Five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas for toddlers

 

It's almost Valentine's day and we have been enjoying lots of LOVE themed play activities. Including holidays and traditions in your play setups is a great way for young children to learn about the world around them. So to help you sprinkle some LOVE on your activities this week, here are my five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas for toddlers!

 

 Valentine's day might seem like It's just for grown ups, but actually this holiday is a brilliant time to celebrate LOVE as a FAMILY. You can explore acts of kindness, gift giving, surprises and even practical life skills like the postal service! So let's get stuck in with my five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas. 

1) "Early in the morning"  

Number 1 on my list is the nursery rhyme "Early in the morning". I have written out the lyrics below for those who don't know it and you can listen to the tune here. This rhyme is all about a visit from the post person and counting out the letters they bring. It's a fun song that invites lots of role play. 

Early in the morning at eight o'clock  

I can hear the postman knock (knock, knock)

Up jumps (NAME) and opens the door

One letter, two letters, three letters, four

 My son is very lucky and has a postman outfit to role play with, but don't worry if you don't have one to hand! You can easily grab any bag and fill it up with pieces of paper. I have also got a DIY toy for you to make at home and use with this song too.

 First up I made my Valentine's Hand Puppets using the mini flashcards from my free Valentine's Activity Bundle. These are perfect for engaging babies and toddlers while singing. Your child can pull the cards off and stick them back on while counting out the letters in the song. This is a great activity for fine motor skill development too! 

Next I made a post box out of a cardboard cereal box. This is super easy and all you need is a cardboard box, scissors, sticky tape and wrapping paper. You can find all the instructions to make your own post box here in my how to make a DIY post box for early years play blog post. 

2) Valentine's Biscuits

The second activity, on the list of my five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas, are Valentine's Biscuits! Baking and biscuit decorating are fun, hands on activities that help get young children involved in the kitchen. 

We made our favourite gingerbread for these biscuits, but check out my Cinnamon Biscuit recipe for something a bit different. If you aren't up for baking, then you can always buy a packet of plain biscuits to decorate instead. You can find my blog post all about biscuit decorating for toddlers here. 

 3) Homemade Valentine's Cards 

 Number three of my five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas is Homemade Valentine's Cards! Arts and crafts are important for babies and toddlers to introduce creativity, colour and a variety of textures, shapes and materials. 

We kept it simple this year with pre-folded cards and easy to glue craft supplies. There were pompoms, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, self adhesive foam shapes and stamps! 

 

4) Valentine's Playdough 

 Fourth on my list of five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas is Valentine's playdough! We used a simple playdough recipe and added pink food colouring to fit our theme. I set it out with this pink silicone heart shaped waffle mode, a rolling pin, cupcake cases, heart shaped sprinkles and some tools for stamping and mark making. 

Joseph had lots of fun making cakes with his playdough and kneading in the sprinkles to make a special crunchy textured dough. You could easily include vanilla essence or glitter to make your playdough even more exciting. Just remember that babies and some toddlers may want to explore using their mouth. So ensure you stay with them at all times to discourage any eating of the play materials. Set boundaries and enjoy playing together!

 

5) Valentine's Play Tray with Flashcards 

 Finally, I couldn't have a Valentine's Play Tray without some Flashcards! The final play idea of my list includes a themed tuff tray with lots of colourful and inviting materials to explore.

 I included homemade sensory rice, cupcake cases, tissue paper, cotton wool balls, a homemade ribbon ring and of course the flashcards from my FREE Valentine's Activity Bundle. Perfect for matching, burying, labelling and sorting games! 

 So there you have it, my five favourite Valentine's themed play ideas for you to enjoy at home! 

 

Which Valentine's themed play ideas will you try? 

 I would love to hear how you get on with these play ideas! Parents are amazing at making these activities their own, so please share your setups on social media and tag me @craftytoddlercompany. You can also find more ideas by joining our online community here.

 

If you liked this, you might also like: 

• Biscuit Decorating: An easy to setup baking activity for toddlers
• Nursery rhyme inspired activities for pre-school children
• How to boost your preschool child's speech and language development

 

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