Heart Shooting- Submitted by Lisa in VA
Make several different size cardboard / posterboard hearts from 2-10" each. Number each a point value, the smallest will have the highest points the largest, the lowest. Hang them on a string about a foot apart. Each player gets 5 tries to hit the hearts. Use either small balls or a rubber dart gun.
*****
Valentine's Day Heart Relay Race- Submitted by Becce
Cut out a bunch of different-colored hearts and write different
actions on them (e.g., hop, clap, crawl, skip, etc.) and place the
hearts in a decorated box.
Divide the kids into 2 teams and designate who goes first.
The leader of each team would run up to a box and pull out a heart.
Each child must do that particular action back to their team. The
next child in the line is given the heart and they also must do that
action back to the heart box. The games continues until every child
has a turn.
The first team to finish wins a prize of your choosing.
Note: for older kids why not make the game a little more difficult.
Maybe have them pick the hearts out of the box, one at a time, using
chopsticks. You can also make the actions the kids have to perform a
little more difficult.
*****
Valentines Day Candy Hunt- Submitted by Becce
Hide miniature candy bars and other candies around the house and have
the kids search for them.
Designate a certain type of candy as the valentine's day first prize
(maybe a giant Hershey's Kiss).
The child who finds this Big Kiss wins a prize of your choosing.
The other kids should also win small consolation prizes to avoid hard
feelings.
Have prizes for finding this type of candy or that type of candy; for
finding the least amount of candies, finding no candies, etc., etc.
This ensures that everyone has a good time! Very important,
especially when smaller children are involved
You could offer similar prize for everyone (except first prize). Have
the kids pick out what they want from a box that's been decorated
with Valentine's Day pictures and stickers. A heart-shaped box that
chocolates come in would be a cool prize holder.
*****
Valentines Day Candy Toss- Submitted by Becce
Take a piece of red construction paper and draw 3 circles in the
middle of the paper. Make the circles three different sizes so the
finished product resembles a bull's eye (the size of the circles will
depend on the age of the children, the older the kids the smaller the
circle).
Color each circle a different color and write in different point
values for each circle. Have the kids each throw a different type
candy (e.g., one child would only have cinnamon red hots to throw,
another would have one color of jelly bean, another child another
color, etc.
Prizes are awarded depending on which circle the child's candy lands
on.
The child who lands on the bull's eye in the middle gets the big prize.
The prizes can be stuff like: chocolates, candies, audio tapes of
kids music, videos that kids would like, little stuffed animals,
whatever you'd like).
*****
Pin the Arrow on the Heart- Submitted by Becce
The same idea as "pin the tail on the donkey".
Have each kid draw a picture of a big valentine on red construction
paper and then have an adult cut it out. Next have each child draw a
picture of an arrow on different colored construction paper and have
an adult cut that out also. Hang the heart on the wall.
Have the kids try to pin their own arrow onto their own heart (use
scotch tape rather than pins if smaller kids are going to be
playing). Spin the first kid around three times and let him have a
try. Leave his arrow on the heart and remove the heart from the wall.
Put up the next child's heart and let him try. Repeat until each
child has had a turn.
Award the grand prize to the child whose arrow is closest to the
middle of the heart. To avoid hard feelings with younger children
also include prizes for "arrow that's lowest on the heart", "farthest
to the right", etc.
*****
Valentines Day Guessing Game- Submitted by Becce
Take a bunch of jars and fill them with assorted Valentine's Day
candies (one kind of candy per jar). Be sure to count the number of
candies as you put them in the jars.
Leave a piece of paper and a pencil next to the jar and have the kids
guess how many candies are in the jar. Be sure they write their name
on the paper beside their guess.
The one who's closest to the correct number wins the jar of candy.
You could also have it where the one that guesses the correct number
wins a prize instead of the jar of candies.
*****
Valentine Heart Hunt- Submitted by Becce
Cut out a bunch of red paper hearts. On one heart write the name of
each person at the party. Hide all the hearts around the room and
have the kids search for them. The one who finds the most red hearts
is the winner; the first one to find the heart with his name on it
wins the grand prize.
*****
Cut the Heart String- Submitted by Lisa in VA
Hang strings down with shapes attached with only one heart. Have more than people attending. Shapes and heart can be made of posterboard. Hang at just over head height. Blindfold one person at a time and give them sissors. Then , they get one chance to cut off one string, no feeling. The winner is the one who gets the heart string.
*****
Heart Targets- Submitted by Lisa in VA
Draw a large heart on a piece of poster board. Draw graduated hearts inside the large heart...like a target, mark each layer with points. Use a bow and arrow (kiddie type with rubber suction cup).
*****
Heart Clapping- Submitted by Lisa in VA
A musical chair type of game. Make small palm size hearts, one less then those playing. Lay on a dining or waist high table top (remove chairs). Have everyone stand around the table. When the music plays everyone circles. When the music stops, they clap down on a heart. The person without the heart, drops from this round. Winner will be the one who remains at the end.
*****
Mend a Broken Heart- Submitted by Lisa in VA
Team game, 2-3 people. The object is to find and put together a large heart. Make one large heart per team. You need to divide, with lines, the hearts into 4 sections (make all the same). Next you will make these sections into puzzle pieces, after you write directions on them. These can be directions to find the next section of puzzle or an action they must do before the next section is completed. Winner is the team that finishes first.
*****
Estimate The Red Hots- Submitted by Sherry
We plan to estimate "Red Hot Hearts" to see which jar they think has 100 red
hots in it ... Jar A, B, or C. Each child will complete a "recording sheet"
to tell which jar they guessed and then (after counting the red hots) which
jar actually had the 100 red hots in it. This could also be done with the
Valentine heart candies.
*****
Hug Tag- Submitted by Sherry
Have your children spread out in a large room. Choose one child to be the Tagger and one child to be the Hugger. Explain to the children that as they walk around the room the Tagger will try to touch them. When they are touched, they must freeze in place. Once they are frozen, the Hugger will come over to unfreeze them with a hug or a handshake. Change Tagger and Hugger often so that each child has a turn to be both.
*****
Valentines Basket- Submitted by Sherry
Cut varying sizes of heart shapes out of several different colors of construction paper. Place the hearts in a basket. Let your children take turns sorting the hearts by size or color.
*****
Graphing Hearts- Submitted by Sherry
Reinforce graphing skills with a valentine flair! For each child, program a
simple graph with a color word for each color of heart found in a bag of
candy hearts. Give each child a small number of candy hearts. Have each
child sort and graph her candies according to color, then color a space for
each heart of a particular color. To help visually cue nonreaders, add extra
space below the color words in which to provide a color-coded heart.
*****
Valentine Match Up- Submitted by Christi
Cut out heart shapes from different colors of paper. Give each child one heart. Ask the children to find one person with the same color heart.
**
Cut out heart shapes from different colors of paper. Cut the
hearts in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking
pieces. Give each child one half of a heart, and ask them to find the person with the other half.
**
Or Give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle,
with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with 2 or more circles depending on how the heart pieces are distributed.
**
Cut out heart shapes from one color of paper. Cut the hearts in
half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces.
Give each child one half of a heart, and ask them to find the person with the other half.
**
Or Give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle,
with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with 2 or more circles depending on how the heart pieces are distributed.
**
Cut the heart shapes from one color of paper. Label one set of
hearts with numbers, i.e. if you have 20 children, label the hearts with the numbers one to ten. The other half, draw one dot on one,
two on another, and so on until ten. Give each child one heart and
have them find the child with their match.
**
Cut the heart shapes from one color of paper. Place matching
stickers on two hearts. Give each child one heart and have them find the child with their match.
**
Cut the heart shapes from one color of paper. Cut the hearts in half
using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Place
matching stickers on each half of a heart. Give each child one heart half and have them find the child with their match.
**
Place matching heart stickers on separate index cards. Give each
child a card and ask them to find the child with their match.
**
Try all the above, but in a file folder format. Glue one part
of the heart to the file folder and laminate it's match.
*****
Bean Bag Toss- Submitted by Christi
Obtain a large piece of cardboard. A large, unfolded box works well. Cut One or two heart shapes out of the cardboard. Paint the cardboard pink, white and red. When dry let the children throw bean bags through the heart shaped holes.
*****
Heart Hop- Submitted by Christi
Cut out large heart shapes from colored paper. Laminate them
and cut them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to
hop from one heart to another. These may also be used at seat
markers for group time.
*****
Where is your Valentine?- Submitted by Christi
Played like "Doggie Doggie where's your bone?"
Have one child sit in the middle of the circle, and hide their eyes. Give another child a Valentine to hide behind their back. Have all the other children put their hands behind their back.
Chant the following song:
Valentine, Valentine,
The child in the middle gets three guesses. Then the child
who had the Valentine goes into the middle.
*****
What time is it Mr. Valentine?- Submitted by Christi
This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to
suit any theme.
The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, (Mr.
Valentine) or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it "Mr. Valentine",
Mr. Valentine answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward Mr Valentine. The children yell again, what time is it "Mr. Valentine", Mr. Valentine answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all take same number of step toward Mr Valentine. This continues until all the children are very close to Mr. Valentine, then Mr. Valentine will answer it's midnight, and chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Mr. Valentine touches will be the new Mr. Valentine.
*****
Valentine Hide and Seek- Submitted by Christi
Have all the children hide their eyes while you "hide" a valeninte
in the room. (It should be placed in plain view) Tell the
children to find the Valentine, but not touch it. Once they spot it they
should sit back down in their spot. The first one to sit down again
will get to hide the valentine.
**
Play the game the same as above, except hide the valentine. Then
tell the chidlren individually whether they are "hot" or "cold" to the
relation of the heart. Allow the other children to have a change
to hide the Valentine, and tell children whether they are "hot or
cold". It may be a good idea to discuss the meaning of hot and cold before you play this game.
*****
Valentine Fishing Game- Submitted by Christi
Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end
of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored, and sized hearts from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each heart. Spread the heart shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the hearts. Have them try to catch the red heart.. or the biggest heart.
**
For a twist, label the hearts with letters or numbers. Ask the
children to catch a specific heart, or ask them which heart they caught.
*****
Heart Card Match- Submitted by Christi
Remove the heart card from a deck of old playing cards. Cut the cards in half so one number or letter is on each half. Ask the
children to pick one card, then find it's other half.
*****
Heart Shaped Games- Submitted by Christi
The following games require you to cut out many different heart shapes from construction paper. You may choose to laminate these hearts so they last longer.
*****
Heart Sizing- Submitted by Christi
Cut out many different sized hearts. Ask the children to line
up the hearts from largest to smallest.
*****
Heart Numbers- Submitted by Christi
Cut out ten heart shapes. Number them one to ten. Ask the children to line up the hearts from one to ten.
*****
Heart Colors- Submitted by Christi
Ask the children to sort the hearts by color.
Heart Sort- Submitted by Christi
Ask the children to sort the hearts by size.
*****
Sensory Table- Submitted by Sherry
Put Valentine candy hearts into our sensory table. The kids love
not only pouring, scooping, sorting and measuring, the loved
identifying the letters and words on the hearts.
*****
Count and Sort the Hearts- Submitted by Sherry
Play a counting and sorting game with conversation heart candies. Try
sequencing by making patterns of colors. Divide the candies by
telling children , in turn, to take one pink candy, or two purple
candies, etc.
*****
Graphing Hearts- Submitted by Sherry
Students graph hearts by color. Each child receive a small Ziploc bag with several paper hearts of various colors (red, pink, purple). Each child sorts his/her hearts, counts the number of each color, and records this info. on a
simple graph that has been prepared ahead of time. Use a basic square grid,
and add the heading, pictures, numbers, etc. This activity could be repeated
with heart sizes (small, medium, large) or other criteria. Adjust it
to suit your students' needs and the skills you'd like to target.
Also, if you use learning centers in your classroom, you could leave
lots of blank graphs, a variety of items to count and record, and
markers for a simple center.
*****
Valentine Day Card Game- Submitted by Sherry
Remove set of hearts from a deck of cards. Cut in
half and have children match the cards together
*****
Size Discrimination- Submitted by Sherry
Large or Small? Without looking, have children
take turns reaching into a box that has both a large and small heart
shaped pillow in it. They are to "feel" the hearts as much as they
wish to compare them and thereby determine which is the small and
which is the larger heart. To lessen the difficulty, you can
demonstrate the activity yourself by letting them see the hearts then
allowing them to observe your hands in the box as you compare the
hearts through "touch." This is also a great game to keep in the
Quiet Corner or some other part of the classroom for children to do
during Free Choice Play. Variation: Without looking, let children
compare two textures of heart shaped cutouts by "feeling" them. For
example, you could glue cellophane to one cardboard heart and
sandpaper to another for rough versus smooth. Another option would be
to compare soft and hard.
*****
Counting/Number Matching Game- Submitted by Sherry
Use an old Valentine candy box to
create a counting/number matching game in your math center. In each
compartment of the box, glue a number. Then have laminated heart
shapes with corresponding number or dots to place in the matching
compartment.
*****
Matching Valentines Cards- Submitted by Sherry
Use left over store bought
valentine cards for a matching game. Kids love to match up the
cards. Just glue one set inside a folder and have the kids match up
the other set of cards to the cards on the folder. Stickers work well
too.
*****
Valentine's Science Idea- Submitted by Sherry
Buy some white carnations and
mix up a lot of red food coloring and water. Then you cut the stem
to fit in your vase and then cut a vertical X in the base of the stem
and place the flowers in the red water. The next day it will already
be turning a light red color and will keep changing. On the day of
our Valentine's party we put the flowes on our lunch tables. The
children will be very excited to see that the flowers had changed
colors!!!
***** Magnets- Submitted by Sherry
Use magnets as a science idea for Valentine's Day. Magnets attract each other and stick together just like friends do.
*****
Valentine Sort- Submitted by Sherry
You can prepare this for the flannel board or make the pieces from construction paper. Cut hearts of different sizes and shapes, the children can use them to make patterns, sort them into groups or sort them by size.
*****
Valentine Color Match- Submitted by Sherry
Cut two sets of hearts, one set of white hearts and one set of different colors. Print the color words on the white set. The children match the color word heart to the colored heart.
*****
Valentine Match- Submitted by Sherry Use valentine cards or stickers to make two sets. Make a game board with one set, and cards with the other set. The children match the cards to the game board. You could also make two sets of cards to play a memory type game.
*****
Heart Number Match- Submitted by Sherry
Cut ten large hearts from construction paper. Cut the hearts in half so the children can match them together to make the heart. On one side of the heart print a number. On the other side of the heart glue small pink hearts to correspond with the printed number. Laminate for durability.
*****
Valentine Relay Game- Submitted by Sherry
Cut out a heart for each child. If you have an odd number of children cut an extra one. Think of an action for the children to do like jump, crawl, hop, skip, and walk backwards. Print each action on two hearts. Sort the hearts into two piles. Make two teams of players. Line each team up behind a string. Put the piles of hearts across the room from each team. The first player on each team runs up to the pile and picks a heart. The player then comes back doing what it says on the heart. When the first player gets back to their team the next player runs to the hearts. If there is an extra player on one team the first player will go twice.
*****
Valentine Game- Submitted by Sherry
Take red poster board and cut into a heart shape. Use cupcake liners , glue them to the heart shape cut to represent a box of valentine chocolates. At the bottom of the cupcake liner with permanent marker write the letter or number you choose. Then write the matching letters or numbers on a deck of heart shaped cards to create a fun matching game that looks like a box of chocolate.
*****
Heart Hop- Submitted by Sherry
Cut out large heart shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut
them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to hop from one
heart to another. These may also be used at seat markers for group
time.
***** What is a Real Heart?- Submitted by Sherry
Discuss with your children the purpose of our heart. Our heart is like
a pump, that pushes our blood to our cells and lungs. Show the children
where in their body it is. Show the children how to take their pulse.
*****
Party Game- Submitted by Cindy
Here's a heart-shaped variation of the ever-popular bingo game. Glue copies of bingo gameboards to large construction-paper hearts. Program construction paper cards with each letter-numeral combination that is represented on the gameboards. Provide candy conversation hearts for youngsters to use as markers. At the end of the game, everyone can keep and/or eat their candies.
*****
Feely Hearts- Submitted by Sherry
Add hearts of different textures in a feely box & have children identify material by touch.
*****
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Where's your match?
Wake up quick,
And find them Fast.
to the Main PnF Valentine's Day Theme and Curriculum Page 
