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Valentine’s Day Activities and Centers Ideas

February is the month that keeps going from one special event to the next. Before you know it, the month will be over when it feels like it has just begun! However, February is a month that is hard to go by without adding some fun Valentine’s Day activities and centers to your lesson plans.

What I love about Valentine’s Day is the lessons that can be taught and learned. This holiday is the perfect time to encourage kindness, love, appreciation, and friendship.

Examples of different centers, crafts, and activities that will be discussed in this blog post about Valentine's Day activities and centers.

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I am excited to share with you my ideas on how I like to incorporate this special day with different Valentine’s Day Activities and Centers. There are so many opportunities to discuss all of the wonderful lessons that Valentine’s Day teaches with these activities.

Valentine’s Day Read Alouds

What are some of your favorite Valentine’s Day read-alouds? I love kid-friendly stories that share the meaning of this special day, funny Valentine stories, and also stories that we can add follow-up activities to.

Valentine’s Day Literacy Activities

Valentine’s Day is such a fun theme to add to your math and literacy skills. I also love the overall feel that these activities bring to the classroom during this time. It is truly a feeling of love and appreciation for each other!

Comparing Characters in a Story

I mentioned how I love to have a Valentine’s Day read aloud where I can add a follow-up activity. The adorable story ‘The Biggest Valentine Ever’ by Steven Kroll is the perfect story for comparing characters in a story.

Students get to sort different things that the main characters did to make their Valentine using a heart-shaped Venn diagram.

Students compare the characters in a story with this Valentine's Day reading activity. Students are sorting how both main characters created their Valentine using a heart-shaped Venn diagram.

What I also love about this story is the overall message that when they worked together they were able to make something amazing which was the biggest Valentine ever!

Valentine’s Day Heart Craft

Of course, we had to make our very own version of the biggest Valentine ever that they made in the story.

Students use hearts to create a Valentine's Day craft that turns out to be a mouse that is just like the one from the story 'The Biggest Valentine Ever'.

Students LOVE making these hearts into a mouse craft just like the one in the story.

Valentine’s Day Writing

During the time that we talk about Valentine’s Day, I like to discuss so many different things we appreciate and love.

An activity where we specifically discuss this is when I have students think about a person, place, and thing that they love. This is a great time to do modeled writing or interactive writing.

Students get to write about a person, place, and thing that they love. After that, they can draw a picture to go with their writing and glue them onto colored hearts. Last, they turn those hearts into a large 3D heart! Your students will be amazed and love sharing this Valentine’s Day craft with their friends and family.

This activity is also a great way to introduce or practice working on nouns!

Building CVC Words

Sometimes having a hands-on activity to practice CVC words are just what we need for a break in the action or maybe as an extra whole group or small group activity.

This heart slider makes building CVC words a whole new level of fun and interactive!

Students practice building CVC words using a slider. The look at the picture and use letters to build the CVC word.
Use letters to build different CVC words for a hands-on Valentine's Day reading activity.

Students get to slide a paper arrow through the heart. Each time they slide the arrow to a new picture, they get to use letters to build the CVC words.

Valentine’s Day Math Activities

One of my favorite ways to teach different math skills is through hands-on activities and Valentine’s Day has so many fun ideas.

During this time of year, we are focusing a lot on addition and subtraction. Now that students have learned both skills, I like to do activities where both addition and subtraction are combined. I also like to do addition activities one day and subtraction activities another day. I feel that doing this really allows students to get lots of practice with both skills.

More importantly, I have noticed that students really pay attention to the addition and subtraction symbols so that they are solving the equations correctly.

Valentine’s Day Addition

We can’t have Valentine’s Day without candy right?? This fun and hands-on Valentine’s Day addition activity allows students to see how two groups are put together to find the sum.

Students roll a dice twice and place the correct number of candy on to each side of the heart. Then they count how many hearts there are altogether to create an addition equation. This Valentine's Day math activity is hands-on and interactive.

Students roll a dice, count the dots, and place that number of M&M’s (or any candy) on part of the heart. Then, they repeat these steps for the second part of the heart. Last, they count how many M&M’s they have altogether to find the sum.

Students get to write the addition equations that they create with the dice and get to eat the M&M’s in the end!

Love Bug Addition Craft

I love adding a craft whenever I get the chance and especially when it is a learning craft! This love bug addition craft has students make a love bug, place hearts on each side of the wings, and create an addition equation to go with those hearts.

Students make a Valentine's Day craft with this love bug. They add 2 colored hearts onto the love bugs wings. Then, they create an addition equation using the hearts the glues onto the wings.

Add these love bugs to a bulletin board for an adorable Valentine’s Day craft display!

Valentine’s Day Subtraction

I really like for my students to get a deeper understanding of what subtraction means by having them see and feel that subtraction is taking away.

This Valentine’s Day math activity has students solving subtraction equations by placing the correct number of hearts to start the equation. Then, they look at how many they need to take away and place that many hearts in the envelope. However many hearts they have left is the answer.

Students practice subtraction with this hands-on Valentine's Day math activity. They look at the subtraction equation and lay out the correct number of hearts. Then, they take away some of the hearts and place them in an envelope to find the answer to the subtraction equations.

Using an envelope and hearts adds so much fun to practicing subtraction by making it feel like they are mailing hearts.

Valentine’s Day Addition and Subtraction

With all of this addition and subtraction practice, I like to get a little tricky by combining both skills together!

A Valentine's Day worksheet that is turned into a flip book. Students solve different addition and subtraction equations and sort them to the correct number.

Students get to sort hearts that have both addition and subtraction equations on them. Once they solve the equations, they get to glue it underneath the correct number in a flipbook.

FREE Valentine’s Day Centers

During this month, do you like to add Valentine’s Day centers into your math and literacy center rotations?

I have 4 FREE Valentine’s Day centers to share with you! I have included 2 math centers and 2 literacy centers with a Valentine’s Day theme.

Each Valentine’s Day center includes:

  • Center Activity
  • Kid-friendly ‘I Can’ poster for student independence
  • Recording sheet

You can add these to your centers rotations, morning tubs, early finishers, or small groups. They also can be used on the days leading up to Valentine’s Day as well as the days following.

You can grab these free Valentine’s Day Centers in the picture above this.

Valentine’s Day Activities

I am so glad you stopped by and more importantly I hope you were able to get some new Valentine’s Day Activities and Ideas!

If you would like to add these Valentine’s Day activities to your classroom or home you can grab them below:

Different crafts, math activities, literacy activities, and worksheet that are included in the Valentine's Day Unit.

Save These Valentine’s Day Activities and Centers for Later

Be sure to save these Valentine’s Day activities and centers ideas to your favorite Pinterest board so that you can come back anytime for hands-on and engaging activities that you can add to your classroom or home!

Different Valentine's Day crafts, math activities, literacy activities, and worksheet that are included in the Valentine's Day activities and centers blog post.

Don’t Forget These FREE Valentine’s Day Centers