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Holidays have always been celebrated in a HUGE manner in our home. Growing up my husband and I did not always have family holiday celebrations, so when we married and brought our kids together, we purposed to make holidays special for them and to get creative as well.
We are what is called, "a blended family" because I had one daughter and my husband had a daughter and son to bring to our marriage. Now, if you have seen the statistics on second marriages and blending families it is very challenging and the success rate of making it is low.
My husband and I were both products of divorced parents and were introduced to blended families growing up. I guess we came into "blending" our families with some experience. At any rate, children who go through divorce, lose a parent to death, a child whose parent is in the military and deployed, or a foster child, to name a few, could benefit from Special Valentines. Taking this day of love to affirm a child is a powerful way to encourage them!
The idea for Specials Valentines came from one of my girlfriends who has three sons. She had made these for her Boys for years when she told me about them. They loved them and felt very special!
How to Make Special Valentines for Children
You will need hearts, either precut or cut your own out. (I did mine at my kid's school and used the school's heart shaped die cutter. Below is a heart template to download if you need one.
Click to download Heart Template.
Cut out one heart from construction paper, for each year of your child's age. (We cut out various colors for variety.) This is the number of hearts your child will receive! For instance if one child is 8 and the other 12, the eight year old will receive 8 hearts and the 12 year old will receive 12.
Write your child's name on one side on the other side write a positive sentence about them. It could be something about their personality, their talents, or just how special they are to you.
Write something unique for each child on each of their hearts. Something specific to them. i.e.: I love you because......
You are creative
Your are beautiful
You are generous
You are kind
You are fun and make others laugh
You get the idea. I am sure you are able to make these and expand on them!
Take each one you make and hide them for the children to find. On Valentine's Day in our house, the kids knew they would come home from school to find "their hearts." We hid the hearts in their rooms for them to search. It was quite the adventure!
They were very personal and special to them. To this day it is one of their fondest memories of growing up in our home.(They are all now in their twenties, but they remember their hearts.)
Valentine Dinner and Gifts
Valentine Meals consisted of pink and red foods to Celebrate! Serving pasta with a red sauce was not too strange, Pink mashed potatoes were quite unusual! Their milk was pink, too! Each year our dinners were varied and unusual. Desserts usually consisted of chocolate desserts with a red berry accent. Sometimes we would order an ice cream cake decorated in white and red.
Meals don't need to be all red and pink. Hosting a special dinner will have a great impact on your children to express love. Perhaps a favorite family meal, or a meal they don't eat often.
Gifts and a small box of chocolates were presented after dinner. There are so many cute Valentine's gifts out now, you don't have to spend a lot of money. I was a stay home mom and our kids attended private school making our budget very tight. Depending on the age of the children, many times you can find gifts and decorations at the Dollar Store.
Happy Valentines Day,
Melanie
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