Family-friendly Valentine’s Day activities

Let’s face it: unless you hire a babysitter (which can be costly on Valentine’s Day), you and your other half are more likely to spend it at home with your kids.

But that doesn’t mean you have to stick to your regular schedule. Instead, you can turn your house into a home that displays your love for your children, partner, parents, or anybody else special in your life. According to Aimee Miller, marketing and sales manager at the online store Teljoy, there are numerous ways to make Valentine’s Day a memorable and enjoyable day at home with your family.

There are many free or low-cost activities you can do together, many of which are less expensive than a night out on the town for two.

Aimee offers advice on how to spend Valentine’s Day and the month of love with your family:

Get crafty

Grab some bright stationery (crayons, ink pads, glitter pens) and let your imagination run wild. It may become a little sloppy, but that’s all part of the fun. Assist your children in creating Valentine’s Day cards for their parents, teachers, friends, or each other. To mark the occasion, you might create fingerprint trees or hand and foot prints. Alternatively, why not decorate your home with cutout paper hearts?

Make a date day

Make a family date day at home by abandoning your typical schedule and instead scheduling some enjoyable quality time. You can accomplish this by cooking breakfast together (pancakes, waffles, or French toast), having a picnic or camping out in your garden, playing board games or charades, or simply doing anything you enjoy doing as a family but don’t always have time for.

Make a family feast

Prepare a festive meal, set a table, and then feast together. You may create a family favourite, attempt a new dish, or learn a new skill together, such as making homemade pasta or ice cream from scratch. Just make certain that everyone is involved in the process. Of course, don’t let children near the oven, but you may get everyone involved by washing veggies, making a salad, mashing potatoes, or even cleaning up. Baking together is also a terrific way to get everyone engaged in the stirring, mixing, and, of course, licking the batter off the spoon.

Watch a film

Enjoy a family movie night, complete with popcorn, cookies, and drinks, and settle in for laughter, tears, and quality time. Choose a family-friendly romantic comedy, such as The Princess Bride, Ever After, You’ve Got Mail, or While You Were Sleeping, or an animated classic, such as Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp, Aladdin, or Gnomeo and Juliet, to name a few.

It’s storytime!

 Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic Christmas Eve ritual in which people exchange books as gifts. However, there’s no reason why it can’t become Valentine’s Day tradition for your family. There are numerous Valentine’s themed books for youngsters, or simply choose books that you know your loved ones would appreciate. Curl up on the couch together and read as a family.

Leave small love notes

All you need for this is some paper, a pen, and your own imagination. Leave handwritten messages for your family throughout your home, tucked away in locations you know they will look. You may put them in your partner’s sock drawer, the kitchen cabinet next to the cups, or your child’s lunch box, for example.