There are a LOT of stories about how Valentine’s Day got its start, but no matter how it began, it’s a great opportunity to show the people we love just how much they mean to us! Celebrated each year across the globe on February 14th, this holiday is a special time for gift giving, diverse cultural traditions, heart shaped decorations, and romantic acts big and small.
Keep scrolling for fun activities, crafts, and some extra inspiration on how to celebrate with your loved ones this year! Be sure to check out a brand-new PBS KIDS Family Night with Valentine’s Day specials featuring heartfelt episodes from Pinkalicious & Peterrific, Molly of Denali, and Nature Cat starting on Friday, February 10th at 7 PM.
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Activities, Crafts & More
Heart Apple Chips
Grades PreK-5
This Valentine’s Day treat is yummy, crunchy and won’t send your kids to the dentist’s office! Put them in a pretty package, and they’ll also make a lovely gift for someone special.
PBS KIDS Valentine’s Day Cards
Grades PreK-5
Tell your friends that they are Pinkatastic, Out of this World or totally ODD-some with these printable Valentine cards from your favorite PBS Kids characters.
Valentine’s Day Heart Puzzles
Grades PreK-5
A good friend is like the right puzzle piece: a perfect piece that completes you! This Valentine’s Day, give your friends and family their very own homemade heart puzzle.
Clay Heart Necklaces
Grades K-5
This craft combines two of our favorite things: baking and art, and makes a fun holiday craft for children.
Valentine’s Day HeARTwork
Grades K-5
Making your own cards for Valentine’s Day is a smart move for your pocketbooks and makes for a fun art project too! With this craft, your child can gift each person in their class with a piece of original artwork from the heart: HeARTwork!
For the Love of Learning
I Love My Family
Grades PreK-2
In this video segment from Between the Lions watch as kids in Bethel and Anchorage, Alaska talk about activities they love to do with family members.
Heart Structure and Function
Grades 6-8
Valentine’s Day is all about the heart! But how much do you really know about how your heart works? Learn how the chambers of the heart contract and relax in synchrony to push blood through the pulmonary and systemic loops of the circulatory system in this video segment.
A Venus Flytrap Works Just Like Your Brain | Braincraft
Grades 6-12
Venus was the Roman goddess of love, but it’s also the name of one snappy plant—the Venus flytrap! Check out how Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants act just like our brains in this video from Braincraft.
Much Ado About Nothing and the Roots of Romantic Comedy | Shakespeare Uncovered
Grades 9-12
Learn how Shakespeare invented the structure and character types we have come to love in modern romantic comedies in this video from Shakespeare Uncovered. In the play Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick banter back and forth as sparring partners who seem to hate each other, but underneath it all, are actually in love.
Sweaty T-shirts and Human Mate Choice
Grades 9-12
Evolutionary psychologists study the human brain and human behaviors—why we do the things we do—in the context of evolution. This video from Evolution: Why Sex? examines the “sweaty T-shirt” experiment, which demonstrated that the sense of smell may have more to do with mate choice than scientists previously thought.
For even more games and educational resources for young learners, go to the Valentine’s Day Collection on PBS Kids for Parents