There are so many adorable books that make great Valentine’s Day read alouds that I end up reading them throughout the whole month of February. The actual week of Valentine’s Day we dive a little deeper into some of the stories and spend more time on them. Here are my top 10 Valentine’s Day read alouds and activities.
1. Classic Valentine’s Day Read Alouds
In the first few weeks of February, I begin by reading some of the classic stories I have been sharing for years. I use my Valentine’s Day Mini Reading Comprehension Activity Pack alongside the stories “There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Rose”, “Somebody Loves You”, “Mr. Hatch”, “Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine”, “Ten Things I love about You”, and “‘Twas the Night before Valentine’s Day”. These books are available in my Amazon store.
Each story has a few activities in this resource, so we do a little here and there. This builds their anticipation for the upcoming holiday. Some of my favorite things to do are the candy sort and writing ”I love you like” stories. They always turn out so cute. There are also three crafts you can do with your students to hang up for the month. There is an owl, love birds, and love monsters. I always do the love birds and put them on my door. It makes me feel like spring is on its way.
(But that’s not it…keep reading for even more Valentine’s Day read alouds!)
2. Froggy’s First Kiss
The week of Valentine’s Day we do a different story each day. Froggy’s First Kiss by Jonathan London is a favorite. I love revisiting Froggy and his silliness. The ending of the story just makes me so happy. He chooses to give his mom his valentine. We work on sequencing, characters, setting, and do lots of fun writing. Of course, we make either Froggy or Frogilina. I have included some fun math games and word work printables. You can do them all together or use them for centers. They are no prep, just copy and use.
Click to purchase the book “Froggy’s First Kiss” in my Amazon store.
3. A Crankenstein Valentine
A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger is a hilarious story of a boy who doesn’t like all the “lovey-dovey” parts of Valentine’s Day, but his mom sure does. Then one day he meets his match and finds a friend who feels the same way he does about the holiday. The illustrations are amazing. My students LOVE making Crankenstein and his new friend. I give them the option to make him in his underpants too. This resource is a great way to work on building those comprehension strategies. One teacher said, “My students love the Crankenstein stories. This was a perfect resource to use during Valentine’s week when candy, sugar high chaos prevailed, and this teacher’s nerves were frazzled!”
Purchase the book “A Crankenstein Valentine” in my Amazon store.
4. Click, Clack, Moo I Love You!
Click, Clack, Moo I Love You by Doreen Cronin is another great story to share with your students. We read a lot of stories by this author in the fall so it is fun to see the characters again. In this farm adventure, Little Duck plans a fun valentine’s dance. All the animals join in the fun even Farmer Brown. There are two new characters in this story too a fox and a donkey. It is a sweet addition. While we work on comprehension and writing with this story, my very favorite part is making the Little Duck craft. One teacher said, “This is an amazing resource with a variety of activities! Thank you for providing great visuals and different components to one story.”
Purchase the book “Click, Clack, Moo I Love You!” in my Amazon store.
5. The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story
The Secret Life of Squirrels A Love Story by Nancy Rose has the most incredible real photos of squirrels. Mr. Peanuts is the main character, and he tries to keep busy but wishes he had a friend to do things with. One day he meets another squirrel named Rosie at the library. They become friends are are “nuts about each other”. My students love the photographs in this book and the story is pretty adorable too. We sequence this story, discuss some of the vocabulary words in this book and make the little squirrel craft. One teacher said, “This book and companion kicked off Valentine’s Day theme and it has so many activities to target all the goals we need to!”
Purchase the book, “The Secret Life of Squirrels: A Love Story” in my Amazon store.
6. Turkey’s Valentine Surprise
Finally, I have to add a new favorite Valentine’s Day read aloud to the bunch. Charlie and I will be doing some activities this weekend from this book. The turkey is back in Turkey’s Valentine Surprise by Wendi Silvano. Turkey is making cards for all of his friends and dressing up in secret disguises to try and surprise them. Unfortunately, none of his disguises worked. In the end, he delivers a yummy pizza surprise. The illustrations, characters, and creative writing in this story are a must-read aloud for me on Valentine’s Day. This resource has loads of goodies so you can pick and choose to differentiate for your class. One teacher said, “These are the perfect book companions with all the jam-packed comprehension skills. I love how all of your resources include so many different activities.”
Purchase the book, “Turkey’s Valentine Surprise” in my Amazon store.
7. Valentine’s Crafts and Cards
In addition to sharing literature with my students, we do a few other fun things for Valentine’s day. We make these sweet gnome crafts and glue them on a white bag to use as our goodie bags or “mailboxes” on Valentine’s Day. They are simple and easy and they always turn out so cute.
I like to take the stress off the parents by making the classroom valentine’s mailboxes/goodie bags at school. I also like that they are all similar and everyone has something. I have free Gnome Valentine Cards and Piggie and Elephant Valentine Cards you can print and give to your students. If you want something a little more detailed, I have Valentine Cards with Jokes where each child gets a different joke. My students always love reading the jokes to each other.
8. Valentine’s Day Snack
This year I continued the snack in a cup series with Cupid in a Cup. Check out my previous blog post that includes all the details and ingredients for this activity as it would make a tasty addition to your day. Read more about Cupid in a Cup here.
9. Solve the Mystery
We always do Solve the Mystery activities on special days and Valentine’s Day is no different. This time the valentine bags are missing, and they complete the task cards to solve the mystery. Check out these Solve the Mystery: The Case of the Missing Valentine’s Bags available for different grade levels!
- Kindergarten Valentine’s Day Solve the Mystery
- 1st Grade Valentine’s Day Solve the Mystery
- 2nd Grade Valentine’s Day Solve the Mystery
- 3rd-5th Grade Valentine’s Day Solve the Mystery
10. Freebie!
One last goodie you can grab for free is the Valentine’s Day Mini Book. It would be a great way to introduce the holiday to your students.
Valentine’s Day is such a fun way to share with your students that they are truly loved. Teachers are amazing humans that have such a big impact on the lives of children. Know that you are appreciated and loved by these small children. Happy Valentine’s Day!
