Family Valentine’s Day: Ideas for Starting New Traditions

Valentine’s Day is all about love.  Most people either don’t celebrate it or wait in long lines to buy flowers or go out to dinner.  But it can be more. It can be a teaching tool for our kids. Valentine’s Day can be used to show our family love, not just our spouses or boyfriends.  And if you are alone and don’t have a significant other, a family Valentine’s Day can keep meaning in the holiday. So how do you celebrate a family Valentine’s Day? Stay tuned and read on for a list of family Valentine’s Day ideas…

Valentine’s Day is more than just chocolate and roses

How many of you get sucked into the materialism of Valentine’s Day?  Expensive flowers and chocolates. Jewelry. Romantic dinners at high-class restaurants.  

I have to admit these things are all nice but I have two questions if you are in a relationship whether married or dating.  Why do you wait only for Feb 14th every year? And what about those littles all that love created?

Now, I’m a huge proponent of date nights with your spouse or boyfriend.  Without that quality time together it’s hard to grow your relationship. But I will leave that for another post another day…

When I was little my parents would always get us a little gift for Valentine’s Day.  They never forgot they loved us and showed us that on a holiday designed for adults. Or is it?  Is Valentine’s Day just about adults? Or is it about love and showing those around us how much we love them?  

So what about starting some new Valentine’s day traditions.  Have a family Valentine’s Day. Here is how to plan a family Valentine’s Day and some Valentine’s Day ideas to get you going.

How to plan a family Valentine’s Day

If you want Valentine’s Day to be a different this year, by not being the status quo and celebrating the love you have for the whole family, start with these simple steps.

1. Plan it out:  This can be done as a surprise or with the whole family.  Do what you think they would like best. If you are uncertain if they would rather play games or watch movies go ahead and ask.  But a surprise may be more romantic even if you are planning a family Valentine’s Day rather than just a night out with your spouse.
2. Make it unique:  As you are putting your plans in motion you can still make it unique.  Set it apart from your other family nights some way.
3. Prep your plan:  Once you have a plan get ready to implement it.  If you are having a special meal or restaurant night go buy groceries a day or two before your family Valentine’s Day.  If you are watching movies have them rounded up. Whatever the plan is, get it prepped.
4. Go Time:  Now that you have a plan and you are prepped for it, it’s go time.  Put your plan in motion.
5. Be flexible and Enjoy it:  Family Valentine’s Day is underway, so sit back and enjoy it.  Be flexible enough to tweak the plan. I mean, you’re a parent so you should know by now that flexibility is key to sanity.  If your kid really doesn’t want the dinner you made take a deep breath and make them a PB&J. Save this battle for another day. Move on with your plan.

Not sure what to plan for a romantically fun family Valentine’s Day? Keep reading for Valentine’s Day ideas…

Valentine’s Day Ideas for that special Family Valentine’s Day

1. Turn your home into a restaurant. Design menus you pass out to each member of the family and then cook what they “order”.  On your menu have drinks, appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts. You could even design a kid’s menu for the little ones.  For instance, maybe you have steak as an entree option for your spouse so you could put steak bites down for the little ones.  This makes it so you don’t have to do too many different things, just cut the steaks into bites. Get creative.
2. Get a romantic pizza dinner or take-out.  OK. Maybe not romantic, Lol, but there isn’t anything wrong with planning for the whole family.  If you want to be part of a special dinner and not have to cook it get pizza or Chinese. Whatever your family likes.  I am all about eating healthy but if you choose this option, feel free to splurge a bit. You can eat healthy tomorrow.
3. Plan a family game night.  I love family game night and if you have spent much time on my blog you may already realize that.  So if game night is a weekly activity at your house maybe get creative with it to make it a little different and more special for family Valentine’s Day.  Have a tournament game night on the Wii. Play a new family game that you have never tried before. Maybe you could buy a new game as a family Valentine’s Day gift.  Or if you usually play board games try a video game or card game. Just have fun with it. And if you need ideas for board games, visit my page, “The Best Board Games for Family Night”.  Or if you want a variety of game ideas, visit my post, “Family Game Night Ideas”.
4. Go out.  No, I don’t mean to go out for a big fancy dinner.  But you could go do something fun that you don’t normally do.  Go bowling or mini golfing. Pick a movie everyone would like to see and go to the movie theaters.  If your kids are old enough, go try out an escape room. You could take them to the beach, a concert, or go-karting.  Just get out and spend some quality time for family Valentine’s Day.
5. Family Movie Night.  My next Valentine’s Day idea is to pick a movie to watch.  This might be another thing you find yourself doing regularly with your family.  If it is, change things up a bit. Turn your home into a movie theater. Buy drinks, candy, and make popcorn.  Set up a concession stand your kids can “buy” concessions from. Before dinner give them a Valentine’s Day card with play money in it.  Tell them they can use that later. Then after dinner set up the concession stand. Let them buy their snacks. You could even set your living room or family room up with blankets and pillows so they can get comfy for the movie.  And if you want to go all out you can get them cute Valentine’s pj’s to change into prior to the movie. One of my favorite movies, The Greatest Showman, is good for the whole family.
6. Get each other gifts.  This may seem a bit cliche and the opposite of what this post is about.  But this is a creative way to have fun with your family for your family Valentine’s Day.  Draw names from a hat and have everyone make or buy a gift. Set a spending limit. Say $5 to buy the perfect gift for that person.  Or have everyone make something. This way the kids can feel independent. They could make a card or a special picture for mom.  A candy bouquet for dad. Coupons for special favors for their siblings like cleaning their bedroom. This doesn’t have to be the traditional box of chocolates but it could be.  Get creative and include your kids in on the gift giving.
7. Go for a walk or bike ride.  Not the most romantic of Valentine’s Day ideas but would make a great way to spend a family Valentine’s Day.  You could even include fido on this one. This is one where you would be doing your family a favor with a healthy activity.  If it seems too mundane for a family Valentine’s Day celebration jazz it up a bit. Go to a trail you don’t necessarily walk, bike, or hike and try it out.  Print off an outdoor scavenger hunt, grab a paper bag and have your kids find the items. If there are leaves or things that won’t hurt the environment put it in the bag for a craft later. Bringing me to my next Valentine’s Day idea…
8. Have a craft night.  One thing kids love are crafts.  Get down and dirty and make slime with them, a papercraft, or do some artwork.  Slime is all the rage right now so most kids will love this activity, even tweens.  If you have never made slime it’s simple. Pour out a small bottle of glue into a bowl, add food coloring if desired, then add about a ½ tsp of baking soda.  After all that you add 1 tsp of contact solution or borax (I’ve always used contact solution containing boric acid). If the glue hasn’t turned to slime slowly add a little more but be careful.  If you add too much your slime will turn hard and won’t be fun to play with. And if you don’t want to buy everything separate just get a slime-making kit. Whatever the craft, have fun and let the mess happen.
9. Stage a Photo Shoot.  Capture the memories of your family’s Valentine’s Day by taking family and candid pictures.  I love taking pics of my family. And my kids like taking pictures and videos. So break out the cameras and update your photo library or shoot a family video.  You will have the memories to last a lifetime and can have a hoot doing it too. Look nice for portraits but grab hats and costumes for the candids. It doesn’t have to be a serious endeavor.  Make it fun.
10. Have a low key night…without electronics.  My last Valentine’s day idea for a family Valentine’s Day is to just have a low key night.  But make it a quality one. Don’t sit on the couch with your nose buried in your phone. Engage in meaningful conversation with your kids and spouse.  Unwind together. Cuddle and hold your kids. They need your touch and your presence. And guess what…so does your spouse.

But what about my spouse or boyfriend?

If you have stuck with me thus far you might be thinking, “but what about my spouse/boyfriend?  I thought Valentine’s Day was all about us.” And you’re correct to an extent. Valentine’s day is about the romance between two lovers.  And you need to keep that. It’s a vital aspect to a healthy family as I mentioned earlier.

That being said, who wants to battle the crowds at a restaurant on February 14th just to say you went on a date for Valentine’s Day?  I sure don’t. You should be going on dates much more often than every Valentine’s Day. I have to admit, my husband and I generally wait for a date a few days after the 14th or go before if we are going to celebrate it.

So I am not saying you can’t celebrate Valentine’s day and you are a horrible person if you do.  I have made candy bouquet’s and given my husband other gifts to show my affection. We have gone out to dinner, but we don’t do it just cause we have to.  We do it because we want to and we make more days through the year Valentine’s day by dating each other year round.

By all means, set aside some time for the two of you.  Get away, go on a date (but I’d recommend waiting for a few days or even a week to pass).  It is important.

But, you can also show your kids along with your husband that they matter by starting a new Valentine’s day tradition.  

The beginning of new Valentine’s Day traditions

A family Valentine’s Day would be the start of some new Valentine’s Day traditions.  Family time is very important to raising happy, healthy kids. Kids need to know they are valued by their parents and are worth our time.  One way to do that is showing them they are loved.

You can do some traditional dating (and I do recommend it) but you can also be unique this year.  I recommend you celebrate a family Valentine’s Day and romance your kids a bit too. You will be teaching them what a loving relationship is all about when they grow into adulthood.

What is your family Valentine’s Day plans or what Valentine’s Day traditions are you going to start this year? Please share them below and/or any Valentine’s Day ideas you have.

~Melissa

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