Valentine's Day Decorations

Below are some great decorating ideas for your home or the classroom:

• Cut hearts from pink, white and red construction paper to hang throughout the party area. Older children may cut out their own hearts. To make each heart, fold a piece of paper in half. Cut a half heart along the fold. When you open the paper you will have a perfectly symmetrical heart. Allow your guests to decorate the hearts with crayons, markers, stickers, glitter glue, and other decorations. Send the hearts home with the children as keepsakes.
• Tie pairs of pink or red balloons to the edges of the chalkboard, teacher's desk, tables, chairs, etc.
• Twist together strands of red and white streamers, and hang them around the room.
• Hang a Valentine's Day banner on your wall.

Things to Keep in Mind for a Classroom Valentine Party

There are several things you should keep in mind while planning a classroom party and selecting activities:

• Number of Children in the Class - If you have a group of 12 or more, you may consider setting up activity stations at which you can do a craft or activity with a manageable number of children (i.e. 6 to 8). For example, a class of 21 should be divided into three groups. Start by having the whole class play a game like "Hugs & Kisses," and then break the class into groups of seven to rotate between three station activities.
• Age of the Children - Some activities may be more appropriate than others depending on the age of the children and their abilities. This consideration is most important when selecting crafts. Preschool children should be given fun, simple crafts without any objects that could potentially be choking hazards. While this may not be as important for active games, you might find that preschool children would delight in a non-competitive, Valentine's version of hot potato, whereas older children might prefer a heart matching game!
• Length of the Party - For a two hour party, you might plan one active group game such as Hugs & Kisses, a couple of craft stations such as our Luv Bug Craft and Making Valentines activity, and a game station with the Candy Relay, Breathless, and our Heart Relay. If you're serving food, make sure you also set aside 15 to 30 minutes for this portion of the party.
• Size of the Party Area - Make sure you have enough space for all of the activities you want to set up. If you want to plan more activities than you have space for, consider which games and crafts can be quickly set up and broken down.

Cupid's Confections for a Valentine's Party

Consider these tasty Valentine's treat ideas for your home or classroom party:

• Make delicious, heart-shaped cookies with our Linzer Hearts recipe and a shaped cookie cutter. (Recipe makes 48 cookies.)
• Make heart-shaped sandwiches by cutting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Or, if any of the students or guests have peanut allergies, try jelly and cream cheese sandwiches instead.
• Pick up different kinds of Valentine's candies from your local grocery or drug store, such as the heart candies with phrases on them, heart-shaped lollipops, and Hershey's Kisses (or other inexpensive chocolates).
• Serve red and pink drinks like fruit punch and pink lemonade.