Kiddipedia
Creating your own family traditions can be so much fun, and Valentine’s day is the perfect moment to get together and celebrate. So here’s a programme of ideas to fit into your day, crafting cards and sharing a cute themed meal (or two) together.
Image: via pexels
Crafting Cards
The quintessential Valentine’s Day craft, here are a few ideas, perfect for a range of ages:
- Hand-print cards are the simplest option, and look lovely if you use two different colours. Simply dip your kid’s hand into the paint, and print on plain card. Put another handprint in a different colour partly over the top, making a handprint.
- Heart paper-chains are a sweet way to show your love! Try making a heart-shaped paper chain from red paper, then write your message in glitter or metallic pens so it shows up well. These cards are also the ideal decoration to brighten up your home.
- Freestyle it – sometimes kids’ imaginations are all you need. Try giving them a prompt like drawing their favourite activity from the past year, or painting their favourite sweet food, and see what emerges onto the card.
Handprint cards, in particular, can get messy, so be sure to cover the table with newspaper and wear overalls. If you need to remove paint from clothes, on the other hand, check if the paint is water-based. Luckily water-based paint tends to come out in the wash, making it very easy to remove paint from clothes!
Image: by Chris Benson on Unsplash
Cook up a treat
Sweet valentine’s treats abound, from sugar cookies to gingerbread hearts. Another fun option is to add raspberries to your favourite brownie recipe. But why not mix things up and try a Valentine’s Day meals that kids can help make? Here’s a menu to pick and mix from:
- To drink: start your meal with something sweet by making a raspberry smoothie. To make four glasses, simply blend together four cups of frozen raspberries, two cups of orange juice and one cup of yoghurt. Kids might like things a little sweeter, so feel free to add honey to taste.
- For breakfast: if you have time in the morning, experiment with heart-shaped pancakes: just use a cookie cutter to cut the centre of the pancake out. Try making banana pancakes for a healthier breakfast, and top with raspberries and chopped strawberries. If you want to get creative and up Valentine’s Day ante, use non-bitter red food colouring in your pancake mix.
- For snacking: roasted red-pepper hummus with heart-shaped pitas is a sure crowd pleaser. You can use pre-made hummus, then just blend roasted red peppers sprinkled with a little paprika into the hummus.
- For dinner: kids always love making their own pizza, so why not go all-out with Valentine’s theme and make it heart shaped? They can make and shape the dough themselves, before adding tomato sauce and all their favourite toppings. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a shortcut, add toppings to a shop-bought margarita pizza. You can still make it valentine-themed by chopping the pepperoni, tomatoes or peppers into heart shapes.
Whatever you decide to do for a kid-friendly Valentine’s Day, have some fun making your own traditions for this special day.
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