4 Educational Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day in the Classroom

It's almost that time of year again when hearts, candies, and expressions of love take over our classrooms- yes, Valentine's Day! This heartwarming holiday is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate some fun-filled and educational activities in your classrooms to celebrate love, friendship, kindness, and oh yes... academics too.

Make Valentine's Day in the Classroom FUN!

Here are four fantastic ideas that you can use:

Valentine's Day Reading Nook

1. Create a Reading Nook with Valentine’s Themed Books: Decorate your reading center with a Valentine's theme - think red and pink streamers, hearts, and cupids. Fill your mini-library with Valentine’s Day-themed picture books. Challenge the students to find words or quotes about love, friendship, or kindness in the books and share them with the class throughout the day. You can even have a storyteller session where each student gets a chance to read a Valentine's Day story to the class. I like having a set of Valentine's Day book report forms in the reading center.

Heart Interactive Foldables

2. Engage Students with Interactive Foldables: Provide a hands-on experience with interactive foldables. For Valentine's Day, let's get creative with heart-shaped foldables. These foldables can be used to write facts about Valentine's Day, express why they appreciate their classmates or respond to a book to show comprehension. It's a fun and engaging way for students to learn and share.

Writing Activities for Valentine's Day

3. Discover the Art of Letter Writing: Bring back the classic art of letter writing! Encourage your students to write Valentine's Day letters to a friend, family member, or even to a favorite book character. This activity helps foster creativity, improve writing skills, and teach students about expressing their feelings. Afterward, create a classroom mailbox for students to 'send' their letters.

Would You Rather Valentine Edition

4. Play the Exciting 'Would You Rather' Language Game: This game not only sparks laughter but also encourages critical thinking and decision-making skills. Prepare a list of Valentine's day related 'Would You Rather' questions (example: "Would you rather receive a Valentine's Day card from a secret admirer or a friend?"). Your students will have a blast debating their opinions!

Keep them learning around the holidays!

Yes, it is so hard to do, but keep your students engaged in learning no matter the holiday. Just when we got Christmas and all the other winter holidays out of the way, here comes Valentine's Day. Ha! Below are some of my favorite Valentine's Day resources.

Valentine's Day Resources

1. Valentine's Day Resources for Reading and Writing
2. Valentine's Day WOULD YOU RATHER with FREE Journal
3. Heart Interactive Foldable Templates
4. Mystery Templates for Valentines 
5. FREE Love Borders

Happy teaching!

Jen :)