Sweet Without Sugar: Fun Valentine Alternatives for Kids

February is upon us, and that can only mean Valentine’s Day parties are quickly approaching. Over the years, I have tried to build Valentine’s that are an alternative to loads of candy. Here’s my list of past ideas I want to share with you.

 

You will need some black paper, silver/grey paper, white paper, scissors, glue, and enough pudding cups for the crowd. I used cardstock, but any paper will work. I cheated and had a friend use her Cricut machine to cut 3/4-inch black strips, 1-inch silver circles, 3/4 inch white circles, and then 1/4 inch black circles. I built the eyeballs by gluing the circles on top of each other with the smallest in the center. I then glued the black strips around the middle of the pudding cup. Then glued the eye to the middle of one of the sides. You could also use electrical tape and googly eyes if the kiddos are old enough not to swallow the eyes. A nice added touch is to put them in goodie bags with a spoon, and the Valentine secured to it.

 

Josh loves dinosaurs. So dinosaurs for Valentine’s Day felt appropriate. You’ll need cardstock or construction paper, a tube of toy dinos, and something to secure them to the Valentine. I used washi tape, which wasn’t perfect, but you can also use glue dots or twist ties (depending on the age of the kiddos receiving them).  For this Valentine’s Day, I had my own Cricut machine, so I had it cut out all of the hearts. I printed some punny Dino valentines I had found online and glued them to the hearts. The final step was securing the toys with washi tape.

 

Here’s another project that involves securing a toy to a heart. I had a handful of leftover foam hearts from an earlier project, so I used them for this Valentine. I also had rolls of road tape from making race tracks on our floors. Combined the two and added construction zip cars, and had a Valentine’s Day card worth loads of fun! You can also use construction paper for the hearts and draw the roadways onto them.

 

Last year, I had Josh put in a little extra work on his Valentine’s. He drew his own card for all of his classmates, along with a great pen pun. Then I made copies on cardstock that had 2 inches of white space at the bottom and cut two 1 1/4 slits to thread multi-colored pens through. We went with Josh’s favorite 8-color changing click pens, but a regular colorful pen would work just as well (and you’d need a smaller slit so the pen doesn’t fall out). You can also use tape to secure the pens if you want to skip the slit-cutting step.

 

One year, our kiddo handed out pre-packaged LEGO like sea creatures. They were a little pricier than my usual Valentine’s budget, but it was low effort, and the kids loved them!

 

Etsy can be a great place to discover ideas. Our kiddo has a polished stone he keeps in his book bag. He holds when he is stressed or worried about something. When I found a person on Etsy who makes valentines with heart-shaped stones, I knew I had found our Valentine’s for this year.

 

I hope these options are helpful as you prep for Valentine’s Day.

 

And remember, you don’t need a special day on the calendar to tell your people you love them!