Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Did you forget that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day?
Have you been too busy to get ready?
Are you looking for some extra touches to make the day special?
In today’s post we’ve got some simple, quick ideas for you all
- for parents, Grands, caregivers, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, friends –
whether near or far!!
There is something for everyone!
And, the best part? All of our ideas require little planning and are easy peasy!
Valentine’s Day has ALWAYS been a day to celebrate LOVE!
These days, our own hearts are motivated and filled with LOVE for these sweethearts…
Check out these last minute ways to share some extra love with your Littles!
If you are lucky enough to spend all or part of Valentine’s Day with your Littles
the ideas shared below would be a lovely way to show you care!
(And, while many of us Grands won’t be with our Littles on ❤️ Day,
we can certainly use ANY of the ideas described ANY time we see our little loves!)
Here’s our list of a few ways YOU can make Valentine’s Day (or any day) extra special for the Little’s in your life!
❤️ Add Red Food Coloring to Your Little’s Milk!
Imagine your Littles’ excitement when they find that their white milk has magically changed color! You’ll get a lot of bang with a simple addition of a drop of food coloring to the glass!
A Grand Tip!
Your Little will be even more impressed
if you add food coloring to the carton of milk ahead of time!
Then, when you pour the milk into your Little’s glass
you’ll both be “surprised” and wonder “how did that happen?”
❤️ Serve Your Little a “Heart in the Middle” for Breakfast!
You may have heard of an “egg in the middle” but we’ve got a valentine twist for you!
Melt some butter in the bottom of a small pan. Meanwhile, cut a heart out of a piece of a buttered piece of bread - a heart-shaped cookie cutter makes it really easy! Butter one side of the bread and put it in the prepared pan, butter side up! Crack an egg into the heart. Cook on medium low until the egg is set, and then flip and cook the other side. You can also toast the small heart that you cut out. Add some jam and serve the red heart cut out alongside your “heart in the middle”!
❤️ Decorate It with Love!
We’ve got 3 simple but meaningful ways to do this! If you live with your Littles or see them most days, this would be a fun way to show your love! Distant Grands... we've got a few ideas for you - you'll find them near the end of this section...
#1 - Cover your Little’s bedroom or closet door with construction paper hearts that you’ve written compliments on! You can do this the night before, while your Little is at school or before he/she arrives at your house for the day! SURPRISE!
#2 - Create a curtain of hearts by taping paper hearts to a piece of yarn and hang several strands from your Little’s door. What fun to walk through!
#3 - Do the first two ideas sound overwhelming or will they take too much time to pull together? Simply cut out the hearts (with or without compliments) and toss them all over your Little’s bedroom floor while they are sleeping or at school!
A Grand Tip!
DISTANT GRANDS… You can still do these same activities even from afar!
Ask your Little’s parents if they’d be willing to help you…
you send the parents some hearts (or heart chains)
with or without compliments written on them
and then the parents do the decorating!
This way everyone gets involved in the holiday fun! ❤
Perhaps you’ll be caring for your Little tomorrow
and you’re looking for a few last minute activities to do together!
Any of the following ideas would be worthwhile options!
🩷 A Beaded Heart!
String beads onto a pipe cleaner and bend it into a heart shape. Twist the ends together to form the heart. If you don’t have beads, you can use pasta or Cheerios/Froot Loops!
🩷 Heart Stamps!
Do you and your Little like to paint together? ! Use these household items to do so, adding this holiday twist! You can even turn these into beautiful Valentine’s Day cards!
Heart Stamps With Pipe Cleaners! Bend pipe cleaners into heart shapes. Dip each in paint and stamp with them.
Heart Stamps With Toilet Paper Tubes! Bend an empty toilet paper tube into a heart shape. Dip it into paint and stamp away!
🩷 Say I Love You with Stickers!
Here’s a fun and simple valentine game to play with your Littles that will fill their hearts… and yours!. Take turns putting stickers on each other. (Use heart stickers if you have them!) Every time you stick one on, say “I love you!” ❤️ It won’t take long and you and your Little will be covered in love!
🩷 Valentine Puzzles… Hide and Seek!
Take some of those extra valentines you have from your Littles’ packs and cut them in half. (You could also pick up a pack at the dollar store OR you could search "valentine" on google and print out a few!) Hide both pieces from the different valentine cards around the house and see how quickly your Littles can collect them all and put them together!
A Grand Tip!
For your toddler Littles,
hide the pieces to two or three cards in one room only!
If your Littles are successful and having fun,
add the pieces to two more cards and hide them all!
🩷 Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe!
How fun would it be to teach your Little this classic game that could be played anywhere at any time! By building your tic-tac-toe board on a heart and then using fun 🩷 playing pieces (possibilities include M&M’s, fruit snacks or valentine erasers) you’ll make the game memorable for you and your Little!
A Grand Tip!
We always have the rule (set up ahead of time)
that both players can eat their own playing pieces when the game is all done!
🩷 Valentine Peek-a-Boo!
Play peek-a-boo with your youngest Little - babies will love this! To add a valentine touch, hide behind a big paper heart.
🩷 Valentine Potpourri!
Littles of all ages love to create! Simply put out paper, stickers, stamps, scissors, glue, markers and any other fun craft items you can collect and make cards together. Remember… you can make and send a card any time of the year!
🩷 Build a Heart!
This activity is for your up and coming engineers and it’s one that will challenge older Littles and maybe a few Middles, as well. We used small plastic cups we already had (about 5 oz each) and then we cut long strips of construction paper, about 1-inch wide. Challenge your Littles (and perhaps your Middle) to build a standing heart, using only the cups and the strips of paper!
As an added challenge, you can make a giant heart by using strips of cardboard and red Solo cups! Good luck!
We can’t leave out a huge segment of the Grand population…
Distance Grands - We have you covered!
These last ideas are specifically for our DISTANT GRANDS!
Each activity can be done over FaceTime or while on a Zoom call.
Perhaps you are a Grand who lives hours or states away,
or maybe you are a Grand who lives close by
but you won’t be spending Valentine’s Day with your Littles this year.
One of our ideas may be just what you are looking for
if you want to send a special holiday wish to your Little for Valentine’s Day!.
(In fact, all of our ideas can be easily adapted to share face-to-face as well!)
Below, you’ll find suggested ages for each activity,
but you be the judge of what makes sense for you and your Littles!
❤️ Make a Video! (Infants/Toddlers & Older)
Make a video of yourself! Our youngest Littles will enjoy watching a puppet or stuffed animal show, listening to you sing or giggling over a silly joke or two! More than anything, your Little will love watching YOU (possibly over and over again)!
Laura shared a similar video in this post a few weeks ago…
Just in case you are wondering...
Laura recently shared that Little L has decided that her Grand name is Bacco!
Not sure how or why but Bacco Laura it is and we’re loving it!
❤️ Share Your Love! (Toddlers/Preschoolers & Older)
Share with your Little what you love! You and your Little should each collect a few items you treasure and take turns sharing them! It’s great vocabulary work! Be sure to end with a picture of your Little and say “I love YOU most of all!”
❤️ Heart Names! (Preschoolers & Older)
Littles of this age are learning their letters and sounds and are especially attached to the letters in their own names. Cut out enough hearts for each letter of your Little’s name and then write one letter on each heart. Spell out your Little’s name, holding one letter/heart up at a time. While holding each letter/heart up, tell your Little something you love about them that begins with that letter.
Examples:
L! I love to learn about your day at school.
A! I love your art work!
U! You are as beautiful as a unicorn!
❤️ Heartman! Valentine Hangman! (School Age & Older)
Play the old classic game Hangman, but change it to Heartman! Before you virtually connect with your Little, come up with a list of valentine words or phrases (depending on your Little’s age – hug, friends, candy, I love you, chocolate, you are cool are all possible examples). Also have ready a few sheets of paper with the alphabet written on each for guessing. You could also prep this on a whiteboard or, if your Little is old enough, you could let him/her be in charge of a word!
Play the game, as usual, except instead of building a Hangman, adding pieces with each incorrect guess, build a Heartman as shown in the photo below!
If needed, here’s a video further describing the rules of the original version!
❤️ Dress for the Occasion! (All Ages)
Plan ahead so that when you and your Little virtually connect, you are dressed to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Who will win the contest…
Who can wear the most RED, PINK, PURPLE and WHITE?
Gather all your valentine accessories and really go to town!
Once you are on your FaceTime or Zoom call,
count all the items on you and your Little and see who is wearing the most items!
We know someone out there will have a red pair of underwear!
Above all, REMEMBER that the best idea of all
will simply be time spent with your Littles…
in person OR virtually!
Whether you’re sitting together on the floor or couch
as you hug and snuggle
OR
you’re building connections on a screen laughing and talking,
take the time to tell your Littles how much you love them!
It’s in such moments
that you’ll create memories that the heart will hold forever!
It’s a Good Thing!
Time spent with Littles doesn’t have to be over the top and fancy.
Don’t worry about knocking yourself out!
All our Littles truly want is our attention and love!
Laurie reflects…
As adults, my Middles often surprise me with certain memories
of things they cherish from their own childhood,
things that seemed small and simple
and were made-up on the run.
What they always remember is the fun and love we shared!
And that’s exactly what our role as grandparents, parents and caregivers can be about
and what is most needed in today’s often upside down world!
Sharing our unconditional love
- on Valentine’s Day and Every Day -
it IS a good thing! ❤️
It you are still looking for MORE last minute ideas,
don’t forget about the suggestions offered in this past post!
In that post, Laurie reminisced about Valentine's Days past
including a valentine tradition
that she and her family celebrated with her own Littles
through all their growing up years!
She also shared her thoughts and ideas
for making this holiday extra special now that she’s a Grand!
Of course, we’re always busy creating fun content on
We’d love it if you stopped by and said “Hi”!
Fun in the Sun… The Grands are Taking a Vacation!
Next week both Laurie and Laura are headed to warm destinations
so we’ll be taking a break from blogging for a few weeks!
We’ll look forward to seeing you back here in early March!
In the meantime. don’t forget to subscribe to our blog.
That way you’ll be the first to know when our next post publishes!
❤️ We wish you and yours a Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️
❤️ We are delighted to join these link up parties and blog hops this week: