Great Valentine's Day Traditions for Families

When people reflect on family traditions, the first things that come to mind are often associated with holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I was growing up, my mom made it a priority to create family traditions. On St. Patrick's Day, we could look forward to green mashed potatoes and milk (among other things). On Halloween, we knew that our sandwich would have a jack-o-lantern face cut into it. I have fond memories of all of these traditions and it has inspired me to create my own traditions with my family. Traditions can be a source of strength to families by creating a sense of unity and serving as a connection between generations. Although Valentine's Day has traditionally been viewed as a holiday for couples to express their romantic love, it provides an excellent opportunity for parents to teach their children about expressing love within the home and to those around them. Here are some fun and easy ideas for starting Valentine's Day traditions in your family.

Plan a family service project

Valentine's Day is a great time for families to focus on serving others. One possible service project could be to create handmade Valentine's Day cards or craft items for people in nursing homes or hospitals. The family can go together to deliver these items (be sure to contact the facility first to make arrangements).

Another project could involve staging a "heart attack" on a friend or neighbor. If you are not familiar with a "heart attack" you basically cut out paper hearts in a variety of colors and sizes. If you choose, you can write special messages on the back. You can scatter the hearts on a front door, vehicle, etc. for the person (or family) to find the next day.

You can also create a "love bucket" (filled with special treats such as candy or cookies) to leave for a neighbor and then invite them to continue the tradition. The "love bucket" would include a heart for them to hang on their door or in a window showing that they have been a recipient of the love bucket and then a special card with a note expressing gratitude or love for the person it is being left for along with an invitation for them to pass a bucket along to another neighbor.

Create a family mailbox

As a child, one of the things that I remember most about Valentine's Day was making my own box (usually out of a Kleenex box or a shoe box) to collect my cards at school. This is no longer a common practice in many elementary schools due to issues with bullying as well as an increased focus on academics, but it is something that can still be done at home. Kids can make cards or gifts for each other and parents. As a variation on this, I have heard about some families who will spend the first two weeks of February looking for things that other family members did that were "good." They will recognize them by writing (or drawing in the case of younger children) the good deed on a piece of paper and placing it in the family mailbox. The family can open the mailbox and distribute and read the cards or good deeds together on Valentine's Day.

Choose secret pals

Have each family member draw a name of another family member the week before Valentine's Day. During that week, they can do small acts of service for their secret pal (such as doing one of their chores) or they can make them a small card or leave them a small note (in a lunch box, on a car door, on the mirror, or in a backpack). On Valentine's Day, family members can reveal their secret pal.

Have a Valentine's Day treasure hunt

Create a Valentine's Day treasure hunt (with clues written on hearts to lead the way) for your children to complete when they wake up in the morning or when they get home from school in the afternoon. There can be small trinkets to encourage them along the way and a fun treat as a "prize" at the end.

Have a family craft night

Have a family craft night where family members can create cards for friends, each other, or extended family (such as grandparents). If you choose to do one of the service projects listed above, this could also be an opportunity to create the items for that project.

There are a number of websites available that provide easy and affordable ideas for creating Valentine's Day cards and crafts such as:

FamilyFun: provides ideas for craft items such as clip hearts and a love note tote as well as easy-to-make Valentine's Day cards and how-to videos

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/minisite/valentines-main-ms/

Kid'sDomain: includes ideas such as a craft stick jewelry box and heart pins and magnets as well as homemade cards

http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_Val.html

You can also find some great ideas from other Content Producers.

In her article "Great Ideas for Kid's Homemade Valentines" Afton Nelson provides fun ideas such as a candy cane card, lollipop flowers, and heart-shaped glasses: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/116482/great_ideas_for_kids_homemade_valentines.html?page=2 In another article, entitled "Creative Valentine Crafts for Kids" she provides suggestions such as a heart pillow, painted pot, and heart photo frame: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/116473/creative_valentine_crafts_for_kids.html?page=2

In the article "Homemade Valentines Crafts for all Ages" Griff for Valentine's Day cards that are easy to make but beautiful: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/115850/homemade_valentines_crafts_for_all.html

Renee Bodkin provides several different options for creating fun magnets with a Valentine's Day theme in her article "Valentine's Day Crafts - Magnets!": http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/120368/valentines_day_crafts_magnets.html

Have a family meal to celebrate

The family meal we shared growing up varied from year to year. Sometimes, we would have a big family breakfast and other times, we would have a special dinner. The meal always had a Valentine's Day theme (with heart-shaped pancakes or waffles for breakfast and heart-shaped pizza or hamburgers or something "red" like spaghetti for dinner) and was always served on special red plates. If we were having breakfast, we would have strawberry milk and if we were having dinner, we would usually have red punch. My mom had heart-shaped cupcake pans and a heart-shaped cake pan that had been passed down from her mother and so we either had cupcakes (sometimes they were already decorated and sometimes we helped with decorating) or a heart-shaped cake covered with red sprinkles or red hot candies. We would always find a special Valentine's Day surprise (a small treat or toy) as well and a card from our parents on our plate at the table.