Valentine’s Day is almost here! How does your family celebrate Valentine’s? For some it’s just a Hallmark-card holiday; nothing to make a big deal about. For others, it’s a day to go all out with decor, presents, food, and everything else you can think of.

Growing up, my Dad had the tradition of giving each of us kids a heart-shaped box of chocolates (plus a huge one for my mom!) But, to make it extra fun, he hid them all around the house. He then gave us each a homemade valentine with a special poem that told us where to look for our boxes. We always enjoyed that tradition so much!

Pablo and I don’t have any big Valentine’s traditions really. We usually give each other a little something and I love the excuse the holiday gives me for playing some of my favorite love songs throughout the day.

But now that our kids are old enough to appreciate a celebration of some sort I’ve been thinking through what I want to do for them. Here are four simple ways that I’ve come up with to celebrate Valentine’s day with toddlers.

4 Simple Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Toddlers

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Balloons

This will be the third Valentine’s Day that we’ve gotten Caleb a special Valentine’s balloon (and of course now Sofia as well.) I know it’s a super simple thing but trust me, balloons are a big deal to toddlers – especially when it’s the first thing they see when they come out to the kitchen for breakfast in the morning. It’s a fun way to start the day off with a surprise and it’s one of my favorite ways to celebrate Valentine’s day with toddlers.

Just look at those sleepy smiles!

Themed Food

Themed food can be as simple or as gourmet as you feel like going for. I think I’m going to go for simple. 😉 All you need is a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make some great themed pancakes for breakfast (add sprinkles to the batter to make them extra special!) or sandwiches for lunch.

Here are pictures of our Valentine’s breakfast and lunch last year! The heart-shaped food was definitely a hit with our toddlers. 🙂

I have a lot of great ideas pinned to my Valentine’s board on Pinterest if you need some inspiration.

Easy Crafts

I am SO not a craft person, but even I can do something as easy as this simple Valentine’s day craft (pictured below) with my kids. The fact that it involves ripping up pieces of paper makes it perfect for a toddler. 😉

Once the kids have finished their craft (or you’ve finished it for them haha) it makes a great Valentine’s card to give to Daddy, Grandpa and Grandma, or whoever they want!

Books

I have a decent amount of Christmas themed books for my kids but just realized the other day that I don’t really have anything for Valentine’s. Thankfully I have memberships to two local libraries so I’ll be sure to try to find something fun for us to read together before Valentine’s Day arrives.

Elizabeth at This Little Home of Mine wrote a great post the other day with a whole list of Valentine-themed book suggestions for your kids, from board books on up. Check out her great list here!

I hope I’ve given you a few new ideas for making this Valentine’s Day special for your toddlers! Need some non-toddler related ideas? I loved this post by Keri Lynn Snyder with some fun ideas for all ages.

I’d love to hear from you! Do you have toddlers? How do you plan to celebrate Valentine’s with them this year? Comment below and let me know. 🙂