Valentine’s Day Preschool Ideas
I used to hate Valentine’s Day. I didn’t like the reminder of whether you had a special someone in your life or not, or whether or not you’d get flowers at school, or, “do I need to bring my friends Valentine’s Day cards to pass out?” Then, I got married, we settled in to our family life, had 3 babies, and now Valentine’s Day is one of my favorites! I now love to share my favorite Valentine’s Day preschool ideas.
I realized it’s far more about the mushy gushy love, and simply celebrating love in general. It’s showing those you love in your life that they are special to you. Even in the simplest of ways! So, you’d better believe, I have SO many ideas coming your way for Valentine’s Day, because we’ve already started celebrating the fun at the Little Owl Academy house!
Valentine’s Day Friendship Bracelet
To kick off the fun, we made this simple and easy Valentine’s Day friendship bracelets. I helped my 3 year old cut his strips out. My 5 year old cut his all on his own. Each one comes with enough strips for an adult, so you better believe I made one, too! They had fun picking which hearts they wanted on their bracelets, and then running around the house shooting at each other with their friendship bracelets after they were done. (Why does everything with boys turn in to a shooting game!) This was a great way to kick off our Valentine’s Day fun!
Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Skills
We’ve been working a lot on fine motor skills during school at home time. My 5 year old has really gotten the hang of cutting, and loves to do it! My 3 year old is in the very beginning stages of cutting and needs a lot of guidance. I love to say my favorite chant while we cut, “Open, shut, open, shut, that’s the way we cut, cut, cut. Fingers on the bottom, thumbs on top, do not let the paper drop.” It’s a combination of chants I found on Pinterest years ago when I was still in the classroom. Now they will say the chant with me as they practice. Children will spend a lot of time cutting out pieces and parts for their Valentine’s Day boxes at school. So, getting that fine motor practice in at home or before you begin decorating is a great Valentine’s Day preschool idea!
Valentine’s Day Preschool Math
I will be sharing a bunch of our favorite preschool Valentine’s Day Math ideas activities over the next few posts. But, this was a great one to kick us off! You can do this by simply talking about the numbers and filling in the blanks on the page. Or, if your little learners need a little extra help, make it Valentine’s Day fun! Cut out 20 small hearts. Write the numbers on them from 1-20 and lay them in a number line. Point to the numbers and practice counting from 1-20. Then, do it again starting at the number at the beginning of the sequence on the page. Count it together and stop on the number that correlates with the blank spot on the worksheet. It’s a great way to incorporate number lines, Valentines and sequencing fun!
Valentine’s Day Preschool Book Companion
We just had to read this classic book together to kick off our Valentine’s Day fun. Having 3 little children, there are often lots of opinions on the “right way” to do things, and children wanting to do things on their own. I love this book because it teaches that it’s okay to have your own ideas, but sometimes when you combine those great ideas with others, you come up with something wonderful! We read this book and completed activities to go along with the story. It was a great idea for Valentine’s Day preschool fun! You can find the printable here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Biggest-Valentine-Ever-Book-Companion-5191952
Valentine’s Day Preschool Ideas
I know that sometimes, Valentine’s Day can be a stressful day in the classroom. I have found, if you do simple yet effective activities, the stress goes away and you can embrace the fun and the learning! In one easy lesson, we practice counting to 20, spatial sense, tracing, cutting, all of our letters, writing our names, and so much more!