Valentine’s Day is more than candy hearts and staying up late the night before writing “you’re neat” on Scooby-Doo Valentine’s Day Cards for the whole class.

While the Hallmark side of Valentine’s Day can be fun to participate in, this day is also a great opportunity to teach your kids about kindness and real love. Here are some fun ideas to take Valentine’s Day to a whole new level in your family:

• Write 5-8 things you love about your spouse and your kids on individual pieces of paper and hide them in objects they use every day for them to find.

• Record a video of you asking your kids what they love about your marriage to show your spouse over a romantic dinner; be sure to include something you love about your marriage at the end as well. It will be fun to see what they notice!

• Have your kids help you plant your spouse’s favorite flower in your front yard so that instead of having flowers for just Valentine’s Day, you can pick flowers to give them all year long.

• Show your kids a wedding picture and have them draw their version of it; tell them the story of your relationship and what it was about their mom/dad that made you fall in love with them.

• Have your kids write notes to each family member with a few reasons why they love and appreciate them.

• Start a family Valentine’s Day breakfast or dinner tradition this year. (Maybe you have heart-shaped pancakes for dinner together as a family, or you make homemade pizza together and have family game night. Repeat each year!)

• Take time to talk about what love is to your kids and set family goals about how you can commit to better loving one another this year.

• Help your kids practice kindness by packing an extra dessert in their lunch box for them to share with a friend.

• Decide as a family where you can volunteer together in your community to show love.

• Let your kids ask you questions about your relationship and how you met. (It is important for kids to know that their parents are in love; it provides security for them!)

• Get the whole family in the car and give yourselves a time limit to complete 3-5 random acts of kindness. Maybe you fill up someone’s gas tank, pay for someone’s coffee order behind you at the drive-through, or just see someone in need and pull over to help.

• Offer to watch a neighbor’s kids as a family so they can go out on a date and your family can do something kind and generous.

• Go out to dinner as a family and bring a deck of cards to play while you wait for your food; make a no phone rule!

• Grab a copy of our book 365 Connecting Questions for Families and make it a nightly family routine.

• Ask your kids to think about something nice they would like to do for someone they know and support them 100%.

Written by Anna Collins
Anna Collins lives in California with her husband and two children. She is passionate about her marriage, staying at home with her kids, writing, coffee, good conversation, and game night. Her life dream is to someday write a book and see it published.