Valentine’s Day Party for Kids
Warm up the chilly month of February with a Valentine’s Day party just for kids! Children love this super-sweet day full of candy and fun surprises. And we guarantee you’ll love putting together this very special party.
A Valentine’s Day party for kids is perfect for a classroom party or a gathering of your little beloved and all her friends.
- Valentine’s Day party supplies
- Party Decor Guests Will Adore
- Party Decor: a Shortcut for Busy Moms or Teachers
- Party Invitations Your Child Can Make
- Mmm … Party Foods
- Games and Crafts
- Valentine’s Goody Bags…
Party Decor Guests Will Adore
Let your kids get in on the decorating fun by having them make some of the party decor. For Valentine’s Day, think cardboard or construction paper cut-out hearts and cupids, glitter, lace and other fun-and-fancy touches.
Tape your children’s creations on the walls using double-sided tape that’s safe for painted or papered areas.
Add some red, pink and white balloons (pick up a handy disposable helium tank so you don’t need to be running out to the party store to get them filled on the big day). Let the balloons float freely or tie them down in bunches to balloon weights for centerpieces and even take-home gifts.
Party Decor: a Shortcut for Busy Moms or Teachers
If you’re running short on time, buy a Valentine’s party pack. This way, the majority of your party decor will be all set and delivered to you in advance — you won’t need to do any extras you don’t want to do. Let your “party box” be your entire decor, or enhance it with a few handmade decorations you and your child can be proud of (see the ideas above).
Party Invitations Your Child Can Make
Invitations are more fun to deliver when the host can brag that he or she made them! Try these ideas:
Sweet Heart Invitation: Buy a bag of lollipops, some colorful construction paper (pink, lavender, purple, white and red are good choices), thin ribbon, and a bottle of child’s school glue. Have your child cut out two large heart shapes per lollipop. On one side, have her write “You’re invited!” and on the other side, ask her to list the party date and time. Glue the two hearts together over the candy portion of the lollipop. Tie a piece of colorful ribbon around the stick if desired. Hand-deliver.
From Me to You Invitation: Using a digicam, take a picture of your child blowing a kiss into the camera. Insert the image into a standard Word-type document and type the information underneath. Fold, place in an envelope, add a sprinkling of heart-shaped confetti, and mail.
Boxed Conversation Hearts Invitation: Buy enough boxes of “conversation hearts” (Necco is the original and still super-delish, but check out the choices at Amazon
Mmm … Party Foods
Valentine’s Day is all about candy and baked sweet treats. You can easily find Valentine’s Day themed cupcakes, cookies and candy at your local grocery store or Super WalMart, or try your hand at creating the party menu with these fun foods:
“Heartwarming” Pizza: Kids can help make these for a fun pre-party craft.
Love Muffins: Buy rolled dough (dinner roll style) from the grocery store refrigerated section. Unroll and cut heart-shaped pieces with a cookie cutter. Bake as directed. Place a pat of butter in the center of each.
Heart-Shaped Cupcakes: We love this tutorial because it doesn’t require buying special heart-shaped tins.
Candy bar fudge: All we can say is YUM. Make a double-batch…you’ll want to save some of this delicious treat for later!
Heart-Shaped rice crispy treats: Have your kids help you make several pans of this much-loved recipe. Add red food dye into the recipe to make it red. Then use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut your shapes, or freehand using a butter knife (adults only if using knives, please!). In the picture, the cook used a heart-shaped cake pan.
Heart-y Fruit Salad: Serve up something healthy to serve along with the more sugary goodies. Cut slices of strawberry, red apples, purple grapes and other red-hued fruits. Add one alternating color, such as bananas. Mix in serving bowl and allow self-serve with a large spoon.
Games and Crafts
- Make-Your-Own-Valentine-Box Craft: Collect shoe boxes ahead of time (ask friends if they have any on hand, or if you’re a teacher, assign students to bring in one box each by Valentine’s Day). Have colored paper, glue, scissors, tape, confetti, press-on decorations, faux gems and pearls, pieces of lace, etc. available for party guests. Have them all sit down and create beautiful Valentine’s Day boxes (leave the top of the box off, or tape/glue it down and cut a slit into the top to drop cards in). Then have a Valentine’s Day card exchange, with the children putting their cards into their own handmade boxes.
- Pass the Heart Game: You will need two small stuffed heart toys or stuffed animals. Line children up in two teams. Each team’s members must pass the toy from person to person — without using hands. Instead, the children must pass the toy from underneath one chin to the next. If the toy drops, the team must start over from the beginning person.
- Candy Heart Relay Game: Line children up in two teams. Have one bowl of candy at each team’s beginning point and one bowl each across the room. Give the first child in each line a spoon. Have him or her scoop up one candy with the spoon, run it to the opposite bowl and put it in. If the candy is dropped, he or she must start over from the beginning. Stop the game when one team is done and divide the candy that made it into the bowls among each member of that team. Send the candy home in goody bags.
And Speaking of Goody Bags…
Make sure you have treat bags or boxes ready for each party guest to take home. Your Valentine’s Day card boxes (see instructions above) can double as treat bags, or use paper bags, glue, glitter and other glue-on accessories to have guests make their own during the party.
Fill bags with awesome Valentine’s Day treats: candy (of course), stickers, dollar gift certificates to your local fast fooderie or ice cream shop, funky Valentine’s Day jewelry and other wearable, fun items or dollar trinkets (check your local dollar store). Then send guests off with a smile to enjoy their special treats at home.