Valentine's Day Cards and Activities

By Sheila Seifert (and others)

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This year, your kids can show God’s love to their friends with free Adventures in Odyssey Valentine's Day Cards. (Each card gives access to a free Adventures in Odyssey episode!) Or download free Average Boy Valentine's Day Cards provided by Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse magazine or free Out Back Friends Valentine's Day Cards provided by Clubhouse Jr. magazine. It’s easier than ever to let your family and friends know how much you care. Sign in to download all three themes!
Here are other ways that families have chosen to celebrate Valentine’s Day:

Show Love to Others

To help our children, ages 7 and 4, understand that all people are valuable, especially in God's eyes, I planned a simple event for our family. We began with “Love Bingo” — using homemade bingo cards with a characteristic of love (as described in 1 Corinthians 13) written into each block. I called out the characteristics and my husband helped the girls mark their cards. I took time to explain how God loves us and expects us to love others and treat them with dignity.
After our game, we prayed that God would make us aware of a need so we could show His love to someone. We noticed a homeless gentleman on our way to buy pizza. After we ordered what we needed, we purchased a pizza and drink for him. My oldest daughter wrote "God loves you" on the box before my husband handed over the food.
Though our gesture didn't significantly alter this man's plight, it did help our young daughters understand that God desires for us to share what we have with others.
Print out Love Bingo  cards and calling cards to use with your kids.

Cookie Cawthon

A New Focus for Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day is all about romantic love and celebrating with your "special someone." But as our daughter gets older, we want to help her focus less on the boy in the third row at school and more on the long-lasting relationships in her life that show her she is accepted and special.

So we've made it a Valentine's Day tradition to create and deliver gift boxes filled with chocolate-covered strawberries.
As we hand-dip the strawberries, we talk about the important friendships in our lives and the joy we get from giving love to others. Later, we personally deliver the treats to close family friends. This fun tradition gives our daughter a sense of belonging among a community whose love lasts long past the February holiday.

Janna Jones

Creative Valentine Cards for Kids

For Valentine's Day, I helped my kids use candy hearts to create personalized messages for classmates, friends and loved ones. We cut red and pink paper hearts, glued on candy conversation hearts, then added words to make more meaningful and age-appropriate messages. Here are a few:
I LOVE YOUr heart for God!
I have JUST ONE thing to say: Jesus loves you!
It's SO COOL that God gave me you as a friend!
I DARE YA to sit by me at lunch! I'll make a spot for you.
I'M SURE glad you are my little sister!

Shannon Popkin

Portions of “Free Valentine’s Day Cards and Activities” first appeared in the February/March 2016 issue of Thriving Family magazine. “Show Love to Others” first appeared in the January/February 2011 issue of Thriving Family magazine. “A New Focus for Valentine’s Day” first appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Thriving Family magazine. “Creative Valentine Cards for Kids” first appeared in the February/March 2015 issue of Thriving Family magazine and was titled "Candy Heart Messages." If you enjoyed this article, read more like it in Thriving Family, a marriage and parenting magazine published by Focus on the Family. Get Thriving Family delivered to your home by subscribing to it for a gift of any amount.