http://www.units4teachers.com/healthyheart.php

 

Valentine Ideas

http://kinderteacher.com/ValentineIdeas.htm

 

 

Added 2.13.04

 

Cupid Poop

http://holidayorganizer.com/gifts/stuffers/cpidpoop.html

 

 


 


 

 
   

 

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 2/3/02
last updated 2.14.09

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