Valentine's Day isn't just about eating chocolate candy and red hots (although that may be what your toddler thinks). It's a great day to show your toddler what it means to show love to others. Toddlers probably won't get much out of a heart to heart talk about the virtues of love, but they will learn from these simple and fun activities:
1. Spin the bottle, family style. Sit in a circle with your family and put a bottle in the middle of the circle (a baby's bottle may be appropriate!). When the bottle stops, say something you love about the person it's pointing to.
2. Make heart magnets. Buy flat magnet paper at the craft store. Cut out the faces of your toddler's family and friends from pictures. Glue them on the magnet paper and then cut each face out in the shape of hearts. Stick them on the refrigerator as a reminder of all the people who love your toddler.
3. Create a love book. Instead of making magnets, take the pictures of your friends and family and paste them into a little book. Write down names under the pictures. Your toddler can read and re-read this love book filled with all the people who care for him or her.
4. Make homemade Valentine cards for friends. Help your toddler make big hearts out of construction paper. Then let them look through magazines for favorite toys like cars or dolls. Paste those pictures on the hearts to make the heart card more interesting for toddlers to look at.
5. Have a kiss jar. On Valentine's Day, tell your toddler to give away kisses on the cheek to family members and friends. Every kiss earns a ticket. At the end of the day, let your toddler exchange the tickets for a prize.
6. Cut your sandwich in the shape of a heart. Eat your special sandwich at lunch and tell your toddler lots of things you love about him or her. Ask your toddler what he or she loves about you, your spouse, or siblings.
Shower love on your toddler this Valentine's Day. After all, values are more caught than taught.
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