Hugs and kisses are all we really need to make Valentine's Day special. And a little voice saying, "Mama, I love you" is what I truly cherish. But we are surely having a good time making valentines right now to mail off to our loved ones to let them know how much we care.
BOOKS: You Are My I Love You by
Maryann Cusimano was a gift from a friend when my first son was born. It had me crying then, and I still cry sometimes when reading it. I seem to enjoy it more than my son, but Cusimano does a wonderful job of capturing a parent's love for a child. Another one of my favorite little warm and fuzzy books is
I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker. My almost three-year-old is a very moody little fellow. So I first read this book because it showcases varied emotions of a little one -- bashful, angry, sad, curious, proud, silly, etc. Seeing these emotions pictured with sweet illustrations gave my son and I some great conversation starters to talk about his various feelings. But more than anything, it is a story of a mother's unconditional love for her child -- no matter what his current temperament. It's a very sweet, simple read that I often pull off the shelf.
The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond is a nice little story that my son enjoys about a little girl who collects hearts and makes different valentines for her friends.
I really wanted to like
Olive, My Love by Vivian Walsh. I love J. Otto Seibold's stylish illustrations, and I do really like some of the other books by this duo. But this one isn't a favorite, although my son does like it. And another one we read a lot lately is
Clifford's Valentine Surprise by Quinlan B. Lee. It is a fine story, but it is just based on the t.v. series and not one of Norman Bridwell's. But it still has the characters that we love as well as a nice message about showing friends that you care about them.
ACTIVITIES: Bee Mine! -- First I cut 3 small hearts out of white paper. Then I cut out an oval with a pointy stinger shape added to it for the bee's body. My son glued 2 hearts onto the body as wings. Then my son glued eyes to the other white heart, and I drew a smile and antennas on to it for the bee's head. We then colored in the stinger and added yellow and black pom poms to the body. This gave us the bee.
My son then glued the bee to a popsicle stick so he could use it as a puppet to buzz around with. We added a heart that said, "Bee Mine". My son is enjoying playing with this, but I think it would be cute to add to potted plant as a present for Valentine's Day.
Classic Valentines -- I filled the table with red and white doilies, stickers, glue sticks, paper heart cut-outs, markers, and glitter and let my son have at it. He really liked putting together valentines for loved ones in his own way. They are very cute and made with love by his own design. What could be better?
BOOKS: There is no shortage of books about love, and both of these simple, sweet books are so wildly available that if you don't already have them in your own personal library, I bet you have a mom friend who would loan you her copy. Both my little boys enjoy Karen Katz's Counting Kisses. And everyone appreciates the parent-child bunny duo in Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You.
ACTIVITY: Sponge Print Hearts -- I simply took an extra, unused kitchen sponge that was just sitting under the sink and cut it into a heart shape with scissors. My son then took it, dipped it in tempera paint, and went for it. He was really into mixing the colors and stamping away. The pictures turned out well, and I love the simplicity of a page of colorful hearts.
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