When it comes to Valentine’s Day, you can’t forget your favorite munchkins! Show your love with these adorable Valentine Gifts for kids…sure to get a smile!
It was a quiet, cold February 13th evening a few years ago. The kids were snoozing, and I was up contemplating, as usual, whether I had done enough to make the holiday special for them. I already had a small box of $1 chocolates for each of them.
Now I’m not the type of Mom who believes that every event needs to be over the top. Celebrating in simple ways works out best for my family.
The more you give to kids, the less they appreciate what they have. It overwhelms their little systems.
So I decided that I’d give them just one more small gift. Something I could put together at home for free. Something that would be a small bit of “icing on the cake”.
Valentine’s Gifts for Kids They’ll Love!
Free Printable Coupons
I put together a set of coupons for each child. They each get one “stay up late by yourself (as in… one on one time with no siblings!)” pass, one “ice cream with Mom (or Dad)” pass, and one “day free from chores” pass.
When I woke up the next morning, the kids were already holding the coupons I’d left for them.
They were so excited!
Each child chattered about which coupon they would use first. They thanked me over and over again.
(No one even noticed the chocolate!)
To this day, the kids look forward to this little tradition more than just about anything else on Valentine’s Day.
As the kids have become teens and even young adults, it occurred to me that the “stay up 30 minutes late” pass probably wasn’t too exciting any more. So I created a second set of coupons you can use. Mix, match, pass out all of them or just the ones you feel like honoring.
And today, I’d like to share a copy of our coupons with you! You are free to download, use, and print these only for use in your own home.
Just click the photo to reach a PDF you can download and print.
Valentine’s Day Foods
But wait, there’s more! 😉
Creating fun Valentine’s Day foods is totally affordable, and it only takes a few minutes. Heart shaped foods are a favorite, and don’t take a lot of effort.
- You can spoon pancakes into a heart shape (or just cut them with heart shaped cookie cutters after they have baked).
- Sandwiches could also be cut with Valentine’s Day themed cookie cutters.
- Cakes can be decorated with hearts or red and pink sprinkles.
- For a healthier option, you can arrange fruits or veggies in fun shapes on a plate.
Play the I Love You, because… Game
One year I gave each family member a stack of post it notes and asked them to write one reason that they loved each family member on each post it. Then we all hid our notes throughout the house for each other to find.
Seeing everyone really get into the spirit of the game was awesome! They learned to appreciate one another. And reading all of the notes made them feel special and loved.
Those are some of the ways I make sure my family feels loved on Valentine’s Day!
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How does your family celebrate Valentine’s Day together?
I remember getting those little boxes of chocolate that have a small box on the back of a heart shaped cardboardy bit (they’re normally themed, there’s Disney ones, Hello Kitty ones, Hotwheels ones – I know this, because over the years I got all of them xD ). Maybe something else, but also small, and maybe a card. But I, honestly, enjoyed the little chocolate heart bits the most, because it meant, to me anyway, that my parents knew the things I liked!
I quite enjoy the coupon idea, simply because it extends beyond just a day. I’ve always found it a tad silly that we have to go to so much more effort for loved ones one day a year, when that should not really be the case – your coupons are the perfect way around that! 😀
Thanks! You make a great point about the chocolate. I think I love chocolate more than my boys do.
I love the coupons! Such an awesome tradition! I think I’m going to cut everything into heart shapes all day, haha. Toddlers are easy to impress 🙂
ha! It’s true, but you’d be surprised at the little things they still enjoy as they grow older, too. At least, I am always surprised!
I love the coupon idea! I usually do a box of those ubiquitous candy hearts and some sort of homemade edible treat. The coupons sound like a great way to add a little something special without adding much to the cost or sugar overload. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, the sugar free feature was a pretty great bonus! 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
I really love the I love you because game…so cute. Thanks for tip on making heart pancakes- cutting them after you cook them would be the way to go.
I think after is much easier! I’m all for taking it easy when I can. 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
Those look so yummy!! What a fun way to celebrate with your family! Thank you for sharing these at the #HomeMattersParty
Those coupons are so cute! I don’t have kids but I like to do stuff with my niece. I think I will make heart shaped pancakes with her and give her a coupon to a movie of her choice.
I will probably make a few heart shaped foods for my son, but he is almost to the age that he isn’t in to that any more. Thanks for sharing on #FridayFrivolity. Please join us again next week.
I love that blog hop! It’s so much fun. 🙂
Aw, the I Love You Because game seems awesome!! I also used to give coupons that we made in school to my mom and dad on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. They were a hit then too.
Kids giving coupons to parents is a really sweet idea! You could help your own kids create them for their Dad or grandparents. I love it!
What cute ideas! Love them! Thanks for sharing! #SmallVictories
Thanks for hosting the hop!
We love doing heart-shaped pancakes for Valentine’s Day breakfast! I also like simple things do activities with those little boxes of candy hearts that you can get really cheap at the store. When you get time, I’d love for you to come check out my corner of the blogosphere at http://fearfultofearlessblog.com
I love those little heart candies. My kids do a lot of activities at school using them. Thanks for visiting!
I love the printable coupons! Great idea! Thanks for sharing this at the #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup!
These are wonderful ideas! I love making Valentines Day special for my kiddos and pancakes are a favourite around here.
Thanks for sharing!
These are great ideas! We don’t do Valentines in a big way, but we like to recognize those we love. The coupons have always been a big hit in our home, and I love how excited your kids were! Although my kids are older they love the Valentines heart candy with sayings on them, we get a good laugh out of some of the things printed on them, they are cheap and let my kids know I recognize what they like and that I think of them!
Love the coupons – thank you for sharing on Pin worthy Wednesday
I love finding little ways to make Valentine’s Day special for my kids. Besides, who else is going to teach my son how to be a romantic man? Certainly not his father. LOL
Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop. Your post has been selected as one of this week’s Featured posts. Please feel free to visit http://www.notsomodern.com/homestead-blog-hop-67.html/ and grab the Featured button to add to your post.
Yay! So glad my post was helpful, and excited to be a featured post. 🙂
I love this. I found you from #abitofeverything I will be doing this with my son next week. Thank you.
What a great idea which kids would love for Valentines Day. Little things to look forward and I agree with I don’t think you should go over the top with any holiday especially Valentine’s day. The one day with free chores I bet will be a big hit and the ice-cream outing I would love myself. Visiting from Homestead blog hop. Have a healthy happy blessed Valentines day for you and your family. Sharing on social media.
So glad I could help! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love these ideas, Jamie, especially those printable coupons! What a great way to include kids in the celebrations without breaking the bank. Pinned, tweeted and also shared on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page. Thank you for being a part of our Hearth and Soul Hop Community.
Those coupons are a cute idea – I know I would have loved getting out of doing dishes for a day as a kid. Heck, I need one of those for getting out of adulting for an afternoon :p lol
Wouldn’t that be awesome?? Maybe I should make a set for kids to give to their parents. haha!
Thank you, I love the coupons you posted- our kids are going to love them!
We do something similar to the ‘I Love You’ game, but we have ‘The Jar’ , a Mason jar that we keep handy on the windowsill in the kitchen. Inside, we have different sizes of Kraft paper, and a pen. When we think of something we are thankful for, or a person did something that we are thankful for, we write it down and put it in ‘The Jar’. Then every so often we open it when everyone is home.
I think it really has helped us notice the little things and not to take everything for granted!
I like that Elle & Jamie- I want some too so I can get out of jobs!
That’s a sweet idea!
I love the free coupons idea. My four year old would love a stay up late pass. We always do heart pancakes on Valentine’s day. My 23 month old is really going to love it because it is her first rememberable Valentine’s day that she actually knows what is going on. So fun.
I have to say when my boys were growing up Valentines day wasnt a thinf families celebrated so we didnt do anything special, but I like the idea of heart shaped pancake, I may have to show Mr AD these. Thanks for sharing with us, Tracey xx #abitofeverything
Jamie – great ideas! I personally have always been a fan of the coupons ! Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your family!
I like the coupons, this is really a good idea. I can use them for my grand children .
These are all great ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day! I agree that Valentine’s is too commercialized. I love the simple ways to say I love you like your coupons. Thanks for sharing!
These are such great ideas and mean so much more to a child than more chocolate. My grandson would LOVE the staying up late all by himself with a parent. This one’s a keeper!