I love holidays and I especially enjoy fun traditions with my family. Here are few of our favorites:
- COUNT DOWN: I wrapped 14 books about love last night (i.e. "Guess How Much I Love You," "I Love You with All My Heart", etc) and Valentine's Day (i.e. The Peanuts' Valentine book, "Emily's Valentine Party" and others). Love is such a common theme in children's literature... you'd be surprised how many you have in your collecton. Target's Dollar Spot sells Valentine paper that is perfect for this tradition. Every day, from Feb. 1-14, we'll unwrap and read one story. (We do this for Christmas and Easter also. I use the same books every year - preschoolers think they're new every time.)
- HEART HUNT: A few years ago, I purchased hollow hearts (like Easter Eggs) at Target's Dollar Spot (I have seen them again this year, and Michaels and party stores sell them too). After a breakfast of Heart Pancakes with strawberries, the girls have a heart hunt.
- MAKE AND MAIL VALENTINES: Every year, I buy blank jigsaw puzzles at US Toy and stamp each of the girls' handprints on them with a message to the grandparents. We then mail one piece every day leading up to Valentine's Day inside homemade Valentines! (I get a lot of ideas from www.FamilyFun.Go.com and www.Crayola.com).
- MAIL VALENTINES WITH LOVE POSTMARK: My husband and I send Valentines to the girls and have them specially postmarked from a "Valentine City." Here are simple instructions to do this.
We have even more Valentine Ideas on KCParent.com !
What are your favorite Valentine Traditions?