Sharing Your Heart on Valentine's Day

Get in the Mood

Setting your dinner table with festive homemade placemats made of pink or red construction paper is the perfect way for kids to help decorate for the holiday. Better yet, this project is enjoyable for both toddlers and elementary school kids. Let them decorate the paper anyway they choose—washable paints are great for little ones. They'll love dipping heart-shaped cookie cutters into the paint to create special patterns on the paper. Other easy ways to decorate placemats are with Valentine-themed stickers, designs kids create with drizzled glue and sparkly glitter, or even their own beautiful crayon drawings.

Kids can create easy, inexpensive gift bags out of plastic sandwich bags (be careful using bags around infants and toddlers) and fill them either with homemade chocolate or store-bought favorites like candy hearts with fun messages. Tie the bags with brightly colored ribbons and your kids have excellent little gifts to place on their sweethearts' plates (Mommy's and Daddy's, to be sure!).

If music is the way to your loved ones' hearts, there are a wide variety of choices to please all the ears in your household. Rhino Records recently released Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Golden Age of Hollywood, which provides a compilation of some of the most romantic, carefree songs from timeless cinema classics such as Casablanca, High Society, Singin' in the Rain, and Kiss Me Kate.

For the discriminating younger set, try the Classic Disney featuring over 75 movie love songs such as "Bella Note," "Looking for Romance," and "Kiss the Girl."