Valentine's Day GuideA Low-Stress Valentine’s Day (That Your Kids Will Actually Remember)
Simple food, meaningful traditions, and one easy free guide to pull it all together
Valentine’s Day always sounds sweet in theory with heart-shaped everything, homemade cards, thoughtful moments, but somehow it sneaks up on us between laundry, school emails, and figuring out what’s for dinner again.
I want Valentine’s Day to feel special without adding to the mental load. No last-minute Target runs, no elaborate crafts, no Pinterest spiral. Just simple food, meaningful traditions, and a few things that actually work for our family.
I actually really love Valentine’s Day with kids. I keep it pretty simple and sweet with some easy foods, sweet books, and a focus on sibling and family love. We read a few books on St. Valentine’s, friendship, and God’s love for us. I like to gift my children a new book each year at breakfast (because let’s be real, we love books in our house) and we have special treats after dinner on heart shaped paper plates that I’m still using the same pack that I bought years ago.
Easy Valentine’s Day Food for Kids (That Doesn’t Require Extra Brainpower)
Don’t overthink food. Serving up your normal food in a fun way can make a very simple memory. I personally love this set of heart shaped cookie cutters. Think serving up cheese, pepperonis, bell peppers, fruit in a heart shape. It can be that easy. Take an extra couple minutes to turn food you are already making into a heart shape. (Bonus points if you prep it ahead of time!)
For February, I prep the normal pizzas for lunch in a heart shape. It’s only a little extra effort than I normally do and my kids feel so special.
Turning Christmas Cards Into a Valentine’s Day Banner
Every single year I absolutely LOVE receiving Christmas cards. I hate throwing them away because I know how much time and money were spent on them to send out. Recycling Christmas cards each year into a banner is such an easy low cost craft that’s a meaningful tradition without buying one more thing. (I bet you have a hot glue gun and some ribbon around your house already!) I love seeing all our friends and family’s faces for a little bit longer, and it’s a reminder of so many people in our lives to be thankful for. I have a quick template to cut everything out and how I glue it all together in the download.
Our Favorite Valentine’s Day Books
Our kids are bombarded with candy at just about every holiday so I opt to gift a book to them each year. I started with Valentine’s Day themed books but sometimes it’s just a book that I know they will love! Below are some of our family’s favorites and I have more in the printable guide.
You can find my full list here.
Board Books for Toddlers:
Happy Valentine’s Day Curious George : Not a board book but still a sweet lift the flap book for little ones
I Love You Spot by Eric Hill: My kids love a sweet Spot the dog story
Little Blue Truck’s Valentine: A sweet board book in the LBT series.
I’ll Love You Till the Cows Come Home: We received this book as a gift from my mother in law and my kids LOVE it. It’s a short rhyming book on unconditional family love.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney: a timeless classic on love between a parent and child featuring Little and Big Nutbrown Hare. They explore different ways of describing and measuring the love they have for each other. You can get a Tonie or Yoto card for it too.
Happy Valentine’s Day Corduroy by Don Freeman: Corduroy is a beloved bear in our house. This is a great board book for toddlers.
Sweet Picture Books:
Franklin’s Valentines by Paulette Borgeois: A classic Franklin story on friendship. Franklin forgets his Valentines cards for school and wonders if his friends will still give him any even though he forgot his. One of our favorite Valentine’s Day books to read.
A Charlie Brown Valentine: I have a big Peanuts fan in my house. This is a cute book on Charlie Brown trying to talk to the Little Red Haired girl.
Lola Dutch, I Love You So Much by Kenneth Wright: Hands down one of our favorite books to pull out for Valentine’s. Lola Dutch demonstrates being a kind and thoughtful friend to Gator, Crane and Duck when they are having a bad day. I think it shows how knowing your friend’s interests is being a good friend in an easy to understand way for kids.
Claris, the chicest mouse in Paris by Megan Hess. If you don’t own any in the Claris series, let me introduce you. The author is a former fashion designer and the illustrations are incredible. Not only are the illustrations intricate, but this book has a cute rhyming cadence on compassion. There are many books in this series and we love them all!
Angelina and the Valentine’s Day Surprise by Katherine Holabird: If you don’t own any Angelina books, let me introduce you to them! Angelina was part of the Pleasant Company catalog in the early 2000’s and we have loved every book in the series. If you have a tonie box, there’s a tonie for them too!
Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse by Laura Numeroff
The Brave Cowboy by Joan Walsh Anglund: I included this book because it looks super cute as a gift on Valentine’s Day. I love Joan Walsh Anglund books for the timeless illustrations and sweet storylines. (Also check for this book on Thriftbooks.com or Abebooks.com)
Faith Based Books:
Adeline by Bobby Strickland: I am SO sad that this book is out of print. I found my copy on Thriftbooks.com (my favorite site for out of print books) By far one of our favorite books, I love the black and white illustrations with pops of red. It tells a story about a girl named Adeline who receives Valentines from many admirers but in the end learns that God loves her most.
St Valentine the Kind Hearted by Ned Bustard: An easy to read story for children about the real St. Valentine. We own several books by Ned and enjoy them all.
The Friend Who Forgives: A story in the tales that tell the truth series on Peter denying Jesus and the forgiveness that he receives. We own most of the tales that tell the truth series and love them all.
Just Because You Are Mine by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Chapter Books:
Heartwood Hotel Series: My elementary aged child loves these books about a mouse and a squirrel who are friends and work in a hotel. There are five books total in the series so gifting one or two for Valentine’s Day would be a great gift!
Outfits
Check out all my natural fiber finds and more on my ShopMy page.
Download the Free Valentine’s Day Guide
Everything in one place—so you don’t have to remember it all
What’s included in the printable guide:
Food ideas
Banner template
Book list
💌 Grab your free Valentine’s Guide here!
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be elaborate to be meaningful. A few intentional choices—made ahead of time—can turn an ordinary weekday into something your kids remember.
I hope this inspires you to make sweet and simple Valentine’s Day memories with your family!
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Wow. You are a queen for putting this together for us 😭🎉 And I ordered $30 of second hand books yesterday for Valentine’s Day and Easter basket gifts and I’m feeling on top of my game 😂