Valentine's 2020


We had the best Valentine's Day, full of family time, yummy food and new traditions. This year, we decided to add a new tradition from Simply on Purpose called, "I Love My Family Day". You choose 5-6 things your family loves doing together (hiking, biking, reading books, eating a favorite meal, it can be anything!) and do them all in one day. My kids loved this. It started as a blank sheet with the hearts numbered 1-6 on it and throughout the day, the boys would get a new heart to put on the chart and then we would do the activity. These are the six activities we chose:

1) Eat Heart Pancakes. I found this really cute Heart Waffle Iron from Home Depot and we made chocolate banana heart pancakes with strawberries.


2) Dollar Store & Deliver Valentine's. After breakfast, I gave my kids our second heart. We love the Dollar Store. My boys each picked out a toy for themselves, and a few trinkets (slinkies, chocolate hearts, lip blowers, etc.) to deliver to a few friend's houses. On our drive home, we door bell ditched Valentine's Bags to friends. This was my favorite part of the day, watching my kids sneakily knock and hide behind bushes.


Heart Lunch, of course.

3) Defy. This is my kid's favorite place in Eugene. It's a mix between a trampoline park and ninja zone.


4) Make Heart Shaped Pizzas for Dinner. You can read about how to make our Homemade Pizza Dough here.

5) Movie Night. 

6) Read Books Together. I bought my boy's each a new Valentine Book this year, and we always love snugging up close to read together before bed. Here are our favorite Valentine Books:
  • The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting
  • Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson
  • Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright (my six chose this one)
  • Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff (my four chose this one)
  • Where Is Love, Biscuit? by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (for my one year old)
  • Love, Z by Jessie Sima - If you're looking for a craft to go along with the book, make these cute Valentine Robots. My sister came up with these and does them every year. You wrap tin foil over blocks of floral foam and let kids decorate the robots with googly eyes, stickers, pom moms, pipe cleaners, candy, pony beads, etc. You can find all these items at the Dollar Store.
Photo Credit: Crafty Morning


And one last thing to share about Love Day. Simply on Purpose has a "Five Love Languages Questionnaire" for kids. There are five different ways we feel loved: Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, and Acts of Service. Ask your kids these questions to find out what their love language is, and make sure you're showing them love in the way they like to be loved. 


These are the Valentine's I taped onto my kid's doors the morning of Valentine's. They are still up (a week later) and they remind my kid's how great they are. Every year before school, my husband gives my children a priesthood blessing. In each blessing, I pay close attention to the gifts and strengths mentioned in the blessing and write them down afterward. I review them often and tell my children them often.



Popular posts from this blog

Ocean Foil Painting

Image
We love foil painting. Last year, my three used monster trucks to paint on foil and this year, my three and 21 month old used q-tips to paint an ocean scene. They both really enjoyed painting and using ocean stickers to complete their ocean. You can view our other Letter O Activities  by clicking the link. Here's what you need: Cardboard Poster Board (I bought mine from The Dollar Tree and cut it into fourths) Tinfoil Tape (I used packing tape, but I'm sure any kind would work) Paint (we used dark blue, light blue and white tempera paint) Q-tips Glitter (optional) Ocean Stickers  (or print ocean clipart to glue on) 1) Wrap a piece of tinfoil around your piece of cardboard. Tape the tinfoil (on the back side of the cardboard) into place. 2) Squeeze paint onto the foil and have your child(ren) swirl the paint around with a q-tip. My 21-month old decided to use his hands to paint (top left), which made the paint lift and chip off a bit when the paint dried....
Read more

Family Home Evening Index

Image
Update: Did you know I'm posting weekly COME FOLLOW ME ideas and lessons for young children (ages 3-12)? The lessons are short, interactive and lots of fun. Click the link for more details.  I started doing a weekly Family Home Evening lesson when my oldest child turned 18 months old. These lessons teach our family about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Restored Gospel - we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The lessons in BLUE are based on principles from the nursery manual, "Behold Your Little Ones" along with supplementary ideas to teach the same principle. The lessons in PINK are from the Sunbeams Manual - which we used at group family home evening lessons at our home. These lessons are meant for toddlers and young children - they're short, interactive and sweet. Baptism Book of Mormon (1) : "The Book of Mormon Teaches me about Jesus" Book of Mormon (2) : The Story of The Book of Mormon Book of Mormon Her...
Read more

Family Home Evening: Baptism

Image
**Other Baptismal Lessons:  Kit Kat Baptismal Covenants ,  here (includes covenants with pictures) and here (includes baptism jeopardy).  Prayer: Scripture - John 3:5. Explain that Jesus is speaking in this verse and teaching us something we need to do in order to live in heaven again with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Read the verse and explain that "born of water" is referring to baptism. Song: " When Jesus Christ was Baptized " from the Children's Songbook page 102. When Jesus Was Baptized: Use these visuals (shown below) to teach your children about when Jesus was baptized. Each visual has a summary included. I printed the summaries and glued them onto the back of the pictures, so I could show my children the pictures while reading the summary on the back. Point out any additional details you'd like in the pictures. When I Am Baptized: Teach your children that they can be baptized just as Jesus was baptized. Use these visuals (s...
Read more

Obedience (1): The Chocolate Chip Ghost Story

Image
This lesson contains ideas from the current nursery manual, Behold Your Little Ones. Click the link to view the original lesson, " I Will Obey " from LDS.org. Prayer : Scripture : Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right." I explained what 'obey' means and told Easton how happy it makes Heavenly Father when he listens to mom and dad. Song : " Quickly I'll Obey ." (Primary Children's Songbook P. 197) We did the actions from the manual as we sang the song: When my mother calls me (cup hands around mouth) Quickly I'll obey (run quietly in place) I want to do just what is best (nod head up and down) Each and every day. When my father calls me (cup hands around mouth) Quickly I'll obey (run quietly in place) I want to do just what is best (nod head up and down) Each and every day. Heavenly Father loves me (hug self) Blesses me each day (continue hugging self as you tur...
Read more