| Valentine's Day is a favorite for children | | | | Cut out a number of large heart shapes from |
| since it provides an opportunity to express | | | | construction paper or cardstock. |
| their love for the important people in their | | | | |
| lives as well as a clever excuse to eat | | | | Next, cut each of the hearts in half |
| candy. It's also a great time of the year to | | | | length-wise. Write a number on the left side |
| incorporate some preschool valentine games | | | | of the heart, and draw that many dots or |
| into the lesson plan to reinforce the central | | | | small hearts on the other side. Next, mix up |
| theme of love. | | | | the halves and try to see if the children can |
| | | | match the numbers with the correct amount of |
| Most of these games focus on the theme or | | | | dots or hearts. |
| image of the heart, which is central to | | | | |
| Valentine's Day festivities. Also, since | | | | Here's a fun game that has children |
| Valentine's Day is a non-secular holiday, | | | | identifying pictures on a heart shape. Cut |
| parents won't raise any objections to these | | | | out one heart for each child in the class. |
| preschool valentine games. | | | | Next, have the children go through magazines |
| | | | to look for interesting pictures of animals, |
| While the most obvious of the preschool | | | | people, flowers, or anything else they find |
| valentine games is the making of and | | | | intriguing. Once they've decided on a |
| distribution of decorated or store-bought | | | | picture, they cut it from the magazine and |
| valentines, don't be afraid to move beyond | | | | paste it to the heart. |
| this classic activity. A great variation of | | | | |
| the valentine making game is to have each | | | | After all the children have finished, gather |
| child make a valentine for their family using | | | | the hearts and place them in a bag. One at a |
| paper, paint, glitter, stickers, and whatever | | | | time, children pull a heart from the bag and |
| other art supplies are on hand. | | | | identify the picture on the heart. They can |
| | | | also try to guess whose heart it is. |
| Once the valentine is completed, place it in | | | | |
| an envelope and help each child write their | | | | Yummy Sorting Game! |
| address on the envelope. If time and the | | | | |
| weather permits, take a short field trip with | | | | Last but most certainly not least for these |
| the children to the post office so that they | | | | preschool valentine games is one that uses |
| can mail the valentines to their families. | | | | little candy hearts to help children with |
| | | | their sorting and matching skills. Place a |
| Heart Numbers | | | | small amount of candy hearts in a bowl and |
| | | | have children sort them based on color or |
| Some preschool valentine games allow children | | | | words. Try to see if they can find two |
| to work on their sorting and matching skills. | | | | identical hearts. Once the game is over, the |
| For example this game called "Heart | | | | clean up is simple- children get to eat the |
| Numbers", has children matching numbers with | | | | hearts! |
| the corresponding amount of dots or hearts. | | | | |