Valentine’s Celebrations in the Classroom

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Love is in the air! I love Valentine’s Day so much in the classroom setting. There is something about Valentine’s and little kids that makes it magical! Kids are excited for Valentine’s celebrations in the classroom. Today’s blog post has a bunch of ideas for you!

If you are looking for general tips about holidays in the classroom, check out an old post HERE.  For other February ideas visit my February category on my blog!   For other seasonal activities, consider February Binder Tasks, February Directed Drawing, or February Vocabulary Activities.

* This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and end up purchasing, you pay no extra cost, but I earn a small fee for referring you.

What Is Valentine’s Day?

I like to introduce the holiday with a simple social story. You can simply read it to the class. You can also project it on your smart board to save on ink and paper! This social story also comes with a one page version that can be printed and sent home. I recommend sending these home with your Valentine’s Day Celebration instructions so all families can be on the same page!

Hosting a Valentine’s Day Party

Valentine’s Day is so much more than just candy. All schools have their own set of rules for hosting a Valentine’s Day celebration in the classroom. Some schools allow the exchanging of valentine’s with candy. Other schools allow valentine’s with non-edible items. Lastly, some allow no celebrations at all. Please adhere to your school’s rules with the exchanging of valentine’s.

To read more about hosting a Valentine’s Day Party, read my post here.

How To Manage Behaviors On Valentine’s Day

Candy, gifts, letters and elementary age crushes can cause ALL sorts of excitement for our little kids. Set students up for success this holiday by teaching the basics of behavior before and during the celebrations!

  • School Celebrations: This lesson is kind of a given if your school celebrates holidays. If you are having a celebration or performance the routine is going to be different. Review expectations before the celebrations begin!
  • Manners: If you are celebrating Valentine’s Day in the classroom and you allow students to pass around Valentine’s, we must teach kiddos to say please and thank you for each one they receive/give!
  • I Will not Throw things:   This is a good lesson to review before any Valentine’s Day celebrations in the classroom.  Often times when new things (like valentine’s and gifts) are introduced students get overly excited.  This excitement can manifests as someone throwing something.
  • I can Be Kind:  Valentine’s Day is all about love.  Being kind to our peers is the definition of Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day Picture Books

Do you have a classroom library set up in your classroom? Below are some of my favorite books for the holiday. You can also display these all month, not just for Valentine’s Day.

Communication on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is all about expressing your emotions to peers. Being able to communicate on holidays like this is OH SO IMPORTANT for our little kiddies. Be sure to provide a means of communication for all students. It’s okay to use a PECS system, a high tech system, a go talk button system or a verbal system. There is no right or wrong way. Just don’t forget to include everyone in your plans! Below is a sample of my holiday communication book in my TpT store.

Valentine’s Day Videos and Songs

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Valentine’s Day Goodies

Below are some goodies for your Valentine’s celebration in the classroom. I also have some of my favorite supplies for art crafts and sensory activities.

Kindness in February

I love teaching kindness in the month of February. I have a whole blog post full of FREEBIES to teach kindness with your students. To read more, click here.

Valentine’s Day Crafts and Sensory Activities

Below are some fun ideas for the holiday that I wanted to share with you! To read about some fun ALL THINGS PINK sensory activities, check out my blog post here.

Yarn wrapped hearts from The Pinterested Parent

The Resourceful Parent has this cute heart wreath craft!

I love this craft idea below from The Best Ideas for Kids for a gift for families for Valentine’s Day!

Holidays can be a blast in the classroom if planned out ahead of time. I know this blog post is full of all sorts of goodies, and I completely understand if you can’t incorporate all of these ideas every year. I do hope you found some of these tips and tricks helpful for this holiday season. If you plan on discussing more holidays this year, check out my Holiday social stories discounted bundle!

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