Valentine’s Day brings so much excitement to the classroom! It’s the perfect opportunity to help students build a variety of skills while encouraging kindness—and, of course, enjoying some sweet treats along the way. From heartwarming stories and creative crafts to hands-on activities, this holiday offers endless ways to make learning fun. It’s also an excellent time to teach social-emotional skills like sharing and expressing gratitude through Valentine’s exchanges.

While planning these activities might feel overwhelming, I’ve got some tips and resources to help lighten the load. With just a bit of preparation, you can create a Valentine’s Day celebration filled with joy, growth, and meaningful connections for your students.

Valentine’s Exchange

Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be the same without a Valentine exchange! It’s a wonderful way for students to express creativity, build social connections, and show love to their school family.

In my experience, we’ve done exchanges both within our classroom and with another classroom (sometimes even a different grade level).

Partnering with another class is an excellent way to promote inclusion and give students opportunities to interact with peers outside their usual environment.

Setting Up a Stress-Free Valentine Exchange

What I Learned

In the past, planning Valentine’s exchanges often left me stressed. I’ve tried having students make their Valentines at school and at home, and both approaches came with challenges:

  • At school: Time was always tight, and it felt like a race to finish.
  • At home: Parents would email me with questions about what to send, how to spell each child’s name, and five million other things.

So, what finally worked best for me? Clear communication and planning!

My Process

  1. Send Materials Home: I provided parents with:
    • A class list.
    • A Valentine’s template.
    • A cover letter explaining the activity and encouraging participation.
    • A clear due date (set a day earlier than the exchange to allow for last-minute adjustments).
    • Don’t worry. You don’t need to make any of this. I have for you linked HERE and HERE.
  2. Use this opportunity to explain how creating Valentines at home builds important skills like fine motor development and communication and helps students generalize skills across environments.
  3. Keep a Backup Plan: If a few students don’t bring in Valentines, have a small stash ready to help them participate. This ensures everyone feels included. You can also set the due date one day prior to when you actually need them and if need be make them with the student’s who have not turned them in.

The Exchange Day

In-Classroom Exchange

  1. Valentine Bags:
    • Students decorate brown paper bags ahead of time.
    • Glue each student’s picture to their bag to make it easier for classmates to identify.
    • Optionally, color-code bags to turn it into a matching activity (e.g., “Put Katie’s Valentine in the pink bag”).
  2. Exchange Process:
    • Set up Valentine bags at rotation stations
    • During station time, students deliver their Valentines to each classmate’s bag.

Exchange with Another Class

  • Choose two students to deliver the Valentines to the other class.
  • Have the receiving teacher distribute the rest to minimize chaos, especially if multiple students need support.
  • When you have 20+ students in one room and requiring assistance to do so its chaotic so 2-3 makes it a LOT easier.

Celebrate After

  • Plan a small celebration with themed games, activities, sweet treats, and maybe a GoNoodle dance party or Valentine’s Day read-aloud.

Valentine’s Day Resources

Books

Leading up to Valentine’s Day, incorporate themed books into your lessons. One of my favorites is “I Love You” by Jean Marzollo: It has a cute little song (linked HERE) that goes along with it. perfect for any music lovers!

  • It’s rich in vocabulary and features a repeating phrase (“I love you”), perfect for programming into AAC devices like a Big Mac Button.
  • I’ve also created an adapted version of the book to ensure accessibility for all students (linked HERE).

Themed Activities

Use Valentine-themed materials to create engaging, skill-building activities. For example:

Pair these activities with conversation hearts or other manipulatives for a fun, hands-on learning experience. Linked HERE.

Wrapping Up

Valentine’s Day offers so many opportunities for creativity, inclusion, and skill-building in the preschool special education classroom. With a little planning, you can make this day meaningful and stress-free for yourself, your students, and their families.

For even more Valentine’s Day fun, check out my additional resources linked HERE! Youll defineatly want to check them out because there are some freebies!