4 V-Day activities you can do with your kids

Here's one of my latest articles published at Philippine Online Chronicles (POC).

 

 

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Valentine’s Day is not just a day for lovers. We can celebrate it by spreading love not only to our spouses; but to the other members of our family as well, like our kids. Here are four simple activities that you can do on Valentine’s Day or throughout this month of love. Choose one or choose all and make this your happiest Valentines ever with your kids.

 

 

Pre-Valentine date with my eldest son. 
Enjoying some of his favorites - spaghetti, french fries and ice cream.

Go out on a date with your child. – Who says that we can only date our spouses? This month of love, take time to plan for a special one-on-one bonding with your child to make him/her feel important and loved. If you have more than one child, plan something special for each one of them. I first heard this from bestselling author and lay preacher, Bo Sanchez. I also read about this from Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. I have practiced this since then and this is something my eldest son looks forward to each week. A lot of times, I accompany my son as he enjoys some rides then we have a donut, a pastry or ice cream after. On some days, we go to the bookstore together and find new books we can read. Think of some of your child’s favorite places and activities and take your cue from there. It can be a play date between you and your child followed by snacks afterwards. You can have strawberry ice cream or cup cakes with pink and red candy sprinkles for example. Or you can begin with a lunch date in a fancy restaurant or in his/her favorite restaurant followed by a trip to the toy store, department store or bookstore where you buy something for the child.



Pretending to be in a race car.

Yanthy tries a bike with a passenger seat at the back.
He asked if we could buy that for him and his baby brother.

 

Write love letters together. – It is already the digital age and very seldom do people write love letters by hand. But it doesn’t mean that this practice has lost its sweetness. Why not write love letters again this Valentine’s Day? Write one for your husband. Then, encourage and assist your child to write one for your spouse. Ask your child questions like “what does Daddy do that makes you happy?” or “why do you love Daddy?” to help your child come up with something to write for your husband. If you’re kid/s are still very young, you can think of a short but sweet Valentine message that your child can write for your spouse. When my son was only two years old, I assisted him in writing a Valentine message for my husband. Last year, he wrote something in his own handwriting. Your kids can also write love letters to their grandparents. I’m sure the grannies’ hearts would melt as they receive these old fashioned expressions of love from your kids.

 

 

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