How to Incorporate Your Children Into Your Valentine's Day Celebration

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with the whole family can be a fun and memorable twist on the holiday. After all, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, and what better way to spread the love than to gather with your significant other and your kiddos.

Incorporating your kids into your Valentine’s Day celebration can also be a great way to get creative and change things up. Rather than look for a reservation at an in-demand fancy restaurant with a prix fixe menu, take a family-friendly and fresh approach to this holiday that the whole family will remember for years to come. Read on for some ideas on how you can include the kiddos on Valentine’s Day this year.

Decorate Together

The very first step in getting your kiddos involved this Valentine’s Day is decorating as a family. Having some V-Day decorations up around the house will make the holiday feel festive and that much more special.

Pick a day before the 14th to decorate together. You can hang some red and white streamers, put up a cute paper heart garland, put some cupid and heart-shaped gel clings on windows and mirrors, and even put out some in-theme red and white throw pillows and blankets. Decorating as a family is a great first step in making your Valentine’s Day celebration a huge success.

Set Up a DIY Card Station

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without some paper Valentine’s cards. You can turn this tradition into an activity itself by opting for DIY cards rather than store-bought. Like decorating, this is also a great idea for something to do in advance of the 14th so you can incorporate your cards into the celebration itself.

This activity will be especially fun for little kiddos, as you can also create and decorate shoebox “mailboxes” to put little cards and candy in (are you being transported back to elementary school yet?).

Set up a crafts table with glitter pens, different types of red and white paper, and other materials for jazzing up some cut-out cards and homemade mailboxes. Next, exchange cards and little boxes of candy and let the Valentine’s Day festivities begin!

Plan a Pajama Party

Kids and adults alike love a pajama party. After all, it’s the best way to celebrate something in complete cozy comfort. That’s why the first idea for a family-friendly Valentine’s Day celebration is an in-theme pajama party. Kick the PJ party off by leaving heart-shaped invites under your kids’ bedroom doors. Then, the whole family should get into some festive matching family pajamas, like classic red flannel or a fun print.

Once you’re all dressed up in your cozy matching PJs get right into the PJ party zone. You can order pizza or even make heart-shaped pizzas together, throw on a movie, build blanket fort, or have a game night.

Bring the Fancy Dinner to You

Another great option for a kid-friendly Valentine’s day celebration is to bring that fancy prix fixe dinner to you. You can capture all of the magic of a fancy date night without trying to compete for a reservation or shelling out a ton of money, so it’s really a win-win. Plan a cute menu that you can even print out and decorate. Pick some of the family’s favorite recipes and cook with your S/O, or if your kiddos are a bit older, have everyone pick a dish to prepare. Course out the meal as they would at a restaurant, or just create a huge spread on your dining room table, with cute V-Day decor sprinkled between the dishes.

Next, get dressed up for the event! You can rock a special occasion dress and a snazzy pair of earrings, and help any little kiddos get ready in their own little girls’ dresses or a dressy boys’ cardigan with some khakis.

Create a Candy Charcuterie Board

Creative charcuterie boards are all over the internet these days, so this will also be a very trendy activity to enjoy! A candy charcuterie board is a super kid-friendly way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and will also be a super photo-worthy treat. Take a plate or platter you already have, or opt to buy an in-theme heart-shaped one and arrange tasty sweet treats all over it. You can also use a mix of fresh fruits if you don’t want to get too crazy in the candy department, or stick to fruits and create a chocolate dip or caramel drizzle to give it that sweet V-Day sugar kick. Your board can accompany your PJ party or your fancy dinner as the perfect holiday dessert option!