Indoor Family Activities for Valentine's Day

The love in the air grows stronger when kids enter the picture, but you miss out on many of the romantic Valentine's Day activities you did with your sweetie in you pre-child life. Now your idea of the perfect celebration of love is curling up with the family at home. Since the weather is still cool in February, indoor activities work best. Stir up feelings of love with simple indoor ideas full of hearts and hugs.

  1. Themed Meal

    • Grab your chef's hat and whip up a themed meal as a family. Young kids often prefer the direct approach. Stick with red, pink and white foods, or use the heart theme to make them smile. A heart-shaped cookie cutter is all you need to turn pancakes, sandwiches and other soft foods into a Valentine feast. If your child is a pizza fan, shape the dough into a heart before letting him add his own toppings. Serve his favorite red or pink drink. For a healthy and naturally red drink, blend some strawberries into his milk.

    Craft Day

    • Everyone needs at least one homemade Valentine card. A family craft day means you can all whip up Valentine's Day cards for each other. Start with red, pink or white paper cut into hearts. Decorate them with stickers, markers and glitter glue. For an entertaining way to deliver them, make a family Valentine mailbox with an empty cardboard box. Cut a flap with a box cutter -- a job for an adult only -- to create the custom Valentine collection system.

    Games

    • Valentine's games are popular at kids' parties, but the themed games work at home, too. Write clues to a simple treasure hunt around the house on paper hearts. A variation on this game is to hide lots of paper hearts around the house with one or two special prize hearts. You can easily make your own "Pin the Arrow on the Heart" game by cutting the shapes from construction paper. Use a stuffed heart pillow or Valentine stuffed animal for a Valentine version of "Hot Potato."

    Gestures of Kindness

    • If all the commercialization of the holiday isn't your thing, use the day of love to emphasize doing things for others. Spend the day doing something kind for someone else. Ideas include making Valentine's Day cards for lonely neighbors, visiting a nursing home, serving the Valentine's meal at a local shelter or baking heart-shaped dog treats for a local animal shelter. If you want to stay at home, focus on sharing kindness in your own family. Perform acts of kindness for one another without getting caught.

    Sharing Stories

    • Sappy love stories are sure to make your kiddo groan, but he may enjoy hearing a watered-down version of his parents' love story. Talk about how you met and how you spent time together in the early days. A recap of your wedding day is another story option for Valentine's Day. Videos add to the experience. Share your wedding video with your little Valentine. If your own love story is too mushy for her, choose a family-friendly movie or children's book that showcases a love story. Valentine's Day is also an ideal time to emphasize love and feelings between other family members and friends. Let your child share his own stories about his friendships.

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