Valentine's Day with children does not need to be more than half an hour at the kitchen table on 14 February: a card, a few hearts for the window and maybe a small present for someone the child likes. Under threes do handprints and stamps, three to six year olds cut and glue, children from seven write cards and fold things themselves.
14 February is an ordinary Wednesday or Thursday in Stockholm, usually grey, usually with slush. Förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) might make a heart, might not. That makes it a good day for a little craft after the afternoon snack: no expectations, nothing that has to look nice, just red paint and a reason to tell someone you like them. Here is what we do with the children, sorted by what they can manage.
Hearts the littlest ones can make, 1 to 3 years
- Handprint heart. Two red handprints with the fingers angled towards each other make a heart. The child presses, you steer the hands. Write the date and name underneath, and it becomes a card for grandma that gets kept.
- Toilet roll stamp. Fold a toilet roll so the opening becomes heart-shaped, tape it, dip it in red paint and stamp. Two year olds stamp until the paper runs out.
- Glue ready-cut hearts. Cut twenty hearts in different colours while the child is asleep. The child glues them onto a folded sheet with a glue stick. That is the whole craft and it is enough.
Cards and hearts for 3 to 6 year olds
- Folded heart. Fold a sheet in half, draw half a heart from the fold, the child cuts along the line. By four most children can manage it with child scissors, and no craft gives so much pride for so little.
- Window heart. A cardboard heart with the middle cut out, pieces of tissue paper glued over the hole. In the window it glows in the February sun, on the days it comes.
- Heart garland. Ten cut-out hearts hole-punched and threaded on a string. Hung over the child's bed, and left up until Easter.
- Fingerprint card. Two red fingerprints leaning towards each other make a little heart. The child makes ten on a card, you write whatever the child says they want written. It often turns out as "I like you because you make pancakes", and that is the best card anyone gets this year.
- Woven paper heart. The classic Swedish Christmas heart basket in red and pink instead of red and white. From age five, with help.
Small presents from age 7 and up
From around seven, children want to make something that can actually be given away, not just something that ends up on the fridge. These are things that can be made in an afternoon and that the recipient will use.
- Bookmark. A strip of card, hearts in the corners, laminated with tape if you do not have a laminator. For a grandma who reads or a friend.
- Coupon book. Five slips: a hug, help laying the table, an evening with no nagging about toothbrushing, choosing the film, fetching the post. Stapled together. Children enjoy writing them, and the parent does actually get to cash them in.
- Heart biscuits. Simple shortcrust or a ready-made biscuit dough, a heart-shaped cutter, the child rolls and cuts. Our guide Baking with kids has doughs that survive rough handling.
- Sewn felt heart. Two hearts in red felt, big stitches around the edge, a little stuffing, a string to hang it by. Takes an eight year old half an hour.
- A letter. A real letter, in an envelope, with a stamp, to someone who lives far away. It is not a craft but it is the thing that is appreciated most.
What suits whom
| Craft | Age | Time | Hardest part |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handprint heart | 1 to 3 years | 5 minutes | The child not wanting paint on their hand |
| Toilet roll stamp | 2 to 4 years | 15 minutes | Paint getting everywhere |
| Folded cut-out heart | 4 to 6 years | 10 minutes | The scissors, help with the start |
| Window heart | 4 to 8 years | 20 minutes | Not using too much glue |
| Coupon book | 6 to 12 years | 20 minutes | Coming up with the coupons, help with suggestions |
| Heart biscuits | 4 to 12 years | 60 minutes | The wait while they are in the oven |
| Felt heart | 7 to 12 years | 30 minutes | Threading the needle, do it for them |
Talk about friendship while you are at it
It is easy to let the day be about love in the grown-up sense, and that is not what a five year old needs. Instead we usually ask: who are you glad you know? Who helped you this week? The answers become the recipients of the cards. A child who gives a card to a friend who is new at förskola has done something that lasts longer than the craft. And a child who does not want to give one to anyone at all does not have to. The heart can hang in the window.
One thing that does not work is making cards for the whole förskola group. It ends with you sitting up in the evening cutting twenty-two hearts while the child sleeps. One card to one person, or none at all.
How we do it with our families
Esther has a family on Södermalm with a three year old, and last February she made window hearts after the afternoon snack at half past three. She had cut the cardboard hearts and the tissue paper into pieces before collecting from förskola, so the table was ready when they got home. The three year old glued three hearts in ten minutes, one purple and two red, and the purple one stayed in the kitchen window until May. On her note to the parents she wrote that the heart with the letter M was for mum and that she should not expect to get it until Friday, because the three year old wanted to keep it herself for a while.
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Read more: Crafts for kids · Mother's Day crafts · Baking with kids · FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do people celebrate Valentine's Day with children in Sweden?
It is not a big day here, and it does not have to become one. Förskolor in Stockholm sometimes do a heart craft on 14 February, rarely more than that. If you want to do something at home, half an hour at the kitchen table and a card to someone the child likes is enough.
Who should the child give the card to?
Whoever the child wants: a parent, a sibling, grandma, a friend at förskola or a förskola teacher. Ask the child and do not steer. Many children want to give it to a friend, and that is a lovely way to talk about friendship.
What can a two year old make?
Handprint hearts, gluing hearts you have cut out, stamping with a folded toilet roll dipped in red paint. You do everything else, and the child helps for ten minutes.
Do you need to buy anything?
No. Red and pink paper, a glue stick, paint and scissors are enough. Hearts can be cut from old magazines, cardboard boxes and leftover wallpaper. The only thing we sometimes buy is tissue paper for window hearts.