5 Ways to Make Valentine’s Day Special for your kids

Since becoming a mom, I can honestly say I have never loved or appreciated the holidays more. It feels like when one holiday ends, I am already thinking about the next upcoming holiday and trying to find new, fun, and exciting ways to bring the holiday magic! There is no better feeling than seeing my children’s faces light up after taking in the holiday magic.

After falling in love with the holiday magic of Christmas after becoming a mom, I decided I wanted to try to make each and every holiday feel magical and create new ways and traditions to make each holiday uniquely special for my kids. There is nothing on earth I love more than being a mom, and while I know I am so blessed to be home with my kids each day, I can’t help but feeling like even though I am soaking in each moment with them time is still going by so fast. So, even though I’m often met with the “but they won’t remember” comments and advice, I still do it anyway, because I will remember. I will remember the look on their faces when uncovering the surprises, the way the simplest of gestures makes them smile so big, or hearing the laughs and squeals as they discover their playhouse decorated and those memories will be forever etched in my mind. Those memories are priceless.

So, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here are 5 ways I am planning to create some holiday magic for my kids!

Anything underlined is a shoppable link.

Matching PJs:

Okay, I’ll admit, before becoming a mom I thought matching pajamas and outfits were kind of cheesy but I get it now. This has easily become one of my favorite traditions for making the holiday’s special. I have even become such a lover of this tradition that my husband and I get to join in on the fun with matching family pajamas! Some of my favorite brands for matching holiday pajamas are Caden Lane and Little Sleepies. Little Sleepies has become one of my FAVORITE places for purchasing holiday pajamas (and pajamas for the kids in general) because not only are they incredibly soft and stretchy, but they’re also designed to fit 3x longer which is so nice when you have younger children that grow so quickly. They also typically offer the same design in a few different colors and styles, which is makes it easy to shop knowing there is without a doubt something for everyone in our family! Target and Old Navy also always have really cute matching family pajama options, but I’ve been opting for Little Sleepies because they last a lot longer and seem to withstand more wear and tear!

As a girl mom, I also LOVE shopping for holiday themed outfits for my daughter, and Old Navy NEVER disappoints with their incredibly cute holiday outfits, AND they offer so many adorable family matching patterns for all ages (yes, even dogs!), so siblings of all ages can join in on the fun!

I also love doing my sweet baby girl’s hair, and Estero Bow Co has the highest quality, CUTEST bows around! Code LITTLEHOUSE10 will save you 10% on your order!

2. Decorating Play Areas

I can’t quite remember how this tradition started, but one day as I was shopping in Target and browsing the Bullseye section, I saw the cutest little decorations and thought to myself “Wow, this would look so cute on the kid’s play area” and so it began. Now I try to decorate their play areas with little decorations for each holiday, and the reaction on their faces when they first discover the new holiday set up is always priceless. In fact, when we decided to put the playhouse in our basement, one of the first things I thought to myself was “I can’t wait to decorate the playhouse for Christmas!.”

One thing I love about this tradition is that the Target makes this so affordable! They often have festive yet inexpensive holiday garland, and small inexpensive decor pieces. For Valentine’s Day I purchased felt heart garland, a cute LED light up wreath, a cute banner, and two decorative felt pieces: strawberries and chocolate, and coffee and a donut. They also had peanut butter and jelly and an avocado which would be perfect to decorate a play kitchen, and they had an adorable red and pink Valentine’s Day village (only $5 per piece!) that would be perfect to decorate your older child’s bedroom, or even the sideboard in your dining room, the mantle in your living room, or even a console table in your entry way!

One thing I love about this tradition is that we are able to save the decorations to reuse for future years!

3. Affirmation Hearts on their Bedroom Doors

This one is pretty exclusive to just Valentine’s Day, but I saw this idea one day scrolling on my phone and absolutely loved it. I love any opportunity I can take to make my kids feel loved and special, and this was a fun and easy way to do so! Grab some construction paper and cut out some hearts and write all of the reasons you love your child! I have seen 2 ways to do this:

1. Put all of the hearts on their bedroom doors the first day of February and read the hearts together each day.

2. Put one new heart on their door each day from February 1st-February 14th so each day they have a new message from you!

This year I am going to do a combination of both by adding one new heart to their door each day and reading all of the hearts on their doors together each day! I think they will love searching for the new heart and will be so excited to read the new message each day!

4. Crafts

I love crafts and any opportunity to be creative, and luckily, my kids are the same way! With it being so cold outside here in Ohio, this is also a great option for screen free playing! Pinterest is always filled with so many fun holiday crafts, and Target has really affordable paint sets and crafts by Mando Llama. Doing new crafts is one of our favorite ways to spend snow days, and this year Maren is so excited to get to create Valentine’s for all of her friends.

5. Baskets

I love creating little holiday baskets for my kids with a few of their favorite things, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. One of my favorite small businesses, Pebble Hill Customs, offers incredibly cute tags for every single holiday that make it so easy to reuse the same basket while still making it unique and festive for each holiday by swapping out the tags! They also offer cute holiday crafts that can be used for gifts or home decor and would be perfect for any first time mamas looking for a fun way to commemorate the first set of holiday’s with their new baby! We always love looking back on the crafts from previous years and seeing just how much those once little hands and feet have grown!

We LOVE books in this house, so regardless of the holiday, the kids are always guaranteed to be getting a few new books! Books are one of the things I never feel guilty buying, and the kids are always so excited getting to see the new holiday book (or books) they’ve gotten! Other ideas for holiday baskets are stuffed animals, coloring books or craft sets, holiday outfits or pajamas, and this year I will be sure to throw in one or two of their favorite “healthy” candies. Yum Earth is our favorite brand!

If you have any fun holiday traditions for Valentine’s Day, or ways to make the holidays feel special for your kids, please share them! I love getting to find new ideas and ways to keep the holiday magic alive in our home!

If you are looking for some Valentine’s Day shopping inspo, check out my gift guides here.

Valentine’s Day for dogs.

Valentine’s Day for kids.

Valentine’s Day for her.

Valentine’s Day for him.

Valentine’s Day for anyone.

Affiliate links are mentioned throughout this post.