Alllllll the heart eyes for Valentine’s Day in the classroom! Here are some February Valentine’s Day ideas for elementary students and activities that you can use in your classroom!
Spread the love (and add a fun element of surprise!) with heart balloons! I had 20 of these red heart balloons blown up at my local grocery store and tied them to each student’s chair the night before our Valentine’s Day celebration! They were so surprised to see them there and really excited to take them home at the end of the day!
Another one of my Valentine’s Day ideas for elementary students is to decorate bags for students to collect their Valentines! These bags are super affordable for your entire class. I also get a mega pack of stickers for students to use to decorate their bags. (The time this was the most fun was when I dumped all the stickers on the carpet and let students have a mini free-for-all while decorating!) You can shop the picture by clicking here!
Worried some students won’t have Valentines to hand out? I’ve got you covered! Download the FREEBIE at the top of this page. It has 7 different Valentine Cards in color and black & white for your students to give to their classmates!
When passing out Valentines, place each student’s decorated bag on top of their desk and have kiddos walk around and plop a Valentine card in each. Another easy way to do this is to arrange all the bags in a line on the floor instead of on each desk. This way is definitely quicker if you’re short on time!
Valentine’s Day Activities for Students
Get your students up and moving! A super easy and FREE idea for Valentine’s Day in the classroom is to cut hearts out of large construction paper and let students write positive notes to each classmate. Each student gets a heart, and they roam the room writing kind words to each other. This is a great keepsake for your students! Don’t forget to make one for yourself!
These reading banners are my favorite because they can be used with any book, and I have them for all different holidays and seasons! Choose from 6 different templates that reinforce important reading and comprehension skills. They’re perfect for small strategy groups to hone in on specific reading comprehension skills in a fun and engaging way, or use one template for your whole class after a read aloud. I printed them on colored paper in this photo, but printing on white paper and allowing students to dress them up with their own flair is always a great option! *cue the glitter*
February Reading Comprehension Graphic Organizers is another resource to use throughout the entire month! They include 15 graphic organizers that work with ANY fiction or nonfiction book! You will find that these graphic organizers quickly become an essential part of your ELA block. Fortunately, I have sets for all the months of the school year!
Here are some hacks to get the most out of your graphic organizers:
Hack #1: Print 2 or 4 on a single page so they’re small enough to fit inside student notebooks (this saves ink, paper, AND keeps it safe from getting lost!)
Hack #2: Project it on your whiteboard and trace the page onto an anchor chart. Work with the students to fill it out during a mini-lesson with Post-Its and markers!
Hack #3: Put one in a page protector, or make it double-sided with two different graphic organizers. Have students use dry erase markers to complete the graphic organizer and practice the skill during small group reading (great for use with leveled readers)
Valentine’s Day Books for Elementary Students
There are some GREAT read alouds to share with your kiddos during the month of February. One of my all time favorites is Somebody Loves you Mr. Hatch, it’s such a sweet story! I love Valentine’s Day themed read alouds because the themes focus on kindness, friendship and acceptance. Check out all 17 books HERE!
Embrace the excitement of Valentine’s Day in the classroom! It doesn’t have to be a big celebration, but sharing a day of love and friendship is a sure way to bring some joy into the day!
How will you be celebrating Valentine’s Day with your students this year? If you use any of the activities or resources mentioned above in your classroom, let me know! I’d love for you to tag me in any photos you share on Instagram!!
-Courtney 💕
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P.S. – It’s getting close to Book Clubs time! Check out my 3 part blog series all about hosting Book Clubs for elementary students to learn more!
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