14 Valentines Day Traditions and Celebrations For Families

Being the tradition junkie that I am, it was not surprising when my third born child Savannah said to me " Mom, I think that as soon as one holiday is over you begin thinking and planning new ideas to celebrate the next holiday". She is right , I do. I am a firm believer in making every moment count as a mom . Celebrating with my family is just one more way to do that. So, ready or not the next holiday is about to arrive Valentines Day and here are my 14 FUN celebration ideas for families.

# 1 I Love YOU Because..........

Teaching my children to love, respect, honor and admire their siblings is one of those top mommy things I strive to do.

One way I encourage this in my Children’s relationships with one another is that each year during the month of February I cut out big pink and red hearts from construction/craft paper. I then write on each heart with a marker “ I Love You Because ___________.” I cut out enough hearts for each child to write a note for each member of the family on. They are given these hearts a few days prior to Valentines day to fill out with their amazing kind words (hopefully), and then during our family Valentine's celebration we share these with one another.
#2 Heart Attack

Purchase a box of inexpensive classmate exchange Valentine cards and get ready to attack.

1. On the night of February 13th sneak out to your husband's car and place these Valentine cards all over the interior of his car. You may want to use tape to secure them. Won’t he be surprised to find his car has been attacked with Valentine cards.

2. After your children have fallen asleep on February 13th sneak into their bedrooms and/or bathrooms and place Valentine cards all over these rooms. What a surprise when they wake up to a Heart Attacked room filled with Valentines.

#3 Movie Night

An in-expensive and simple way to celebrate Valentines day with your family is to create a fun movie night by watching a Love themed movie such as Lady and the Tramp, The Princess Bride, Cinderella, Parent Trap, Beauty and the Beast, you get the idea fun and romantic family style that is.

Pop some pop corn, bake a batch of cookies, grab some red licorice and don’t forget the beverages for those thirsty pop corn eaters. Snuggle up and enjoy your Movie Night.

#4 The HUNT is on

Everyone loves a treasure hunt. So, each valentines day I create a valentine treasure hunt for my family by hiding their Valentine baskets of goodies. I place written clues around the house in which they work as a team to discover where their hidden Valentine treasure is. We begin the hunt by giving them their first clue at the dinner table after we have eaten our meal and off they go to discover their Valentine treasure.

My kids are already talking about the big hunt coming up on February 14th.

Alternative Treasure hunt ideas:

Conversation Heart hunt: Place conversation hearts around your home and send your kids to find them.Candy Kiss trail - make a trial using candy kisses that lead to a Valentine.

Surprise Heart Hunt - Fill plastic hearts with goodies and hide them similar to an Easter egg hunt.

#5 Messages of Love

Grab a tube of lipstick or window markers and head to the bathroom mirrors in your home.

Write messages to your family members so when they awake they will be surprised with your words of love. You can also write on your husband and teenagers car windows.

One word of caution be careful of what you write as your words may possibly be traveling through town that day.

# 6 Hot Chocolate Bar

Create a YUMMY Hot chocolate buffet for your family in the AM or PM

Serve a variety of Hot Chocolate flavors that are instant such as those from land O lakes. Then have a variety of toppings and stirrers for a do it your self Hot Cocoa experience.

Topping Ideas

• Crumbled Heathbar candy
• M& M's
• Crushed peppermints or candy canes
• Marshmallows - mini or flavored
• Peanut brittle bits
• Mini chocolate chips/peanut butter chips/white chocolate chips
• Whip Cream
• Chopped thin crème de mint candies, like Andes
• Ice Cream syrups - Carmel, Strawberry, Chocolate

Stirrers

• Chocolate dipped spoons
• Cinnamon sticks
• Sees Suckers
• Candy canes
• Rock candy sticks

#7 365 Days of Love

Keep your Valentines celebration going all year long by creating a 365 days of Valentines jar.


Decorate a jar and cut out 365 heart shaped papers. Write on each heart a word of encouragement , love note, a thank you, a scripture verse, an inspiring quote, or even good for 1 desert, good for 1 movie night etc. Place them in the jar and the receiver of the jar gets to read a note each day. This also makes a great dinner time conversation starter if you include fun questions on your 365 cut out hearts.

#8 Let's Fondue It

A few years ago we began in the Novotny home the tradition of having a chocolate fondue for our Valentines Celebration dessert . Yes, I am training my kids to be chocoholics like their mother, more excuses to feed my addiction.

So, pull out that buried fondue pot you received as a wedding gift or purchase an in-expensive one at your local variety store (a well worth purchase) and get ready to create a YUMMY Valentine dessert for your family.

Step 1 - Decide what you will use for your chocolate dipping sauce. I use Sephra chocolate which I purchase online at http://www.sephrafountains.com/. You can also use a variety of different recipes ( see below) or buy the already packaged chocolate dipping sauce, usually found in your chocolate baking section of the grocery store.

Step 2 - Choose your items for dipping. We use a mix of fruits and sweets from the list I have listed out here.

Fruits- Strawberries, Sliced bananas, apples, pears, dried fruit, pineapple, raspberries.

Cakes, Cookies and sweets - Marshmallows, pound cake in cubes, bite sized brownies, lady fingers, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, angel food cake, spritz cookies, biscotti.

Step 3 - Gather needed serving items: Dipping sticks ( bamboo kabob stick work great), bowls for the various dipping items, plates for each person and lots of napkins.
A Tradition your entire family will enjoy this Valentines day.


# 9 Red and Pink Make a Meal.......

Create a festive Valentine's table to celebrate this day of love with your family.

On Valentine's Day decorate your table with a red or pink tablecloth decorated with Valentine themed items, candles, rose petal confetti, flowers, Valentine plates, and don’t forget the Valentine napkins.

Then, serve a special meal with several red and pink food items such as red jell-o, pink mashed potatoes, red pasta sauce, a heart shaped pizza, etc. For fun drinks try strawberry milk or Shirley Temples to drink. For breakfast try pink heart pancakes, pink grapefruit, fresh red strawberries, pink yogurt, pink smoothies, etc. And, of course, don’t forget a Valentine dessert like a heart shaped brownie, pink frosted cupcakes or yummy strawberry shortcake.

Another fun addition to your table can be placing simple gifts at each seat - Valentine chocolates or other fun treats.

#10 "Sweet Swap"

Plan a "Sweet Swap!" Similar to a cookie exchange, invite friends over and ask them to bring a plate of goodies (homemade or store bought). Watch a Chick flick or just have fun girl chat. Serve appetizers. At the end of your time together set out everyone's goodies and go down the "buffet," packing up sweets to take home. Everyone goes home with cookies, brownies, and candy.


#11 Game Time

Kids love games. So, why not include a Valentine themed game into your celebration this year.

Such as:

Bingo it’s Valentine day! - Play bingo using conversation hearts as your bingo markers. Give each bingo winner a valenine gift of chocolate, heart items, red or pink colored items. Create the game to be a Valentine theme.

A Card Game of Valentine Hearts - Click here for directions http://www.about.com/

#12 Counting Down The days

Count down the days until Valentines day with an advent calendar. Click here for a simple DIY ( do it yourself ) advent you could change by using hearts on it.

#13 Love Thy Neighbor
Love on your neighbors this Valentines day with a childhood game of ding dong doorbell ditch.

Deliver Bags filled with Hershey's hugs and kisses with a note that says "You've been Hugged and Kissed "
Or
Deliver Cans of Soda pop labeled " We are SODA glad you are our Neighbors"
#14 Basket Of FunKids love getting a basket filled with goodies on Valentine’s Day, just like they do on Easter. Purchase heart shaped baskets at your local dollar store or drugstore. Then fill with treats such as candy, small toys, schoool supplies, beauty products, socks etc.

What are your family Valentines Day celebrations?