Valentine’s Day Fun for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Moving Valentines
Teach your child about spatial directions as they participate in this fun game. Set a decorated Valentine box on the table. Invite your child to move a Valentine card in relationship to the box according to directions you give. Ask your child to "move the card" under, behind, in front of, to the left side, to the right side of the box. Continue to play as long as your child desires.

Valentine's Day Creative Movement
Dramatize the following verse together:

Let's be friends on this Valentine's Day.
We'll show love in so many ways.
I'll blow you a kiss. Catch it in your hand.
Throw it back. Watch it land.
Now, be my partner and let's dance to the music.
It's so nice to have a friend like you,
not just for today, but the whole year through!

Sorting Hearts Game
Place several shoeboxes on a table. Fill them with different colored construction paper hearts cut into a variety of sizes. Have your child sort the hearts according to size, color, or both. This game helps your little one learn pre-math skills.

Musical Circle of Hearts Game
Cut matching pairs of hearts from an assortment of colored construction paper. Place one heart of each pair in a box. Tape the remaining hearts to the floor in a circle. Players walk on the circle of hearts to music. When the music stops, each player must stand on one of the hearts. One heart is drawn from the box and the player standing on the matching heart gets a chance to choose a heart from the box for the next walk. Repeat as many times as your kids want to play. This is a great game to play with friends and family members.

Memory Hearts Game
You will need:

• 20 index cards
• Colored hearts (two of each message: "Be Mine," "I Love You," and so on)
• Glue

Glue a different colored heart on 10 index cards and then make a matching set. This game is played like the traditional "concentration" game. Place all the cards heart-side down. The children take turns turning over two cards to find matches. If they don't get a match, they return the cards, and the next player goes.