Create Valentine’s Day Family Traditions
Often the fondest childhood memories stem from
family traditions that were lovingly repeated
throughout the years. Family traditions have family
at the center of a celebration spending time together
and creating lasting memories. If you don't already
have a family Valentine's Day tradition, why not
start one this year. It could be the beginning
of many wonderful years of Valentine's Day memories
with your family.
A Valentine family tradition doesn’t have to
be expensive. The main idea is to spend time with
the family together. Here are some inexpensive
ways you can start a Valentine’s Day family tradition
in your family.
Make a Food Treat Together
Most people associate chocolates with Valentine’s
Day, but how about making a different treat together
that your family can share together. One fun treat
you can make are Rice Krispies hearts. All you
need is the basic Rice Krispies squares recipe,
heart shaped cookie cutters and red sprinkles.
Lightly grease the insides of the heart shaped
cookie cutters and press some Rice Krispies squares
mix into the cookie cutters. Then remove the cookies
cutters and add the sprinkles. Repeat as needed
with the rest of the mixture. It’s simple enough
for young kids to help out.
Another simple idea is to bake a cake in a heart
shaped cake mold. Make some red (or at least pink)
icing and then the kids can decorate the top with
sprinkles and heart shaped candies.
Play a Family Game
Games are a great way for families to interact
with each other and have fun at the same time.
Choose a favorite family game and have an enjoyable
time together. Make sure that it is a game everyone
enjoys so nobody feels frustrated or left out.
It’s also fun to learn a new game together so
the whole family is at the same level of expertise.
A card game that has hearts as the central theme
is a good match for creating a Valentine’s Day
family game time tradition. Capture the Hearts
is a simple card game that the whole family can
easily understand and play. The object of the
game is to win as many hearts as possible. The
only card knowledge required is to know the order
of the cards.
Each player starts with 7 cards and plays 2
cards face down in front of them each round. The
top card cannot be a heart. After each player
has selected their cards then everyone turns over
the top card. The player with the highest card
wins all the remaining face down cards, hopefully
containing some hearts. In each subsequent round,
deal 2 more cards and continue play. The player
with the most hearts in the end wins the game.
Watch a Family Favorite Movie
The movie doesn’t have to be mushy and sentimental,
as long as it is a movie that the whole family
enjoys. It doesn’t even need to be a movie you’ve
seen if it’s a movie that the whole family wants
to see. Pop some popcorn, or eat some of the treats
you’ve made for Valentine’s Day, and enjoy some
time together.
Exchange Homemade Cards
Instead of shopping for cards try making cards
at home. You’ll save money and have nice keepsakes.
The cards can be as simple as folding a piece
of paper and cutting out a heart with one straight
edge of the heart along the fold. Write a customized
message for each member of the family on a separate
heart card for each. Encourage the other members
of the family to do the same and you’ll have a
nice time exchanging special heartfelt cards.
Holidays are very special to children and Valentine’s
Day can be made even more memorable if you create
your own family tradition. Your children may even
use these traditions when they are grown with
their own families.
About the Author:
Sheila Anderson creates free printables for kids
to provide fun and educational paper based activities.
These free printable activity pages and worksheets
can be found at http://www.PrintActivities.com
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