Whether your child is in kindergarten or middle school and has their first ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’, you shouldn’t be too concerned about it, according to clinical psychologists. In any case, it’s a good idea to celebrate love, in general, no matter if it’s romantic or platonic.
Valentine’s Day is one of the best holidays of all for this type of celebration. Instead of letting the holiday slip by with the usual traditions, why not mix things up by using one or more of these Valentine’s Day party ideas for kids? Keep reading to learn all about how you can make this year’s festivities some of the most unique and memorable, especially for kids who are still learning what love is.
Easy DIY Valentine’s Day invitations
Browse gorgeous designs for Valentine’s day invitations!
Valentine’s day invites
Easy DIY Valentine’s Day invitations
Browse gorgeous designs for Valentine’s day invitations!
1. Creating Valentine’s Day Cards
One of the best activities you can do on February 14th is make Valentine’s Day cards for all your loved ones. You can help kids create breathtaking and sentimental cards by printing out a range of high-quality Valentine’s Day cards that they can customize through crafting. In addition to these cards, they’ll also need things like glitter, stickers, markers, and personal photos that they can cut and glue into the cards.
To spruce up the cards even more, it’s nice to add some candy like lollipops, chocolate, and other small treats that can be taped inside. The kids will have tons of fun making these cards and an even better time reading the sweet Valentine’s messages from all of their friends.
2. Heart Cookie Decorating
Most people might think of candy when they imagine Valentine’s Day sweets, but you can still be festive by baking some heart-shaped sugar cookies. If your party is full of little ones, then you can bake the cookies yourself and hand them out to decorate. Older kids could have fun joining in on the baking process if you have access to a kitchen during the festivities.
The more decorating supplies you have, the more creative the kids can get with their masterpieces. Red, pink, and white are the most popular Valentine’s Day colors, but you should feel free to set out other colored frostings. The children will need an angled spatula to cover their cookies in one layer and piping bags to make smaller designs.
No cookie decorating station would be complete without sprinkles, candies, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and other yummy toppings.
3. Hot Potato (Heart Potato)
We’ve all heard of the game hot potato, but you can add a Valentine’s Day twist to the concept by calling it heart potato. All the rules are the same, except this time you can all play with a red ball or a bean bag shaped like a heart.
To start playing the game, you’ll need music in the background that lets the kids know when it’s time to stop tossing the heart potato. While you can play any catchy tunes that the kids are sure to enjoy, you can also stay true to the Valentine theme by using festive songs. If you’re not sure where to find Valentine’s Day music for kids, there are plenty of curated playlists on streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotify.
Once the music turns on, everyone will buzz with excitement to get rid of the heart potato as fast as possible to avoid elimination after the song stops. Don’t forget to give the winner a little prize they can keep to remember how much fun they had, such as a golden heart locket or a diary that locks with a heart-shaped key.
4. Valentine Candy Creations
It’s no secret that kids have the coolest imaginations out there. To tap into their magic, you can let the kids work by themselves or get into teams to brainstorm different things that they can make out of Valentine’s Day candy. From a sunset made out of Starburst to a 3D dog made out of chocolate hearts, you’ll be amazed by what everyone can create with only a handful of ingredients.
To make the crafting easier, you should also set out some things like tape and googly eyes. Be sure to take lots of pictures of the kids standing with their art so they’ll have memories that last a lifetime.
5. Candy Heart Relay Race
A candy heart relay race is one of the best Valentine’s Day games you could organize because it’s silly and thrilling. The concept is the same as an egg-and-spoon race, but you’ll use the tiny candy conversation hearts instead of eggs.
To do this game, you’ll need an empty cup, a cup full of the candy conversation hearts, and a spoon for each team, along with some space to run safely. Line up the empty cups on one side of the room or yard and the filled cups and spoons on the other side.
Once the kids are grouped up into teams, they’ll take turns using the spoon to scoop as many hearts as they can and carry them to the empty cup. While going fast can allow more teammates to carry hearts, that also comes with the risk of dropping more. Whichever team has the most candy hearts in their originally empty cups by the end of a countdown is the winner.
6. The Love Jar
Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, so why not plan an activity that can help everyone reflect on people and things that they actually love? This is where the love jar comes in. For this activity, you’ll need to fill up a jar with notes that have prompts like “Who was the last person to make you laugh?”, “Who do you think about most of all?”, “What’s the nicest thing a person has done for you?”, or “Who is your role model?”
The kids can take turns passing around the jar and fishing out different notes. They’ll be able to share nice stories that let the others get to know them better. This game is great for classrooms, children’s parties, and even family Valentine’s Day celebrations.
Don’t be hesitant about including notes that ask the kids to share the qualities they love about themselves as well. After all, self-confidence is just as important as a sense of love for others.
7. Cupid’s Bow and Arrow
Since there are lots of people in the world who are looking for love, Cupid would appreciate some help shooting his arrows. Thanks to the wide array of kid-friendly bow and arrow toys on the market, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding tools that are safe for young hands.
To get the most out of this activity, you could have a fun mix of people, animals, and cartoon characters that the kids can aim at. Each target can have a different-sized heart. Bigger hearts will be easier to hit and smaller hearts will be an awesome challenge.
The goal is to hit as many targets as possible so the world can be filled with love. You should feel free to hand out prizes if the kids help Cupid on Valentine’s Day.
8. Cupid’s Telephone
Love can be complicated and Cupid must have a tough job making the right people fall in love. If he’s in the love business, he probably needs to make a lot of phone calls. You can get plenty of laughs by rounding the kids up for an old-fashioned game of telephone.
If you’re unfamiliar with this game, it involves one person whispering a message to the person next to them, then that person whispers to the next person, and the message has to circulate through the entire group. The last person to receive the message has to say what they think the message is.
The more people who have to repeat the message, the more jumbled the words will get. You could start with a simple Valentine’s Day fact, such as “I like to eat chocolate hearts” and the last person could say “Alan lies to eat chalk and farts.” Since these changes in the message are almost unavoidable, each round is guaranteed to make everyone burst into laughter.
9. Love Is Blind Drawing Game
There’s a common phrase that love is blind due to the fact that many people feel like they can’t choose who they fall in love with. As a clever nod to this sentiment, you can blindfold the kids and sit them down with some paper and drawing supplies.
The goal is to draw somebody they love from memory without being able to see what they’re doing. After everyone removes their blindfolds, they’ll giggle about how silly their friends’ pictures are. The best part is that each kid can give the person they love the picture they drew of them once the party is over, which can bring even more laughs when they frame it or hang it on the fridge.
10. Capture the Heart
Who doesn’t love a competitive round of capture the flag? This is one of the most popular games because kids are always exploding with energy. If the weather is nice enough where you live, then you can gather everyone outside and divide the group into two teams. For more room, you could move the party to a local park.
Instead of capturing a flag, the opposing teams will have to work together to capture the heart. The kids have to decide who can defend the team’s heart and who can go on a quest to steal the other team’s heart.
11. Tie-Dye Hearts
Tie-dyeing has earned its place as one of the best crafts for all ages because it’s easy and exciting. You start with a white t-shirt and some dye, then you’re surprised with a vibrant new shirt full of cool colors and patterns.
While there are many tie-dye patterns you can choose from, you can stay on theme by helping the kids create hearts on their shirts. Once you’ve bundled up the shirts the right way, the kids can go wild with whatever colored dyes they want. You can keep this project simple by following this tutorial on how to make a tie-dye heart.
It’s always better to have all the supplies on hand rather than asking the kids to bring their own shirts because some will likely forget. If you buy white tees in bulk, each shirt will only cost a couple of dollars. You also have the option to tie-dye pillowcases, tote bags, towels, and more. It’s always great when a party game can create party favors that the kids will take home and cherish for many years to come.
12. Valentine Balloon Bust
No party would feel complete without balloons, but you can take things to the next level by filling each balloon with a mysterious prize before you blow it up. Once you’re prepared for some loud noise, you can tell the kids that there are special balloons in the room.
To draw out the activity, you can play some music and tell the kids to hit the balloons up into the air and try to keep them from touching the ground. After the music stops, each kid has to rush to grab a balloon then try to pop it. The one rule is that they’re only allowed to pop it by sitting on the balloon.
Everyone will laugh and scream at the goofy chaos. The kids’ faces are sure to light up once they find stickers, dollar bills, temporary tattoos, confetti, and other little treasures that are hidden inside the majestic balloons.
13. Cupid’s Feather
If Cupid’s wings are similar to birds’ wings, then he probably loses some feathers every once in a while. You can wow all the kids by telling them that Cupid visited the party before any of the guests arrived and the evidence is a pile of white feathers.
Although we can’t fly like Cupid, we can encourage feathers to fly by blowing on them. You can help the kids have some wacky entertainment by hosting a competition to see who can keep their feathers from Cupid flying the longest. Each player is only allowed to hit the feather with their hands or blow on it.
14. Valentine Mystery Box
Our brains picture some crazy things when we can’t see and we’re only left with our imaginations. You can delight the children by setting up a mystery box where they have to be courageous and stick their hands inside. Lots of kids will scream because they’re surprised by what they touch, but the bravest kids will keep feeling around to see if they can guess what the object is.
This activity works best when you have a nice variety of textures for the kids to feel. Some examples of great Valentine’s Day items for your mystery box include pink slime, chilled chocolate hearts, a plush heart, a candle, flowers, and a lollipop.
15. Heart Pizza Party
Pizza is always a top party food because it can please any crowd. Instead of ordering normal takeout, you can make your party memorable by letting the kids create their own heart-shaped pizzas.
Not only is playing with pizza dough awesome, but the kids can also feel proud of their cooking abilities. They’ll be in charge of how their hearts look and which toppings they pile on. Depending on how young the children are, they may need some help shaping and layering the ideal amounts that will make the pizzas taste good.
If you have some extra time to prepare the food, then you could cut certain toppings like pepperoni and tomatoes into hearts as well.
These Valentine’s Day Party Ideas for Kids Will Make Any Crowd Fall in Love
Hosting parties can be hard work, but these Valentine’s Day party ideas for kids will make planning stress-free and rewarding. With so many different activities and games to choose from, you’ll have no trouble writing up a schedule that can cater to every child’s unique personality and interests.
Before you can get your party started, you’ll have to send out invitations to all your guests. Not only will these invitations get everyone excited, but they’ll also help people form a first impression of what your party will be like.
Greetings Island has a wide range of breathtaking cards and invitations for every occasion, so make sure you check out our selection to get inspired for your next event.
Photo Credits: Christopher Beloch, Alexander Grey, Olivia Oliver Design, golibtolibov, chameleonseye on UnSplash
