Valentine’s Day is can be fun in the classroom but without a solid plan, it can be chaotic. I like to plan my Valentine’s activities to be fun and engaging and a little bit different than what we do on a regular day make the day enjoyable. We save any card or candy exchanging for the very last part of our day.

I have 3 tips for you to keep Valentine’s Day in your classroom simple and FUN.

Valentine Writing

Looking back at my memories of Valentine’s Day in school, the Valentine Card exchange is all that I remember. As a teacher, I’ve seen firsthand how much kids love exchanging cards. I have also worried about the students who may not be able to purchase Valentine cards for the class. To relieve my own anxiety about any child feeling left out, I have students make cards for their classmates in class. The week before Valentine’s Day, I have students brainstorm Valentine cards and Valentine message ideas. I set up an assortment of colorful squares of paper (half or quarter-sized pieces), markers, crayons, scissors, and glue in my classroom for students to grab and use to make individual cards.

Valentine Math

I love doing holiday-themed math activities in my classroom! Valentine’s Day is no exception. To celebrate, my students do Valentine-themed math stations. You can take any activity you need your students to practice in stations and just print it on pink paper and give them a small candy treat when they finish the station.

I have some Valentine Fraction Task Cards and Valentine Fraction Digital Games that are my students’ FAVORITE activities. I love that they are practicing skills that they need to work on and that just adding a Valentine theme makes it so much more engaging and fun.

Valentine STEM

I love the opportunity to incorporate science and engineering into any topic and HOLIDAYS are always so fun to do!

For my primary students, I teach them how to fold paper and cut out a heart. I also show them how to fold the heart and cut to make paper heart outlines. We glue the hearts onto a big sheet of paper to make a colorful heart collage.

For my upper elementary students, we do a Valentine Zip Line STEM Challenge. The goal is to successfully send a Valentine card to the end of the zip line. I give each team index cards, a small paper cup, string, straws, scissors, and tape. My students go through the engineering design process to build a zip line. It’s challenging but fun and a great opportunity to collaborate and work on problem-solving skills.

(Want more details on how I incorporate STEM Challenges in my classroom? You find my tips here,

5 Tips for Using STEM Challenges in Your Classroom)

I also like to give each student a Valentine card and I prefer to create my own. It’s fun for me and fun for my students. I have a Solar System Valentine Card Freebie in my TPT store!