Valentine's Day Theme

I can't decide if it's too early to start Valentine's Day activities, since my original plan was just to do a few activities here and there starting in February.  However, the kiddos are very much ready for something new.  When I do a "theme" it is not the only thing we do.  We still continue reading poetry and living books, we still play regular math and literacy games, and we try to do nature study.  The kids just find it interesting to find a treat mixed into their regular activities, so every few days we do something based around our theme.

The Mailbox

When I saw the mailboxes at Target's $1 spot, I knew I had to get one.  Elliott loves to send and receive mail, so this would make a great literacy activity he could work on alone or with me.   I included various paper, foam and sticker hearts.  He will be able to use his regular art supplies and writing/coloring utensils, as well as note cards and other papers/cards to write letters to dad or make Valentine's cards.  I'm sure he might find a few surprises in his mailbox too!

Pre-Writing

One thing I've said repeatedly, is that I don't push worksheets on my kids.  I rarely (almost never) present them as part of our "school" at all.  Instead, I offer them as more of a choice, in a Pre-Writing Notebook.  I decided to change it out and add in some Valentine's Themed pages since Elliott is showing a renewed interest in writing.

Heart Maze

This came from a book of mazes.  There's a cactus on the back as well.

Heart Tracing and Counting
These came out of a Shapes workbook from the Dollar Tree.  Elliott can do both...we'll see what Emory wants to do.  ;)

This page is also from the Shapes workbook, but it is just circling the hearts, so Emory can do this one too.

Pattern Blocks

This Valentine Heart Pattern Block printable is from Making Learning Fun.

An easier one for Emory, this pattern block pattern is from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Math

This Valentine's Grid Game is from Prekinders.  Her philosophy is play-based, which meshes well with my informal approach before age six, so I love perusing her website for activities.  I will alter the rules to make it more challenging for Elliott.  I'll use two dice, and it will likely change each time for variety, but we will practice addition, subtraction, and greater/less than.  You could easily use whatever rules you need to work on whatever skills your child needs!

For Emory, he can do 1:1 correspondence with the above game when we're finished, but until then, I'll just give him a pile of the counting blocks...no objective!

This Valentine Counting by 1's Worksheet is from PrintActivities.  I like this one because it can be played independently as intended by completing the 'maze' from 1-100.  It could also be done as a Roll to 100 Game, which I saw on Creativity My Passion.

Play-Doh
Our red play-doh from Christmas is still going strong, so I will change out our winter accessories and add in these...heart shaped cookie cutters, a cookie stamp with hearts, and the letters to spell love.  I was going to include the rest of the letters for heart too, until I realized the set was missing a T.  There are two L's instead.  Bummer!

Fine Motor Skills
While many of these activities encourage fine motor development, this one is specifically for Emory.  He pulled all these pieces together out of our Valentine's sensory tub and was doing this on our own.

Valentine's Sensory Tub
We also have our Valentine's Day Sensory Tub which the boys have enjoyed so far.  Some of the skills we can cover with it are sorting, patterning, counting and even simple spelling/reading with the blocks.

Book Basket
We don't have a lot of Valentine's themed books, so I pulled out other books that are related to hearts and love.  I'll try to share these soon.  You can check out our February Book Basket now.

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