Valentine’s Day for Kids

Older children know Valentine’s Day is about romance, but kids under 12 won’t really understand that. It’s best to keep the day about friendship instead and provide plenty of fun activities for them to participate in.

The simplest activity of them all is showing kindness to others, such as doing things around the house for parents, or writing best friend notes in class.

There isn’t any requirement to buy things for Valentine’s Day, although cards, chocolates and flowers are always suitable for parents and relatives.

In Japan, girls give homemade chocolates to boys, and one month later, on White Day, the boys reciprocate with gifts of their own.

Down under in Australia, it’s summer on Valentine’s Day, so children’s gifts and activities usually focus on spending time in the great outdoors.

Denmark has gaekkebrev, where boys and girls intricately cut paper into shapes for others.

Closer to home, here in the UK, Jack Valentine is a mysterious character in Norfolk tradition, leaving gifts and cards on people’s doorsteps. Kids get involved in that, leaving treats for people they know on Valentine’s Day.

Affordable and cheerful does the trick:

• Make a card for someone who doesn’t expect one. It could be a grandma, a school janitor, the bus driver, or anyone who is nice.

• Bake something for neighbours, doesn’t need to be anything special either, some basic biscuits with a dollop of jam in the middle will do.

• Draw pictures for people and put smiley faces and love hearts on them, throw some glitter and glue on them for some sparkle, too.

• Let your kids pick flowers from your garden for someone special. They could even go one step further and create or order a flower bouquet.

• Look up any local hospices or children’s charities in need of some toys and ask your children to donate the ones they don’t want.

Pulling kids away from the table once they get going with arts and crafts is nigh-on impossible, but thankfully, that’s precisely what you want to keep them occupied and kill some time. These projects will work great:

• Play-Doh, the safe and non-messy choice available in kits. Mixes, though, so keep the mixtures separate for future projects.

• Water painting, give your kids a high-quality sketchpad designed for watercolours (the kind that doesn’t curl) and let your kids have at it.

• Plaster of Paris kits, these always go down a treat if you can source some with moulds for comic book heroes, robots, or dinosaurs.

• Papier mache, you might seriously regret letting kids get into it, but papier mache is one of the most fun activities ever.

• Moon sand, easy enough to make by combining flour or cornflour with oil. You can then let your kids build sandcastles without the messiness of proper sand.

Kids can give nothing more than a cuddle on Valentine’s Day or go further with gestures and simple crafts that take no more than an hour. Some options:

• Breakfast in bed, easily done and always welcome.

• Handprint artwork, just ensure to use washable paints!

• Give them a break, do the chores for a day and keep bedrooms super-tidy.

• Make them a photo frame with some cardboard, glue, and cool sticky bits.

• Make a natural perfume for them using wildflowers, water and a glass bottle.

Roses are the classic choice, especially red ones, with pink and cream varieties providing an alternative. Other popular varieties include:

• Peonies are ruffled and luxurious with loads of texture.

• Carnations, a fluffy and beautifully shaped bloom that pairs well with alstroemeria.

• Freesia, extremely fragrant, with a tubular appearance.

• Gerberas are enormous daisies with lots of petals and ruffled centres.

• Lilies, usually in white alongside roses and green carnations.

• Lily-free bouquets, any blooms that don’t have lilies, are a popular choice for pet owners since lilies are poisonous to cats and dogs.