5 Sweet and Frugal Ideas to do with your Children this Valentine’s Day

One of my favorite holidays is just around the corner…Valentine’s Day! Obviously I love LOVE but one of the reasons that it’s my favorite holiday is because I became a mother on Valentine’s Day 2017. My sweet Thalia blessed us with all her glory and love on this special day. 

This holiday can get pretty expensive to begin with and now add a birthday! Yikes! We also have 4 other birthdays in February as well, including my nephew and mother in law! So I knew I had to come up with other fun and -let’s be real- cheap activities for my daughters. Luckily for Valentine’s Day you do not, I repeat, DO NOT, need to spend lots of money to make your children feel loved and appreciated!

Here are 5 sweet and frugal ideas to do with your children during this season of love.

# 1 Dollar Tree Heart Garland

I know we all love Target and Hobby Lobby but you guys, Dollar Tree has so SO much cute Valentine’s Day decor for…Ding-Ding you got it right...One dollar! I bought the most darling heart-shaped felt that look like doilies! Each pack has 8 pieces and that is enough to make a 6-foot rustic garland! You just need a pack of felt hearts and rope (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a 50% off coupon) and that is it! You can use curling ribbon, regular ribbon, thick thread, or pretty anything to string the hearts into a garland. It’s fun and extremely easy to make. My 3-year-old had a blast helping me string this year! It’s also great motor skill practice for toddlers! WIN-WIN!

#2 M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Come on, you really thought you were done eating and baking cookies because it’s been a month and a half after Christmas? No way! Cookies are year-round for this mama! Bake your chocolate chip cookies then when they are ready to take out stick a couple of pink, red, and white m&m’s. These cookies make the sweetest treat.

#3 Pink Waffles

We are a waffle house. Really though, my toddler, with the help of my husband, make waffles every Sunday morning for breakfast. We use the Kodiak Protein mix because it is filled with good and healthy ingredients (makes me not feel so guilty eating weekly)! When you make your waffle mix just put 3-4 drops in your mix and you will have pink (less dye) or red (more dye) waffles! Add whipped cream, strawberries, and sprinkles to make it extra cute. And yes, use the leftover red/pink dye and the sprinkles from your sugar cookies! For a pink beverage just add 1 cup of almond milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, 1 banana, and tsp of honey into the blender and make a delicious strawberry and banana smoothie. This breakfast will be a family favorite for sure!

#4 Heart Attack a Neighbor

If you do not know what “heart attacking” a neighbor is, well, let me tell you. It is when you cut out as many hearts from construction paper of any color and write a nice message on it. Then sneak on over to your neighbors’ house (anyone can be your neighbor) and tape all the hearts on their front door, garage door, walkway, or anywhere you want. Then when they leave or come to their house they see all the pretty colored hearts with sweet messages! Please use painters tape because any other tape can damage the surface you are sticking it to and that would just be a bummer for the homeowner! Also, you can write your name if you want credit or leave it anonymous. Your choice. Either way, you make someone smile with joy and that is all that really matters. We haven’t heart attacked anyone this year yet!

#5 A Service of Love

A service of love can be as simple as teaching your children to open the car door for a family member. It can be teaching your children how to make a simple breakfast such as eggs and toast or as simple as picking up litter from the park. Of course, I am saying “teaching” because our children learn from example. We, as parents, HAVE to teach them to be kind and have infinite love towards one another. Our children need to witness service at home. We lead by example by those small and simple acts of love.

I hope you enjoy these 5 sweet and frugal ideas to do with your children on Valentine’s Day. And remember to create a mess, embrace the mess, and love the mess with your children because one day that mess will be clean.

Please subscribe to my blog and Happy Valentine’s Day!

XOXO, Rudyko