Family St. Valentine’s celebration: Include your children in your love story

St. Valentine’s Day often gets framed as a holiday just for couples – quiet dinners, roses, maybe a babysitter if you’re lucky. But for families in the thick of raising kids, love doesn’t live only in candlelit moments. It lives in carpool lines, shared meals, bedtime routines, and the daily decision to choose one another again and again.

Date nights are vital for parents. But rather than seeing these occasions as an escape from family life, we can understand this time as a renewal of our love stories, stories our kids can never be separated from, even when mom and dad step away for a few hours alone.

Our kids should feel celebrated as the living fruits of those love stories. Valentine’s traditions offer a beautiful way to set the stage — to honor marriage without setting it apart from family life, to celebrate romance without leaving anyone behind. They remind our children that love is not diminished by being shared, but multiplied. That a family’s love can overflow outward, becoming a source of joy, warmth, and life for grandparents, neighbors, friends, and the wider community.

This February 14, consider celebrating not just romance, but the love story your family is living together. Enjoy a day that’s playful, meaningful, and full of heart.

Tell your love story because it belongs to them too

One of the most powerful Valentine’s traditions you can have is also one of the simplest: Tell your children how your family began.

Tell them how you met. What made you laugh. The moment you knew this was something special. The long road, the surprises, the answered prayers. And then — how they came into the story.

Children never tire of hearing this. It grounds them. It reassures them. It reminds them they are not an accident of chance but part of a story shaped by love.

Make space for questions. Let them draw pictures. Laugh at the details you’ve forgotten and the ones you’ll never forget. Over time, this becomes a sacred retelling — a love story that grows as your family does.

Make it festive: A St. Valentine’s Day family table

Whether it’s a fancy breakfast or a grab-and-go lunch, themed meals, desserts, or table settings, are a fun and memorable way to celebrate together.  

Think playful and inviting:

• Heart-shaped pancakes, pizza, or sandwiches
• Red and pink foods — berries, pasta sauce, salami, smoothies
• Paper hearts taped to chairs, candles on the table, handwritten place cards

Let the kids help even if it gets a little messy. The magic is in the participation.

Traditions that feel like love (pick what fits)

Secret Valentines: Love in action

Instead of focusing on what we receive, try assigning each family member a “Secret Valentine” for the day.

Their mission? To love that person quietly.

• Doing a chore without being asked
• Leaving encouraging notes
• Offering kindness when it’s hardest

At dinner, reveal who served whom. Kids light up when they realize how powerful small acts of love can be.

Love notes (or drawings)

Set aside time for everyone to exchange notes.

• Younger kids draw pictures
• Older kids write affirmations
• Parents write words that children will carry for years

If you want to save them, have the kids decorate a special box or envelope. One day, these notes will feel like time capsules of love.

Valentine’s dates – because every relationship matters

St. Valentine’s Day is a beautiful opportunity to show children that love looks different in different relationships.

• Mom and sons. Dad and daughters.
  A walk, a treat, a simple outing with undivided attention. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want – the presence is what matters.
• Mom and dad.
  Go out if you can find a babysitter, but even a quiet at-home date after bedtime counts. Let kids know it’s happening or see you all dressed up. There is comfort in seeing parents choose each other.

These moments quietly teach children what healthy love looks like.

Turn up the music: A Valentine’s dance party

Clear the living room. Turn on music. Let everyone dance. Start with the fun songs, letting the kids be silly and laughter spill over.

And then — don’t forget one slow song for mom and dad, maybe the one you danced to at your wedding.

It may feel awkward. The kids may giggle. But they’re also learning something essential: affection, partnership, and joy belong in marriage.

Bake, share, repeat

Choose a simple baking project – cookies, cupcakes, bread. Bake together. Taste-test generously.

Then decide who else might need a little love:

• Neighbors
• Teachers
• Grandparents
• Someone who might feel forgotten

Love grows when it’s given away.

Love that reaches beyond your home

To honor the heart of St. Valentine, consider taking love one step further this year:

• Make cards for a nursing home
• Donate food or diapers
• Volunteer at church

These acts teach children that love is active. That it notices others. That it’s meant to move outward.

A love story still being written

St. Valentine’s Day doesn’t need perfection to be meaningful. It needs presence. Intention. Joy.

When children grow up, what will stick with them most won’t be if your cupcakes were homemade or store bought. They’ll remember how love felt in your home, how you included them in it, and what it looked like being lived out in small, faithful ways.

When we invite our children into the celebration of love — our love — we give them something far more lasting than candy or cards. They don’t just observe love, they experience it. And in doing so, they learn what commitment, joy, and family really look like.

And that may be the most enduring Valentine’s gift of all.