Easy Classroom Valentine Ideas for 2nd Grade

Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it! In my district, Valentine’s Day celebrations are completely on the teacher. We can use parent volunteers for our Winter/Holiday party and our End of Year Party. But…Valentine’s Day? You’re on your own, kid.

So, in the spirit of being (very) pregnant, and knowing that I’m going to have to plan to do the whole day on my own…I’m seeking to make things easy on myself.

One of my core beliefs at The Simple Classroom is that planning ahead makes thing easier in the long run. So, even though it’s only mid-January, I’m already thinking through what that day will look like so I’m not scrambling the week before.

Simple Student Gift Ideas

My absolute favorite Valentine gift to give my students for years has been these printable homework passes! I love them because the kids get excited about them. They are cute, colorful, and serve a double purpose. If the kids hang onto them, they can redeem them for a night off of homework whenever they want.

However, our district has moved away from emphasizing homework as much as they once did, so getting a homework pass is not as coveted as it was in years past. SO, I made these fun, easy word search Valentine Cards! These come with a word search with my entire class list right on the front…which was way easier to do than I thought it would be. You can easily snag these and customize them for your class if you want to do them for Valentine’s Day!

I’m going to pass these out with some Valentine’s pencils, but they make a great gift to kids on their own! The kids are going to love finding their names and everyone else’s in the card!

Valentine Bag Activity

I may be in the minority here, but I do not like it when the kids bring their own Valentine boxes/bags from home. I have to find somewhere to store them, and they trickle in for days and days before Valentine’s Day actually arrives. They are all different sizes. Some parents follow directions while others do not. Some families flat out forget and some kids show up without anything.

I know it sounds on the surface like it would be simpler to pass off this task to parents, but I haven’t found this to be true. Making bags in class provides part of my lesson plan for that day, which is a gift in itself. The kids are already going to be wound up, so we may as well plan activities that help them get some of that excitement out!

My favorite way to decorate Valentine’s Bags is with a little community building! Each kid gets a bag, one big heart, and a bunch of smaller hearts. They glue the big heart to the center of their bag, and the smaller hearts all over like polka dots. Their name goes in the big heart in the middle of the bag.

We do a ‘write the room’ style activity where the kids rotate from one desk to the next. On each of the smaller hearts, kids write compliments or things they admire about that student! The end result is super cute, but also a meaningful keepsake for families.

Valentine Read Aloud

There are so many good titles out there about kindness, friendship, and family. And those are the themes I like to stick to during Valentine’s Day with young kiddos! But my FAVORITE read aloud, by a long shot, is Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.

You can get the video read aloud of this book for free on Storyline Online, or you can grab the book from any library or bookstore. It’s a book that is absolutely worth owning, so if you want a copy sent right to your door, here’s the link on Amazon.

I have an entire lesson plan idea that you can do with this book. But, if you don’t have time for that, just enjoy the story and the discussion about friendship that comes with it!

Valentine Writing Project

If you are looking for a quick and easy writing project to send home on Valentine’s Day, or to put on display, try this Mini Writing Project! I love these mini projects because they can be done in one day, or you can extend them to create a full writing project by teaching each step of the writing process.

In this mini project, students will write about a time that they felt loved. These are published in the cutest little paper cupcake booklets, and the pages can all be printed and stapled into a packet. Doesn’t get easier than that!

You can snag the writing project here. Check out all of the mini writing projects here!