My favorite holiday as a teacher and Mom is Valentine’s Day because it allows me to shower love on all the kiddos in my life, even more than normal. It’s also a reminder to me that everyone is worth loving and celebrating (even that student that makes you pull your hair out), including myself. Here are our favorite Valentine’s Day Classroom Party Ideas to celebrate this heart loving day.
So treat yourself this Valentine’s Day with some chocolate (or whatever it is that brings you joy) and treat your kiddos to a fun social distanced Valentine’s Day party!
Take a look at this Valentine’s Day Match-Up Bundle for heart-themed learning ideas. And this Valentine’s Day Paper Craft Activity and Creative Writing printable is one of our favorites.
Valentine’s Day Classroom Party Activities and Ideas
With these 14 party ideas plus a bonus at the end, your students won’t even think of this day as a school day!
1. Dress to impress and show the stats!
Have your students dress up in their most festive clothes that are red, pink, purple, or white. Having a “dress code” for your party helps to set the mood, gets your kiddos excited and anticipating the party. Be sure to not leave out the boys though and encourage them to try new colors out! The day before, have students give predictions for how many will wear red or pink. Then during your party, graph the results and see who guessed the closest!
2. Bring Your Own Treats
Since sharing and passing out valentines might not be doable for most schools, have students bring their own little bag of treats! Have a time where each student can show off a treat they have (special chocolate? A Valentine’s from a friend you haven’t seen in a while? A new book from Grandma) and everyone can enjoy their treats together!
Nothing says Valentine’s classroom party like yummy goodies.
3. Make Valentines
This one may seem a little obvious, but many kiddo’s have their Valentine’s notes made at home and never get a chance to do it at school. Now is their chance! You can go step-by-step as a group and show students how to cut out a simple heart to decorate from paper, or have pre-made baggies with simple heart cut outs, stickers and stamps that your kiddos can use to design their own valentines!
4. Dance Party
Never underestimate the power of music and dance! Whether you blast a few favorite class tunes through your CD player or put a dance along video up on the board for everyone to follow (while spread out for distance), dancing can be such a fun way to celebrate with your students.
5. Snippity-snip, Stickity-stick, Crafty-craft
If you haven’t already seen all the amazing Valentine’s Day themed crafts we have, then check them out! Whether you go with a cute Monster Valentine’s or the simple Thumbprint Heart craft, there are so many cute crafts that have little to no prep and can easily be done while maintaining social distance.
6. Paint Heart Shaped Rocks
Give your students the homework assignment of looking for rocks a few days before. Have them find a rock that resembles a heart and on the day of the party paint them together!
7. Leaning Tower of … Hearts?
Grab a few bags of candy hearts and have a contest to see who can stack the most! Not only is this a great fine-motor activity, but you can also incorporate some math by measuring how high each student’s heart tower is.
8. Valentine’s Spotlight
Have students bring a photo of someone they love. Maybe it’s Mom, Dad, Nana, Grandpa, their mailman, their best friend, their cousin or their pet. Whoever it is, give each student a moment to share about their Valentine and why this person is special to them.
9. B-I-N-G-O
Bingo is always a “heck yes!!” in our books! It’s such a fun game that kids love, it is super easy, and can be played with any class size! Enjoy our very own version of Valentine’s Day Bingo and use anything small for the Bingo markers – candy hearts, coins, cereal pieces or goldfish, buttons, etc.
10. Say Cheese
Photo booths are always so fun, but this time it’s “bring your own smile”. Have students make their own smiles with markers and construction paper to hold up in front of their masks. Then throw up a cute background (maybe created by students themselves) and tada! Those pictures can be printed off and used for end of year gifts or made into a class book!
11. Spread the Love
Play the simple game of “I love me and I love YOU”. Start by saying one thing you love about yourself. Maybe it’s your hair, your impeccable sense of humor, or your dazzling smile, but don’t be shy! YOU are amazing and there are so many things to love about yourself.
Then randomly draw the name of a student (hello popsicle sticks!) and name one thing you love about them! That student then picks up by saying one thing they love about themselves and one thing they love about the next student whose name is drawn.
Continue until each student has had a chance to go. The last student gets to say what it is they love about YOU.
12. Read a Valentine’s Book
Whether it is the heartwarming tale of Mr. Hatch or Pete the Cat and his friends, there are so many great books about Valentine’s Day and love. Check out our 12 favorite Valentine’s Day books here to share with your kiddos!
13. Love in Action
February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day. Have your students brainstorm some acts of kindness that they want to perform for someone in their life. Write down ideas on a large poster board (maybe one shaped as a heart if you’re feeling creative!) and plan how best to pull them off. You can even turn it into a multiple day activity that lasts the week!
14. How Many Hearts
Stop by the Dollar Store and grab a bag or two of Candy Hearts or chocolate hearts. Put them in a clear bowl or jar and have students guess how many candies are in the bowl, writing down their answers on the board. Once everyone has guessed, count them! You can work on skip counting by grouping them in groups of 2, 5, or 10. See who guessed the closest!
Bonus: Candy Hearts Creator
We all love seeing those cheesy little messages on candy hearts and passing them to our friends or partners. But let’s be real, “ur cute” isn’t the most original love note. But I bet you can guess who would love to come up with some new ideas to put on a candy heart! If you have older students, this would make a great writing idea and for the little learners you can do it as a whole group activity where they share their ideas with you.
However way you’re going to celebrate this heart-filled day with your students, we bet they will have an amazing time.
Parties are a fun way to celebrate, giggle, and enjoy the specialness of the day.
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