Make your child's Valentine's Day a little sweeter by incorporating lovable family traditions that they can look forward to every year. Whether Cupid leaves them surprise treats in a special mailbox to reward good deeds throughout the month or you and your kiddos always fill out family love trees, your child will be seeing nothing but hearts. Making special Valentine's Day traditions will not only get your kids excited for Feb. 14 but will also fill their childhood with sweet memories for years to come. Get inspired by these creative ideas to show your smallest valentine just how loved they are year after year!
Decorate Their Bedroom Door
Decorate your little one's bedroom door with sweet notes or festive streamers and balloons. They'll definitely feel the love when they wake up on Valentine's Day morning!
A Sweet Lunch
While you might not want to feed your kids only goodies, you can add a sweet touch to their healthy meal by checking out these creative Valentine's Day lunch [1] ideas.
Custom Valentines
Add a personal touch to your child's Valentine's Day celebration by surprising them with a custom card that's inspired by their favorite interest [2].
Love Mailboxes
Before Valentine's Day, set up a special mailbox for your kiddo and sporadically surprise them with small treats. Whenever they did something good or just because Cupid felt like stopping by, pop the flag up to let them know they have a goodie waiting.
Matching Valentine's Day Pajamas
Make sure your tot's dreams are extra sweet with these Valentine's Day pajama [3] options and don't forget to take some matching family photos!
Love Note Countdown
Create a festive countdown for the sweet day with a seasonal garland filled with love. Write a special note or reason why you love your little one on the back of every number for your child to enjoy each day.
Consider Cake Pops
Save cake for birthdays, candy for Halloween [4], popsicles for the Fourth of July, and make Valentine's Day all about cake pops with this lovable inspiration [5].
Valentine's Day Family Tree
Teach your kids the importance of expressing their feelings to loved ones by making a special family tree. Create a leaf for each family member and let your child write what they love about them — this also makes for a meaningful DIY [6] gift!
DIY Gifts
Start a yearly tradition of making (or baking!) extraspecial valentines with your kids for loved ones and teachers to let them know how much your child appreciates them. Not only will you both love the bonding time, but whomever you treat to their special gift will be touched by the thought!
Valentine's Day Treat Calendar
This twist on the traditional Christmas advent calendar is just as fun! Fill each bag with your kiddos' favorite sweets or non-candy treats and let them enjoy one surprise on each morning leading up to Valentine's Day!
What I Love About You Book
Whether you opt to focus on a different family member every year or work with your little one to fill out this meaningful book for the entire family, these What I Love About You [7] books ($10) will become even more special as time passes.
Fill Your Home With Love
Decorate your home with lots of love and save these seasonal accents to get reused every year.
A Lovely Ensemble
Don't forget to deck your kids out in love-filled gear [8] for an extraspecial Valentine's Day!
Bake With Your Babes
Work with your child to see what favorite family goodies you can change up to add a seasonal feel or make a point of trying out a different Valentine's Day-related recipe every year. There's no such thing as too many sweets when it comes to Feb. 14!
Candy-less Crafts
Fight the inevitable sugar high by finding special Valentine's Day DIY crafts [9] that your little one can work on once a year. Kill two birds with one stone by selecting projects that can double as love tokens for family or friends.
A Love-Themed Bedtime Story
There's a huge array of special love-themed books, like The Shape of My Heart [10] ($17), that any child would be thrilled to read before bed.
A Very Valentine's Day Breakfast
Start their day off on a sweet note with these breakfast ideas [11] that will make your kiddos swoon on Feb. 14.
A Love Scavenger Hunt
Whether you hide pretty note cards [12] ($12) filled with heartwarming messages for your child to find throughout the day or create full scavenger hunts complete with a sweet surprise at the end, your child will look forward to this exciting tradition each year!
Meaningful Trinkets
Gift your child with a small token of your love that can grow with them as they get older, like this initial heart necklace [13] ($39, originally $89). You'd be surprised how sentimental little ones can be!