{As I’m writing, I’m splurging on Halloween chocolate, clearing the kids candy bowl for their Valentine’s sweets.}
Beyond the sweets and treats of Valentine’s Day, a great party full of kid crazy fun involves some cute decorating and LOTS of fun party activities! Keep reading to find out what our idea of fun party activities include….
Decorating
- Pink and red crepe paper streamers hung from the ceiling are always fun. In fact, anything hanging from the ceiling is fun for kids.
- Hanging crepe paper rose pomanders. DIY instructions: Crepe Paper Rose Pomanders
- Lace over red tablecloth.
- Paper heart cutouts of all sizes turned into heart garland with a ribbon.
- A Valentine’s Day tree with hanging paper hearts and handmade valentines ornaments. DIY instructions: Valentine’s Day Tree
Crafty Party Activities
Create spinning pinwheels with any color or patterned paper. DIY instructions: Pinwheels
Remember cootie catchers? Kids still love ‘em! But they use a new name….Fortune Tellers. DIY instructions: Cootie Catchers
Gamey Activities
Treasure Hunt
Make a list of items (or have a picture list of items) and hide them around the room. The child (or team) that finds the most items on the list, wins. For a harder variation, turn them into clues instead of a list of items.
Example list of items:
Heart
Cupid
Valentine’s Day card
Cupid’s arrow
Poem
Roses
Hershey’s Kiss
Doves
Box of Chocolates
Bouquet of flowers
Stuffed animal
Chocolate covered strawberries
Red ribbon
Gift box
Perfume
Candy hearts
Example clues from our friends at Party-Games-Etc.com:
“Perhaps you’ll find it in the air If not, look underneath your chair.”
Beneath his chair he finds the following:
“No, you will not find it here;
Search the clock and have no fear.” Under the clock he finds:
“You will have to try once more;
Look behind the patio door.”
Tied to the door-knob he discovers:
“If it’s not out by the garbage cans;
Look beneath the kitchen pans”
Under the kitchen pans he finds another note, which reads:
“If your quest remains uncertain,
You will find it beneath a curtain.
And here his quest is rewarded by finding a fun Valentine prize, like Valentine’s Day themed party favors!
Find Your Heart-Mate
Cut out paper hearts of all shapes and sizes, and colors; making enough hearts that when cut in half will give each player a half-heart. Tape each half-heart under their chair before the game, and when you say ‘go’, instruct them to find their half-heart under their chair, and then find their heart-mate with the matching half.
Heart Hunt
Cut out paper hearts of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Then cut each heart into four pieces using different craft-edged scissors and scatter these all over the room, on the floor, chairs, tables, etc.
Allow a certain length of time for the hunt, and when all the pieces have been collected, request each guest to put his pieces together and see how many whole hearts of the same color he/she has collected.
Printable Games (of course!)
Valentine’s Bingo & Valentine’s Picture Bingo
Valentine Cryptogram Riddles
Famous Pairs Word Scramble
Let Them Eat Cake
Pin the Arrow on the Heart
You know this one…. Make a giant red heart and put a small white heart in the middle. Players take turns, blindfolded and spun around 3 times, to pin an arrow closest to the white heart.
How Many Candies in the Jar.
You know this one, too…. Fill a jar with chocolate kisses or candy hearts (precount them!) and have children guess how many are in the jar.
Candy Heart Toss
Toss candy hearts into a several bowls on a table a short distance away. For added fun, build a stacking tower of various shapes and sizes of bowls and cups. It’s harder than it looks to land a heart in here!
Heart Hop Relay
Divide children into two teams. Give each team a heart pillow and have one child from each team place the heart between their legs and hop to the end of the room and back. They sit down and the next team member goes. This repeats until one team is all sitting.
Marshmallow Heart Relay
Divide children into two teams. Give each team a wooden spoon and a marshmallow heart. Have one child from each team hold the spoon and walk, carrying the marshmallow in the spoon, to the end of the room and back.They sit down and the next team member goes. This repeats until one team is all sitting.