Whether you’re married, in a relationship, single, or it’s complicated, Valentine’s Day gives all of us an extra opportunity to show some love. Love can be expressed in anything from a small verbal affirmation to a grand commercialized gesture. It can also come from a person of any age- it doesn’t matter if they’re 97 or 7 years old. Which brings me to celebrating Valentine’s Day with your class.
You may have heard of the term “Galentine’s Day,” where women choose to celebrate the love they have for their girlfriends, moms, daughters, etc. This idea of Galentine’s Day got me thinking…if women can coin their own term, why not kids?
PALentine’s Day
PALentine’s Day can be thought of as a day for kids and their pals! It’s the perfect occasion for kids to show their version of love to their friends. Classrooms across the country have been making DIY heart-covered mailboxes and exchanging little store-bought paper punch out Valentine cards for years. It only makes sense to piggyback on this tradition with activities to help remind students what it means to be a good friend to others.
Friendship Books
PALentine’s Day Friendship Books are a great way to encourage those positive relationships. Each page has different individual, partner, or whole group activities to promote love and friendship at school and in your class community.
Individual Activities
First, you could have a meaningful class discussion about what it means to be a good pal. Have the kids come up with ways they can show that they care about their friends. They can record their thoughts on the following writing pages:
Partner Activities
After that, pair up each student with a pal. The two of them can get to know better through these interview-style pages:
Whole Group Activities
There are also activities in the friendship books that you can do with your class as a whole group. Students go on a Scavenger Hunt around the room to look for pals that fit different descriptions. The kids love getting to learn some new things about their friends.
For the very last page of the book, each student puts the page shown below on their desk. You can do a “scoot” activity where everyone rotates to each other’s desks. Each time they come to a new desk, they write what they love most about that particular student. This way, each person gets to have a compliment from everyone in the whole class and all of the kids are able to see how much they are valued by their friends.
The kids LOVE filling out their friendship books, which make for a sweet keepsake to take home. You can find these PALentine books right here in the shop on my website, or in my TPT store.
More Valentine’s Day resources
If you’re looking for additional ideas for this month, you might want to check out this Valentine card idea too!
You could also display a visual reminder in the classroom of ways that students can show love throughout the year. My students have always enjoyed making these L-O-V-E flags and hanging them up as a banner. They make the classroom look very festive all through February!
Show some love!
What are some ways that you help your students show love at school for Valentine’s Day (and/or the other 364 days of the year)? Feel free to share with other teachers in the comments below.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy Galentine’s Day, and Happy PALentine’s Day to you and the ones you love!