Valentine’s Day is celebrated worldwide. The holiday is named after the martyr, St. Valentinus, who often performed secret weddings for soldiers for which he was imprisoned.

Lovers worldwide celebrate the holiday by giving each other gifts to show how much they care about each other. It is a time when children eat candy hearts and send heartfelt messages to each other.

It is the holiday of romance, but in the classroom we can teach various themes including relationships, kindness, and various kinds of love, such as love of a pet, family, one’s self, or hobby.

Be sure to check out our Valentine's Day & Love collection for lessons and resources on love, dating, marriage, and relationships. Below are a few more activities with these themes in mind.

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
—Victor Hugo

Heart, Love, and Romance Idioms

Valentine’s Day is a perfect excuse to teach idioms. Your students will enjoy learning about various idioms related to love, such as, “falling in love,” or “head over heels." Try this Love Idioms Poster from our Visual Learning section.

Here are some more ideas:

• Use this Love Around the Clock infographic from Grammar.net to teach various idioms like, “Pop the question,” and “Get back together.”

• After learning some idioms, have students choose a few to explain in a comic, with tools like Make Beliefs Comix or Creaza. 

Heart Candy Activities

Ever receive a box of candy hearts with their short but lovely messages? Try any of these activities:

Charades

Each student picks a candy heart and has to act out the message for their classmates. When someone guesses the message the actor gets to eat the candy heart. This could help motivate shy students to play.

Guess the Drawing

Each student picks a candy heart and has to draw out the message for their classmates to guess. Have students pick out three to five of the messages and create written or digital stories using these messages. They can use tools like Storybird or Animoto.

Video Dialogues

Students pick out four to six of the messages and create a video dialogue between two or more fictitious characters using a digital storytelling tool, like Xtranormal.

If you want them to use their mobile devices, then try the free dialogue apps, PuppetPals and Talking Ben and Tom News Reporter.

Create a Comic

Students pick out four to six of the messages and create a digital comic of the conversation.

Explore Love in Art

Take a famous piece of art like Marc Chagall’s Dream Village. This painting represents Chagall courting his wife. Break students into pairs and have them write down at least three scenes or visual symbols they observe in the painting. Have them guess what each of these scenes or visual symbols represents, then share their ideas with the rest of the class.

Explore Love in Poetry

Valentine’s Day is a perfect time for students to explore the language of love in sonnets, haikus, limericks, etc. Try these ideas:

• Break students into pairs and give them a few poems to explore then have them create a comic or multimedia presentation where they recite the poem and add visuals that highlight the meaning. Use tools like Animoto or Photopeach.
• With Photopeach they can create a multimedia, interactive quiz about the poem that their classmates have to answer.
• Have students create their own love poetry with this cool online magnetic poetry tool. The words are there. They just put them together to create a poem, then can take a screenshot and post in a blog or wiki.

Analyze Love Quotes

Collect a list of love quotes like Einstein’s, "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love,” and cut them into strips. Have the quote in one strip and on another strip list the author and a few clues.

Give each student a strip. Instruct students to walk around the room to find their partners. Then give them 5 minutes to discuss the meaning of the quotes, whether they agree with the author, and name an example to support their stance.

They will present their quotes and ideas to the rest of their peers when you regroup as a class.

Analyze Pick Up Lines

Take famous pick up lines and have students create dialogues in which they have to create clever comebacks like in this funny post. They can use the previously named dialogue tools and comic strip tools.

Create Valentine’s Day Messages & Send to Friends & Family

Have your students create handmade crafts, cards, or origami where they insert kind messages for their family members or classmates. When sending these creations to their classmates, make sure they send nice messages to everyone so no one is singled out. You may want to check the messages for any grammar errors before they send these out.

• Find out how to make origami hearts, boxes, and more!
• Use mobile apps, such as Fotobabble or Animoto, to send Valentine’s Day messages. These are free and have templates related to the holiday.

More Great Websites and Resources

• Valentine’s Day Sites and Activities by Cybraryman
• Best Sites to Learn About Valentine’s Day by Larry Ferlazzo
• Valentine’s Day Resources by ESOL Courses