V
alentine’s
Day
isn’t just for cou-
ples in the heady
throes of young love. Deliver
sweet somethings to every
important person in your life.
Here’s the plan for a perfectly
playful V-Day for the whole
family.
flutes. Make a fruit salad. Cut
fruits like apples, strawberries,
banana and watermelon using
a heart-shaped cookie cutter.
10 Ways to Say
Toy with chemistry
Put candy conversation
hearts to the test. Gather vin-
egar, salt water, tap water, and
bleach (with adult guidance).
Place a candy heart in each of
four bowls. Ask your child to
hypothesize about what will
happen when each liquid is
dropped over the candy. Using
an eye dropper, test her theo-
ry. How does the candy react
to different liquids? Did your
young chemist’s predictions
prove true?
Create a Sweet
Tweets jar
Decorate a Mason jar for
your child. On slips of paper,
write adjectives or short sen-
tences in 140 characters or less
that describe traits you most
appreciate, admire, and love
about him or her.
Hunt for Cupid’s
Treasure
Challenge your kids to
a scavenger hunt. Give them
clues on a trail of paper hearts
or cupid cut-outs. One clue
leads to the next until they find
a Valentine’s Day surprise.
Check online for scavenger hunt clue
ideas.
Get those
hearts pumping
Using a poster board,
make a grid of nine different
exercises (sit-ups, somersaults,
jumping jacks, pushups, etc).
Players take turns tossing a beanbag (or
other item) onto the grid. Then they roll
the dice to see how many times they
have to do the exercise that their bean-
bag landed on. For more ideas, check
out 12345 Fit-Tastic! on Pinterest, a
healthy lifestyles initiative for families.
A Valentine’s Day Family Playbook
“Attack” them with hearts
On each of the thirteen days lead-
ing up to Valentine’s Day, mom of four,
Alexis Sanchez posts a heart-shaped
note on her kids’ doors each night after
they go to bed. By Valentine’s Day, their
doors are covered.
“Usually it’s just characteristics I
see in them or ways that they’re kind to
others. They really love this, and I even
found my eight-year-old kept all his
hearts from last year in a special drawer
so that’s pretty awesome,” Sanchez says,
whose other children are 10, 6, and 1.
Play the Queen of Hearts
Ace V-Day by sending love notes in
a pack of red playing cards for your be-
loved. Punch holes in the corner of each
card. On paper squares, write down 52
reasons why you love or appreciate him.
Paste each sentiment in the middle of a
playing card. Title the deck “I love you
because...” and paste it on the top card.
Attach the cards with a c-clip.
14 WNY Family February 2019
— by Christa Melnyk Hines
Send a singing telegram
Video your preschooler singing a
ditty like: “I made this little valentine;
Of red, white and blue; I made this little
valentine; Especially for you!” (point at
the camera). Email the file to grandpar-
ents or another relative your youngster
is crazy about.
Customize cards for
classmates
Bypass the usual cartoon paper
postcards and publish simple photo
cards with a themed border. Last year,
Sanchez attached a small bottle of bub-
bles to her daughter’s cards, which read
“Friend, you blow me away!”
Treat them to a
“hearty” breakfast
Surprise your kids with heart-
shaped cinnamon rolls. Instead of roll-
ing your cinnamon roll dough from one
side to the other, roll it on both sides so
that each side meets in the middle form-
ing a heart shape. Slice and bake. Serve
juice out of dollar-store champagne
Rev up date night
In the whirlwind of parenting, life
as a couple can get routine. Plan an out-
ing with your sweetheart that’s playful
and gets you out of your dinner-and-
a-movie rut. For example, lift off in a
hot air balloon ride; go dancing; take a
couples’ cooking class; paint together at
a drop-in paint-and-sip studio; or attend
a concert or live theater production.
Freelance journalist, Christa Melnyk
Hines and her beloved Valentine of
20 years share their hearts and home
with two active children, a pair of nutty
dogs, and a cricket-lovin’ lizard. Chris-
ta is the author of “Happy, Healthy &
Hyperconnected: Raise a Thoughtful
Communicator in a Digital World.”