Lesson Plan Ideas for Valentine's Day

The Roman Emperor Claudius banned marriage throughout his empire, but a Christian priest by the name of Valentine chose to defy the emperor's decree and he continued to marry couples until his execution on February 14, 270 AD. Because of his selfless sacrifice in the name of love, St. Valentine became the patron saint of young couples, marriage, and love.

We no longer use the day's traditional name of St. Valentine's Day because the holiday has become a non-secular global holiday, but its themes of friendship, love, and caring have endured. These universal ideals have made Valentine's Day an excellent teaching opportunity and many lesson plan ideas for Valentine's Day are found online through such websites as TeacherVision.

Flower of Love

This is project is an excellent twist on a traditional science experiment using a stalk of celery. It helps students understand how plants use their root systems to draw water and nutrients from the soil. This Valentine's Day lesson plan uses a white carnation, a cup of water and red food coloring. Use enough food coloring to turn the cup of water red, make a fresh cut on the stem of the carnation, and just place it into the water. The project takes a few days so it is also a good opportunity to talk about the scientific process of theory, testing, and observation.

Poetry

Valentine's Day cards and poems are a traditional part of St. Valentine's Day. A valentine's lesson plan for older children is the creation of a poetry form called a Cinquain (pronounced SING-cane). David Cunningham from Halifax, Nova Scotia has put together an excellent Cinquain educational handout to help students understand the Cinquain poetry form and HotChalk's lesson plans website offers a printable lesson on creating a Valentine's Day Cinquain poems and cards. Students starting as young as second grade can have fun creating special poems for their loved ones.

Valentine's Mailboxes

A number of internet sites offer free lesson plan ideas for Valentine's Day. One fun but very easy craft idea is creating a Valentine's Day mailbox. All you will need to create these mailboxes is a paper bag, glue, scissors, a marker, and construction paper.

Children can create decorate their bags with hearts and flowers or create animals such a panda, kitten, or giraffe. The bag forms the body and construction paper is used make the shapes representing the head, paws, and feet.

References:

Cinquain Poetry Learning Guide; Instructor David Cunningham, Ecole Rockingham School, Halifax, Nova Scotia

HotChalk's Lesson Plans Pages: Valentine Cinquain Poems

American Greetings: Valentine's Day Facts

Encyclopedia Britannica: Saint Valentine Bio

Educational Resources for Valentine's Day; TeacherVision

Cinquain Poetry Instruction; Shae Johnson, Missouri State University

Book: 730 Easy Science Experiments: With Everyday Materials; E. Richard Churchill

Free Valentine Gift and Craft Ideas for Kids; AllCraft.net