There is something so sweet about celebrating Valentine’s Day in the classroom. This holiday, filled with friendship, love, candy, and vibrant pinks and reds, is such a welcome break from the cold, dreary, gray winter months. Our Engaging Valentine’s Day Activities for the Classroom is just what you need to help your students celebrate this lovely time of the year.
There are endless possibilities for engaging and educational activities to enjoy and celebrate Valentine’s Day! If you are looking for activities to strengthen literacy and writing skills, boost creativity, or have festive fun, here are 7 engaging Valentine’s Day activities your students will LOVE.
#1 Valentine’s Day Books & Book Companions
One of my favorite parts about this holiday is visiting the library, with its lovely Valentine’s Day picture books on display. The beautiful covers, with hearts and various pinks and reds, make reading so warm and inviting. Below are two of our favorite Valentine’s Day picture books that your students will enjoy and the perfect activities to pair with them.
Snowy Valentine
Snowy Valentine by David Petersen beautifully combines winter and the holiday of love. One of my favorite parts is the lovely animal homes pictured in this story, which is all about giving, sacrifice, and love.
Publisher’s Synopsis: Step out into a snowy Valentine’s Day with Jasper the bunny as he searches the forest valley for a special gift for his loved one. In his picture-book debut, David Petersen, the Eisner Award-winning creator of Mouse Guard, tells a delightful tale that becomes the perfect way to say “I love you.”
In our Snowy Valentine Book Companion, students can explore settings, character traits, story elements, character comparisons, author’s purpose, cause and effect, and even make an adorable bunny craft and write a matching Valentine’s message. Our book companion will create a delightful adventure for your students. This engaging resource includes a range of activities designed to captivate young minds and enhance their learning.
Radiator the Snowman, by Tami Parker
Radiator the Snowman by Tami Parker contains many deep themes of friendship, love, sacrifice, and even about loving yourself and your uniqueness. With so many lovely Valentine’s Day themes present in this book, this wintry story will have your students radiating love toward reading and learning wonderful life lessons.
Publisher’s Synopsis: In the most distinguished village where Radiator the Snowman lives, our young junkyard snowman longs to be like the festive snowmen on display each night in the town square. However, because of his surroundings and dirty appearance, he has always been kept far away from the joyful festivities. Nevertheless, late one cold winter night Radiator receives an opportunity to become a member of this Top Hat Society of Finer Snowmen. It is the chance he has always longed for.
Our Radiator the Snowman Book Companion is designed to engage students while exploring the charming world of Radiator. It’s packed with activities tailored for literacy, comprehension, creative writing, vocabulary building, and social-emotional learning. From a self-acceptance writing activity to a heart/love writing activity, from various comprehension activities to a fun snowman glyph craft, your students will love this book and the Valentine’s Day fun!
Perfect for a snowy February! Grab today!
#2 Digital Valentine’s Day Cards
If you teach upper elementary to middle school and you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day activity that students won’t claim “is for babies,” then, they’ll fall in love with this fun idea!
Have students craft digital Valentine’s Day cards, all while practicing their writing, graphic design, and emailing skills. Once they craft their card digitally, they can write a fun message, and email it to their friends.
We have everything you’ll need to complete this activity in this gnome-themed resource. Students choose from over 140 different digital stickers to create digital Valentines to email to their friends! Student directions for writing haikus is also included to turn this exciting project into a language arts lesson. It’s a fun way to practice email writing, poetry, technology, creativity, and incorporate Valentine’s Day as well!
Lilly J. writes, “I’ve done this the past couple of years with my sixth graders, and they have absolutely loved it! They beg to do this activity all afternoon!”
Perfect for the week of Valentines
#3 A Wise Writing Craftivity
Looking for a cute “hoot-tastic” Valentine’s Day writing craftivity? When I taught third grade, my students loved pairing a craft with a simple and short writing activity.
First, students write all about how they can show love this Valentine’s Day. Next, they place their writing pieces inside the heart of the owl craft they color and make. This activity is “owl” about creativity as well as writing, and pondering the deeper meaning of this holiday.
Display students’ owl craftivities on this “Hootiful” bulletin board, complete with various titles.
The writing craftivity and bulletin board are all combined in this resource.
#4 Valentine’s Day Figurative Language
Looking for a proven way to boost your students’ writing skills? By explicitly teaching figurative language, students will readily incorporate similes, metaphors, alliteration, and more into their writing, creating flourishing paragraphs and stories. Believe me! I’ve seen a huge difference when I take the time to explicitly work on figurative language.
Utilize this Valentine’s Day Figurative Language resource to do just that! Students will write and identify and write similes, metaphors, hyperboles, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
Want to continue to teach figurative language skills throughout the winter and the entire year? Grab the following resource.
Keep them engaged and having fun at the same time!
#5 Valentine’s Symmetry Fun
Students can practice their math and artistic skills with this fun symmetry project. With 12 Valentine’s Day-themed emoji characters on grid paper, students have plenty of options to choose from to complete the symmetry challenge. This symmetry activity will feel more like a fun time instead of a math assignment!
I completed this for several years with third and fourth graders, and this was such a fun and vibrant activity, especially on Valentine’s Day!
Take this activity a step further and have some cross-curricular fun. Students complete a symmetry challenge using various Valentine words. Then, they cut out the symmetrical word they complete, fold it, color it and write a Valentine’s Day message in it. This activity turns into a really neat Valentine’s Day card.
5 Star Review
Melanie S. says, “My students thoroughly enjoyed this project. Thank you!”
My students’ favorite. Grab today!!!
#6 Random Acts of Kindness Day Writing
Did you know that Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17th? How fitting that it’s just days after Valentine’s Day! Promote social-emotional learning and kindness in the classroom through our kindness posters and matching heart writing paper.
Grab today so you are prepared for tomorrow!
Students can write ideas about how to display kindness throughout their school on the writing paper. Place the matching posters on a bulletin board in the hallway to remind your school about Random Acts of Kindness Day!
5 Star Review
Ariane O. says this resource is, “So sweet! Great SEL support!”
Pair this activity with a picture book on kindness to help turn this into a great learning opportunity. We recommend the book, I Walk with Vanessa.
#7 Valentine’s Day Activity Puzzles
Do you want to give students something lighthearted and engaging for morning work on Valentine’s Day or perhaps a fun post-party activity? This activity packet would also be perfect for students to complete while you put on Charlie Brown’s Valentine!
Another idea is to make these activities a fun challenge students must complete by the end of the day to earn a prize!
Students will tackle the following: symmetry activity, word search, crossword puzzle, two Crack the Codes, a fun acrostic poem, word scrambles, letter and line matching, and fun word clouds.
Conclusion
Valentine’s Day in the classroom is a time filled with joy, creativity, and meaningful learning opportunities. Whether your students are diving into heartwarming stories, crafting digital Valentines, creating symmetrical fun, exploring figurative language, or spreading kindness, these activities make the holiday both fun and educational. Wishing you and your students a Valentine’s Day filled with laughter, learning, and a little extra kindness!
