Acts of Kindness for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is the perfect time to share your love with others. Besides the usual chocolates and roses, you can make this holiday more meaningful by doing small acts of caring that reach beyond your circle of family and friends.

 

Make a Difference...

• Host a Valentine's Day party that spreads the love. Collect fun supplies to make valentines for those in need of cheering up. Or choose another service project such as tying fleece blankets to donate. Adorn your house with hearts, serve pink and red foods, and decorate heart-shaped cookies. For other project ideas, check out bigheartedfamilies.org
• In the tradition of May Day, create a "love basket" to leave anonymously on the doorstep of a neighbor or friend. Here'smone way to make them: Fill with candy and small gifts, along with a special note citing what you love about the person. (If you decide to do this project, be sure to read Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch with your kids.)
• Print out these fun, kid-friendly valentine inserts from Global Exchange and teach friends and loved ones a bit about Fair Trade issues.
• Send Valentine's Day e-card from Care2.com and generate donations to some great causes!
• Practice stealth kindness. For example, leave valentines for people to find at a gas station, in a park, or on a table at your local coffee shop. Find more ideas here.
• Expand your Valentine's card-making efforts beyond your child's classroom to neighbors, friends, and even residents of a local nursing home or hospital. If possible, see if you can deliver them to the recipients yourselves!
• How do you feel about guerilla art? Check out this sweet idea for Paper Heart Garland Tree Bombing and bring a little Valentine's Day cheer to your community!
• If you are a Valentine's Day gift giver, consider gifts that give back to more than just the recipient.

 

Talk about it...

Valentine's Day provides the opportunity to talk to your kids about love, generosity, and friendship. Here are some questions to prompt discussion:

• What is friendship? What does it mean to be a good friend?
• How does it make you feel to do something nice for others on Valentine's Day?
• How would it feel to receive a valentine from someone you didn't know?
• What are some ways we can show people we love them throughout the year?

We thank Jenny Friedman of Doing Good Together for this information. Please contact Jenny (jenny@doinggoodtogether.org) to learn more about any of these opportunities. We hope you will consider becoming involved.