Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to show your little ones you love them and in turn show them how to share that love with others. With four kids running around our home, it can be difficult to make everyone feel special every day. Here are some ways that I have been intentional in loving my precious kiddos on Valentine’s Day. 

1. Write Love Letters:

This can be done very simply, or feel free to dig into the craft cupboard. I chose to order this sweet candy heart Valentine paper to write my letters: https://amzn.to/2S5JEHk. For each one of my kids, I wrote a love letter highlighting one special moment I cherished with them, one character quality I feel they really exemplify, a compliment about something in which they really excel, and one way I have seen them love others well. It is so fun to see them read these notes (or watch their face as I read it to them.) They tend to keep my notes tucked away and I hope that it will continue to make them feel loved. 

2. Bake Sugar Cookies Together:

Baking cookies together always seems to go much better in my head than when I am in the actual kitchen with my four kids. However, it is something they really enjoy doing and even though the results aren’t super beautiful, we are able to spend some quality time together! I have found a cookie and frosting recipe that turns out so well; soft and sweet. The full recipe can be found here: www.theyummylife.com/Sour_Cream_Sugar_Cookies. After we finish decorating the cookies, we slip them (well, the ones that look decent or that we didn’t eat) into cute bags from Hobby Lobby and deliver them to neighbors. It is a great way to stay in touch through these cold winter months and teaches our kids to introduce themselves, answer simple questions, and think of others. 

3. Create a Compliment Box:

These boxes are typically used for classroom valentines, but I figured we could extend their use by calling them “compliment boxes.” Dig out the stickers, glitter, and paint pens and let the kid’s express their creativity! Our boxes came from Hobby Lobby, as did some of our decorations, others are from the Dollar Tree. The paint pens are a must have! The fun of paint, but lacking in the mess department. They can be purchased from Amazon (https://amzn.to/2S4ubHv). The kids can use these boxes in their classrooms, but then we leave them out for the remainder of the month. Both parents and siblings can write down compliments on an index card (we use these red ones https://amzn.to/37JUitK) and place them in the box. At the end of the month, we open the boxes and read each of the compliments that have been written. It is fun to see what the kids come up with and wonderful to see the excitement when they are read!