Ah, the month of love and holidays galore. There are a ton of holidays in February (check out this post for even more ideas for the month). However, I believe that when people think of February the holiday that first comes to mind is Valentine’s Day. When getting ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day in the classroom, it can be a little difficult to find lessons without the mess!
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I have fond memories of making “mailboxes” for all those cards I got. I actually saved some and they scream “90’s”. There are many ways to have students create mailboxes so it’s entirely up to you! With a little construction paper, glue, and shudders, glitter, any of these items can quickly become a fun mailbox!
- File folder
- Large empty can
- An empty gallon milk jug with the top portion cut off.
- A legal size of construction paper or cardstock simply folded and stapled on the sides
- A paper bag
- Shoebox
- Tissue box
- Cereal box
Card Ideas: Beyond the Mailbox
Afterward, all those cute mailboxes are made and the work seems done. However, you may come to a frightening realization. “Uhhhh poop, I forgot to get cards for my students!” And let’s be honest, no one has the time to handmade 25 plus cards.
Given how much teaching has changed in the past few years everything is also available as digital. I then got ideas for celebrating the holiday in the classroom that would involve no stress.
These Valentine’s Day cards are both printable and also digital and will save you from having to stand there in the card aisle at Target deciding between Marvel, Harry Styles, Encanto….or whatever else is currently popular thing at the moment.
Books for Celebrating Valentine’s Day in the Classroom
- Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool by James Dean
- A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger
- Love by Matt de la Peña
No Prep and Digital Activities=NO MESS
Another idea to celebrate the day of -L-O-V-E is by sneaking in some educational content! I have created a Valentine’s Day unit that is great for the entire WEEK of Valentine’s Day! Students love this unit as it includes color by codes, word searches, math codes, and more fun math and language arts activities with a fun Valentine’s Day theme!
For example, using the Pepto Bismol…sorry, candy conversation hearts, students can graph the times a certain word, color, or combo of the two is shown in a pile. Now if you want less sugar in the classroom (since they will probably get enough of it with their Valentine’s), this graph is printable or digital….no chalky gross tasting (sorry not sorry) hearts are required.
Another fun idea for a math activity is practicing geometry! I mean, shapes have feelings too! While reading a letter, students will fill in the blanks by showing they know the attributes of each shape. This incorporates some reading skills into a math lesson.
Starting in second grade, students begin to learn the fundamentals of multiplication and arrays are the perfect starting point! Teach about columns, rows, and repeated addition with Affectionate Arrays.
Engage students with a fun color-by-code activity! With Lovebugs Less Than/More Than they will write the symbols and then color the heart according to code.
Teach students about plurals with this worksheet that has students coloring the heart by whether they would add -es or drop the Y and add -ies.
If you are looking for even more easy ideas for celebrating the holiday in the classroom, my Valentine’s Day No Prep and Digital ELA and Math Activities Unit is full of activities for second grade!
