7 Valentine's Day Classroom Party Ideas with a Twist

February is my favorite month to be a teacher! It is jammed packed with different holidays and events that are always so engaging for the students. From Groundhog Day to Presidents Day and everything in between like Mardi Gras and the Lunar New Year, the month always seems to fly by.

Even though there is so much going on during February, the real excitement present in the classroom during February is usually due to Valentine's Day! Whether you have a Valentine's Day party in your classroom or not, the excitement can still be felt. I love to harness all that excitement into unique lessons that allow students to truly feel like they are celebrating the holiday, but also be knee-deep in learning at the same time!

After you pass around those Valentine's Day cards try something new and different this year! These are my favorite go-to activities that are perfect to use during any Valentine's Day party or as a stand-alone lesson during the month of February.

1. Heart Health

February is American Heart Month! What better time to learn about heart health than February. My school always participates in Jump Rope for Heart, so it is the perfect time to learn about the heart, circulatory system, and living a health lifestyle. After reading, studying, or sharing facts about our hard working heart, have students conduct a heart experiment! Students check their pulse before and after rigorous exercise to see just how hard their heart works.

It's simple, here is how:

1. Have students use stopwatches to find their resting heart rate (heart rate before any activity). Their pulse can be found on the side of their neck, below the ear, or on the inside of the wrist.
2. Set the timer for a minute and allow students to jog in place or complete jumping jacks.
3. Immediately have students use stopwatches to find their heart rate again.
4. Have students compare their heart rates and discuss why it is important to exercise each day.

2. Community Service Project

February is Random of Acts of Kindness month and one way to tie together Random Acts of Kindness Week with your Valentine's Day party is to complete community service projects with your students. The past few years I have completed community service projects during our Valentine's Day parties and with students have loved it, especially writing cards.

Here are some that we have done in past that the kids have loved:

1. Make Valentine's Day cards and pictures for servicemen and women.
2. Make Valentine's Day cards and pictures for local senior citizens.
3. Create bright and cheerful pictures and banners for kids in local hospitals.
4. Write thank you letters of appreciation to someone that student loves (family member, staff member, coach, anyone!)
5. Make joke books for anyone who may need to be cheered up.
6. Make a book for their younger reading buddies.

3. We Love Books Day

Turn Valentine's Day into We Love Books Day this year! Make it a day to incorporate books in each lesson of the day, being sure to share your favorite ones. During your, We Love Books Day have students share a book that they LOVE with their classmates. This is perfect to do during Valentine's Day Parties or any Friday during February. Grab these FREE book recommendations or have students cut out a heart from construction paper and write about their favorite book or series. After students share their favorite books with each other, create a display on your classroom bulletin board to serve as book recommendations. 

Looking for love-themed books to use throughout your We Love Books Day this month? Try some of my favorites listed below and then grab the FREE We Love Books Day Kit at the bottom of this post.

1. Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch* Pairs well with lessons on character understanding. (Don't have the book? Watch a reading of it HERE.) Want even more Mr. Hatch activities? Click HERE.
2. Yuck, A Love Story* Pairs well with lessons on visualizing as you read.
3. Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deeds* Pairs well with kindness lessons. 

Grab this set for FREE right here!

4.  Spread Some Gratitude

I love finding any excuse to spread gratitude! Sending a quick note of thanks for being an awesome friend, classmate, or reading partner is an easy way to build classroom community and help students feel good about themselves. When we write notes to each other in the classroom, students always cherish the kind words that they receive. Bust out the pink construction paper and hearts or use premade notecards to spread some love, kindness, and gratitude right in your own classroom this Valentine's Day!

5. Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

Random Acts of Kindness Week takes place during the month of February and is a great way to get students involved in doing good deeds around their classroom and school community. Grab these free Random Acts of Kindness calendars and have your students fill the days with random acts of kindness they would like to complete before the year is over. Head to my Instagram page and view the Kindness challenge story for a quick video tutorial about how I use these calendars in my classroom. Use these additional classroom kindness ideas and kindness read-aloud books to really get into the spirit of kindness this month.

Go one step further and read about how this important day got started and challenge your students to spread 17 acts of kindness this month!

6. Research Something or Someone You Love

This is one of my favorite projects to complete during the week of Valentine's Day! 

The concept is simple-students complete a research project on something or someone that they LOVE. It can be an activity or sport, an animal or person, or anything that sparks their interests. The kids love completing these writing projects because it is all about their choice and interest. Use your Valentine's Day party to have the students share their writing pieces. You can make it a simple research project that includes looking up information on their chosen topic and writing a paragraph, or have students complete a more in-depth animal or biography research project that students research and take through the writing process throughout the month of February.

Teacher Tip: Before writing biographies with your students this month, grab this FREE biography on Milton Hershey to set the stage for learning!

7. Play a Game

Parties are meant for playing games, right? I am all about educational games in the classroom, especially during crazy months like February. These holiday and seasonal-themed Tic Tac Math Games are a staple in my classroom and I love using them as much as the kids each month, especially during February. The math games are differentiated so students of all levels can play, and since they are completely editable they can be made into any skills review or challenge games of your choice. 

See the Tic Tac Love games that we play during February HERE.

Valentine's Day parties do not have to be sugar-filled to be fun!

Pass out those cards and then try one (or more) of these thoughtful and educational activities to engage your students and make your party time structured and purposeful.

You might be interested in reading:

Must-Read Winter Picture Books for the Upper Elementary Classroom

Celebrating Kindness in the Classroom

Groundhog Day Activities for Upper Elementary Students

St. Patrick's Day Unique Ideas for Upper Elementary Classrooms

Looking for more high-interest Valentine's Day activities, projects, and bulletin board sets?
Click HERE.

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