Valentine’s day kindergarten ideas come and go.
Over 30 years of teaching, I’ve definitely seen them all! During that time, I realized that some Valentine’s Day kindergarten ideas were much more substantive and long-lasting than simply one chaotic day of giving store-bought cards to each other and gobbling as much candy as possible.
Therefore as the years went on, I embraced the opportunity of highlighting those activities I came to value most:
- building on the importance of great friendships and
- promoting authentic and meaningful writing engagements with little kids.
The magnet school (where I taught 22 of those years) emphasized the big idea of friendship over the emphasis on flying Cupids, store-bought valentines, and cupcakes on the 14th of February each year. The name of our tradition was called “Friendship Celebration Day.” An unusual name for sure. Especially when the rest of the world saw pink hearts and chocolates in stores as soon as the Christmas displays were dismantled.
Creating a Culture of Strong Community Since the Beginning of the Year through Activities for Social Emotional Learning
Throughout the years, we had worked hard to create a vibrant community of children and teachers who looked out for each other. I look back and remember children who learned to really listen and respond, building deep relationships with each other.
Many people over the years have asked me how I nurtured that encouraging classroom community. Here are just a few activities for social emotional learning that (I believe) solidified those friendships:
- We read powerful children’s books and talked (and listened) to others’ ideas in response.
- We highlighted things we cared about through “Shares”, our unique, in-depth version of Show-and-Tell. Just two children led the Sharing Sessions daily. Each child followed up by taking questions and comments from classmates.
- We researched and presented passions in our lives which enabled us to truly get to know each other in profound ways. These first expert projects set the stage for children learning to live and work as researchers as well as friends.
As a class, we began to see a pattern in our beliefs about each other and the ways we wanted to live and work. Those thoughts led us to create our Class Constitution. As a class, we’d craft the precise wording for what we as a community valued most. Then, we would re-read and revise as needed before adding all our signatures to the document.
Publishing our Class Constitutions and hanging them on our wall gave us powerful connections. Many times visitors would notice the documents and ask kids to explain. No matter who responded, each child always spoke from their heart about the things that mattered most to our shared community, the books we read, the ways we chose to live and work as community members, learners, and friends.
Valentine’s Day Kindergarten Writing Activities – Beginning with their Homework
In early January each year, I’d drop an intriguing couple of paragraphs into our class newsletter about an upcoming powerful writing engagement.
“We would like to focus on friendship for everyone over the next few weeks. Think of something special that you can make from paper and art supplies to give to each one of your friends. You will need to make twenty-one little greetings – of any type. Talk with your parents about the goodie you would like to create. Let me know if you need to borrow some materials from school as well. After you make the goodies, you will need to sign your name neatly.
Enclosed with this newsletter, you will find a master list of each child’s name and picture. You will need to write each friend’s name on one of your goodies, too.
Finally, read each name carefully and arrange all the goodies in ABC order. Since our treat bags will be displayed in ABC order, it will be easy and fun for you to deliver each goodie by yourself!
I know that day is still weeks away; but this project requires much writing! You might set a goal of making 3 goodies every single night. We can’t wait to see what you are making from your heart.
(By the way, I realize some children will want to purchase store-bought valentines for this day. Please help them consider what they can do to make each one even more personal and special.)”
Did you catch how important this whole operation was?
I billed it as “their home/school connection.” Actually, that was my codeword for “homework.” Yes, their homework starting in January was to begin designing their special friendship goodies and start making lots of them. And to be mindful of their neat signatures as well as carefully drafting the name of each friend. Such Valentine’s Day kindergarten writing activities gave the children much practice and thought into their writing.
Kids’ Natural Work with ABC Order Throughout the Days and Year
By the way, putting kids in ABC order was no big deal for my children. From the first day, I had their names memorized in ABC order.
- Personal cubbies alphabetized by first name
- Fire drill check-ins
- Field study departures
- Simply leaving the playground
I’d just branch into the roll call. “Aaron? Abby?” … all the way to … “Walker? Zoe?” That way, I quickly knew I had all the kids for sure – or immediately knew exactly which one was missing. (That technique has saved me multiple times over the years!)
Fun Valentine’s Day Ideas for Kindergarten Focusing on Friendship
As Friendship Day rolled closer, kids’ goodies started coming in. How exciting our morning circle became when somebody held up their package full of homemade greetings and said, “Look what I made for you guys!” If some little procrastinator hadn’t yet begun their homework, it became abundantly clear. I never had to check behind kids to be working on these. (Just a weekly reminder in the newsletter for their parents!) Their friends took care of it for me.
If you’ve ever been around little kids on holidays, you know how exciting (or chaotic!) it can be. I think lots of times adults believe we need to take over and do the hard work for them because we can do it better. Faster, too. And correct, most of the time.
I believe the beauty of special holiday traditions is planning things that children pull off – by themselves. After all, who would get more satisfaction over hand-delivering each goodie into friends’ bags? An adult or the child who devoted hours already in creating and manufacturing this gift!
Just wondering: How many times do little kids do the work … and adults finish it up?
- From donating cans to food drives,
- writing a card to an ill friend,
- collecting money for nonprofits and more,
we encourage kids to become involved in ministering to others. We work really hard to compel children to participate in significant compassionate endeavors.
But how often we take over and finish the projects ourselves! Children rarely get to see the whole process to its fruition. Interestingly, that culminating event is often the most satisfying, most breathtaking moment. Yet, our kids miss it.
Teacher Tip
Therefore in the days before the big day, children excitedly held up a sample of their goodie and showed all their friends. (Besides a great reminder of what their homework was, it also took away the concern that someone might not know who gave what. Just in case a name went missing – or a tag fell off, each child knew they already had shown everyone what they were giving.)
One other job we did prior to that day was decorate brown bags with markers, crayons, cut paper, whatever the children wanted. I did tell them their name had to be written clearly in black marker at the top of the bag. When we lined all the bags up to begin the delivery process, each name had to be clearly identifiable.
What a celebration it was when we lined all the bags up and the fun Valentine’s Day ideas for kindergarten would commence. Some years the bags circled all around the top of a bookshelf. Other years, the bags were displayed in a long line. Just be sure that there is enough room for lots of little children to easily access them, both one-by-one and for several hours. Note that this process does take longer than you would think.
But, the celebration actually is the delivering process.
We’d start first-thing in the morning. Once the last kids shared their sample, we’d head off to Independent Reading for a bit so that the first few delivery people could start the process. Everyone was so excited! They knew I’d be watching over shoulders, checking behind kids (as much as possible) to ensure that the gifts were going in the right bags. I’d selectively choose children I felt would successfully deliver and coach each other as needed.
The kids reading independently at their book boxes knew I’d be searching for the most productive readers to be the next deliverers. And on and on it would go. After about five or six kids delivered, we’d move back into a regular teaching part of the day and the bags would simply await the next independent work time. Children were always on their best behavior. They were so excited to deliver their own things and sneak a peek into their bag, too. Engaging in such fun Valentine’s Day kindergarten ideas can be empowering.
The celebration, of course, wasn’t a party or cupcakes or anything – except valuing the process of creating something for every single friend – and gifting it to them.
Survival Tip
Note, too, that I never allowed children to open their bags at all once the deliveries were made. In fact, I stapled them closed. (I never considered myself a strict teacher; but one who celebrated with families.) So, I always had the children lift their right hands and pledge to wait for their families to go through their bags with them as their homework for that night.
After patient parents had persisted on these treats for weeks, they should have the privilege of opening the treasures with their child and reveling in all the fun!
Although modern-day families might wonder how realistic such Valentine’s Day kindergarten ideas are in today’s culture, I know that our way of celebrating Valentine’s Day was special. Our Friendship Celebration Day was one of the most highly-anticipated days of the year. Children truly loved their friends and loved celebrating the sweet relationships they made with each other.
If you’d like to read more about our class community and how we have grown as learners, check out where we took care of the birds and animals in our winter garden here or where we reflected on our learning journey here.