Valentines Day Traditions to Start With Your Family
If you have kids, you’ll know that Valentine’s Day festivities are openly celebrated at schools, day cares and amongst friends, the idea being that romantic love isn’t the only kind of love that should be commemorated. Extend this mentality to your home and teach your kids the importance and value of familial love, by starting some love-day traditions as a family. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Surprise them with breakfast in bed
A great way to enforce positive associations with Valentine’s Day is to make the day feel special as soon as they wake up. And who knows, maybe a few February 14th’s from now, the kids will end up surprising you with a scrumptious breakfast in bed.
Set up a scavenger hunt
Along the same lines as an Easter egg hunt, a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt will encourage your family members to work together and have fun while doing it. Have mom and dad each hide a set of their own treasures around the house with clues, and then have the kids team up with either parent to find the other team’s clues and treats. Treasures can include anything from chocolate kisses and baked treats to sentimental gifts like photos and notes.
Visit the grandparents
With busy work and school schedules, it can be hard to find time to visit loved ones who don’t live in your home, so use Valentine’s Day as an excuse to do just that. Help your kids prepare baked treated and cards, and take a trip to grandma’s house, armed with things like games and movies so you can make a day out of it.
Teach your kids to give back
As is important with any commercialized holiday, you want to teach your kids that Valentine’s Day is about far more than giving and receiving presents. Use the day to spread some love, from your family to others. One idea is to purchase blankets, gloves, scarves and mittens and distribute them to the homeless. Another idea is to deliver baked goods to, or shovel the driveways of elderly neighbors who live on their own in your community.
