Valentine’s day is just around the corner, and this year I am celebrating it with my students with a virtual party. We might not be able to have candy or pass cards in class, but these are 10 activities that I have plan to make Valentine’s a fun, engaging, and special day for my students.
1. Read a Valentine's Book
Reading a book just for the love of reading is always my 1st activity for any class party. These are some of my favorite stories (and they are on YouTube as well if you don’t have the book):
- Click, clack, moo. I love you! by Doreen Cronin.
- Froggy’s First Kiss by Jonathan London.
- I love you too by Ziggy Marley.
2. My Valentine's Basket (a memory game)
In a basket, I place lots of Valentine-themed objects. Next, I place the basket under a document camera. Then I show it to my students for 30 seconds. After that, I turn the camera off and remove one object from the basket. Finally, I asked my students to name the missing object. This is a game that can be done over and over again. Kids love it!
3. Find the gnome
We take many dance breaks during class, so I wanted something different for our Valentine’s party. This movement activity is the perfect way to get the kids moving!
Thank you P.E. with Mr. G for all your awesome activities!
4. Valentine's Logic
Many of my students love brain teasers, and these Logic Puzzles got their brains working. I display the puzzle and we work together with one. Reading one sentence at a time and figuring out which square needs to be crossed out. It is amazing seeing my students use their logic and explain to each other their thinking process. You can find a FREE sampler here, and if you love them, you can get the logic picture puzzle set and/or the logic matrix puzzle set in my TPT shop.
5. Valentine's Flipgram
Virtual school makes sharing personal moments a little more challenging, but Flipgrid allows students record video messages. I create an “topic” to have students send each other video messages. Flipgrid allows teachers to review the video prior to posting the video through topic moderation, so this allows me to ensure only kind words are being shared. Kids love making these videos and even more receiving compliments from their classmates.
6. Valentine's Color by Number
My kids LOVE coloring, and any opportunity they have to color or draw online is a treat for them. Using Kami, I was able to assign this coloring activity to my students. I sneakily had them practice their addition skills and they loved it!
You can get this activity in my TPT shop.
7. Story Chain
Using this Roll a Story activity, I had students tell a short made up story. We used a digital dice to choose the who, what, where & when of the story. They laughed so hard at the silly choices. This will turn into an independent writing station next week.
You can get this activity for free here.
8. Simon dice...
This Spanish version of Simon says comes with a twist. Students follow the rules of Simon says, they turn off their camera when they are “eliminated.” In addition, when Simon says “Dia de San Valentin,” they need to go grab a stuffed animal to hug. If there are no stuffed animal, they can give a high five to an adult. Students get eliminated during this round if they are not back by the time the bate, bate, chocolate song is over.
9. Word Search
This bilingual Valentine-themed word search is a fun way to have my students practice their reading and spelling skills. I add this as one of my Nearpod Slides, and have the kids work in partners to find all the words. Breakout rooms are very useful to have students work on this activity together. You can get this free activity here.
10 Would you rather...
Inspired on a TikTok video, I have students show their choices by moving off the screen to either left or right while playing music. A simple movement break that the kids enjoy.
You can find this Valentine’s Movement activity on my TPT shop.
Planning a virtual Valentine’s Day this year, does not have to be a huge lift. Simple and fun activities like these bring smiles to students, and allows me to connect with them in a more personal level.
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