Valentine’s Day Classroom Ideas
Every February, my mind is full of Valentine’s Day classroom ideas! Throughout the month my students and I engage in kindness-themed activities to build a stronger classroom community. Let’s be honest the winter months can seem long when our students are stuck inside. I’m excited to share some valentine classroom ideas for building a strong classroom community when you need it most! Plus, enjoy a fun Valentine’s Day freebie!
Create a Classroom Community Valentine Bulletin Board
Creating a community bulletin board each month is a great way to anchor important classroom discussion and get your students working together. This Retro Valentine’s Day Bulletin board kit is FULL of valentine classroom ideas…the best part? It comes with social emotional writing activities and editable versions so you can make up your own valentine’s day classroom activity. Students can choose between a mixtape and a vintage record. The first thing you need to do is set the foundation for this writing activity is to have your students brainstorm what they enjoy about their class, friends, and/or self! (Choose the prompt that works best for your kiddos!). This will help your students have ideas to write about. I also like to pair this discussion with a book! Recommendations are at the end of this blog post, if you need valentine’s day book ideas!
Then, once your students have completed their writing activity, print and hang up your valentine’s day bulletin board letters – you can choose from 3 phrases: “self love club”, “you make my heart sing”, “all you need is love”. Next, choose from over 20 clipart decal designs to decorate the bottom of your board with! Add a banner and some borders if you wish.
Last, have your students hang their writing activities on the bulletin board. I always like to give my students time to walk up to the bulletin board to see what their classmates wrote about. A fun idea could be to have the students go up to the valentine’s day community building bulletin board and read their work aloud at the end of the day.
Make Student Valentines and Add a Personalized Note
Another Valentine’s Day classroom idea to build your classroom community is to pass out valentines. Normally the kiddos pass out valentines to each other, which is super sweet and a wonderful way to foster relationships between students! However, it is equally important to build YOUR relationship with your students. One way I did this is by printing these retro valentine’s day posters at a smaller scale. You can print 6 to a page in your printer settings by selecting “multiple pages to a sheet”, and then select “6 pages to a sheet”. All you have to do then is print, cut, and write a sweet note on the back for a personal touch! This is my FAVORITE part! I love to write an encouraging message to each student to acknowledge their progress and good efforts.
Create a Kindness Garland (Freebie)
This is one of my favorite valentine classroom ideas and it can be done in so many ways! Every year I create a kindness garland with my class to foster relationships and cultivate kindness in the classroom. Click here to access your FREE EDITABLE template. I’ll share with you the different ways I like to use kindness banners.
Once you download your freebie garland, you’ll see you are able to type in each candy heart, or delete the textbox if you prefer. Some years, I have written in a students’ name in each heart. Each day of the month we celebrate one student. We write them a kind letter, share funny anecdotes, and love on that student. I put together all of the letters, pictures, and love notes into a construction paper booklet. This makes their day! It is so fun to see the student of the day read through their personalized book!
Another way I like to use a kindness garland is by printing the hearts blank and using an extra long piece of yarn. During the last five minutes of the school day during the week of Valentine’s day, I’ll have students write down one kind act they saw at school that day. Each student will write and share their idea. Then, they will clip their heart to the extra-long piece of yarn. It is such a great visual way to see how many acts of kindness your class can do. We also end up having wonderful discussions about each kind act.
I hope these resources have given you some great valentine classroom ideas to implement in your own classroom with your students! If you try any of these ideas, I’d love to hear how they worked out! You can find me on Instagram @bloomwithbridgette.
Thanks for blooming with me, XO Bridgette
Valentine’s Day Books
My favorite books for discussing self-love:
•Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival*
•The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson*
Books I love to use when discussing kindness/love towards others:
•Love Grows Everywhere by Barry Timms*
•The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes*
•Have you Filled a Bucket? By Carol McCloud*
•The Jelly Donut Difference by Maria Dismondy (community kindness)*
*This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you purchase something using the link.
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