Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to celebrate kindness and love. Whether you’re a parent, family member, or teacher, we all care for “our” kids. And while it’s easy to show love to kids on this holiday with their favorite candy and treats and special gifts, it’s also the perfect opportunity to teach our kids how to show kindness and compassion for others.
We all want our kids to become adults who value kindness and empathy for others. And this is something that must be modeled and taught. This year, consider a new way to celebrate with these 5 easy ways to teach kindness this Valentine’s Day.
(Don’t miss out on our freebie down below, too!)
Ways to Teach Kindness This Valentine’s Day
We can talk about kindness, read books about kindness, and correct unkind behavior all day long. But if you want to really help your kids become kindhearted, the best way is to lead by example and show love to others, Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity! Here are 5 easy ways to help you get started:
1. Create a Kindness Jar
Kids love this idea! Together, think of random acts of kindness that your family could complete. Your kids will love coming up with ideas. These could be big acts, like paying for a stranger’s groceries or dinner, or small acts like leaving bottled water and a snack outside with a note for the delivery person.
Once you’ve created a list, write these down on pieces of paper and put them in a jar. You could choose to pull out one paper each week on a designated kindness day or more or less often, depending on your situation. (We’ve created some cute, FREE printable random acts of kindness cards for you! Click the link below!)
This could also work in a classroom, where students could come up with ideas for helping others at school, like picking up trash outside or holding doors for teachers.
The goal with a kindness jar is to give kids the opportunity to brainstorm all the ways they can be kind to others throughout the year and not only show love on Valentine’s Day.
2. Write a Note
According to Dr. Gottman, relationships thrive on a 20:1 positive-to-negative interaction ratio outside of conflicts. That can be transferred to our relationships with our kids or students. On a regular day when you’re not in the middle of a squabble, we should have 20 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction.
When I look back at my days, often I’ve missed this mark. When our kids are only with us for a few hours each day, we have to be even more intentional about this ratio. It’s easy for me to get bogged down in the things they need to do or neglect to do before or after school. But we have to ask ourselves: when we’re harping on them about homework or picking up their mess, are we outweighing it with love and kind words?
***Making it an intention to speak positivity into their lives is integral to our relationships with our kids.***
That’s why taking the time to write them a “love note” letting them know what you love about them and how they bring joy to your life is SO important. It’s a simple yet genuine expression of our love that is sure to brighten our kids’ day.
If you want to model this for your kids, you can write a note together to a family member, friend, or teacher. Showing kids how to extend words of love to others is an easy way to teach kindness this Valentine’s Day.
3. Spend Quality Time Together
My favorite part of Valentine’s Day is the time we spend together. At our house, Valentine’s Day is a family day. We spend the evening with our girls and have our traditional meal and dessert and dedicate the entire evening to being together. We’ve done this since our girls were very young, and it’s something they expect and look forward to each year.
Your family’s Valentine’s Day might look very different and that’s ok. You don’t have to celebrate on Valentine’s Day, but setting aside special, dedicated time with your kids is so important. If you can’t spend the day or evening together, consider gifting them an experience gift. Knowing that you are planning a special time gives kids something special to look forward to and creates the space for incredible memories.
4. Do Something Kind for the Elderly
The elderly can often be lonely on the holidays. Whether they’re widowed or have lost friends and other family members, older adults are at heightened risk of becoming lonely and isolated. Here are a few ways your family can share love and kindness with the elderly this Valentine’s
- Call or Facetime elderly family members (or visit if they’re nearby!)
- Take a card, plant, flowers, or homemade treats to elderly neighbors.
- Contact a local nursing or assisted living home and ask if you can pass out Valentine’s to the residents there. (This is great to do with multiple families!)
- Take an elderly family member, friend, or neighbor out for Valentine’s dinner or to your house for a special Valentine’s meal.
- Perform an act of kindness for them, such as mowing the lawn, helping them with something in their home, or running errands for them.
- Take the time to ask them questions and listen to them. The elderly have so much lived experience to share with us. I wish I had asked my grandparents more questions about their life.
5. Read Books that Teach Kindness and Love
One of my favorite ways to teach is through books. I can talk about kindness all day long, but there’s something about a book that brings the concept to life. There are some fabulous picture books that teach different ways to spread kindness and celebrate love and compassion. Here’s a list of some of the best books that you can add to your home library or check out from the public library.
As you read the story with your child, take time to ask questions and discuss what’s happening in the story. The best time at our house is at bedtime. When they’re tucked in their beds you have a captive audience. And if your kids are anything like our kids, they’ll do anything to delay sleep just a little bit longer.
Even older kids will benefit from reading books with mom and dad. Taking the time to read to our kids is a kindness in itself and creates space for bonding and discussion.
Wrapping Up: Ways to Teach Kids Kindness this Valentine’s Day
However you decide to teach your kids about kindness this Valentine’s Day, remember the goal is for your child to feel loved by you. When we show our kids unconditional love and extend kindness to them, we are teaching them through modeling.
This is something that should be part of our everyday life. Our kids will benefit and so will every relationship in their life. When we put kindness first in our families, we are creating empathetic, compassionate humans. And that is something to celebrate every day of the year.
