Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate all types of love, including the love and friendship you share with your child. Spending quality time reading with your little one on Valentine’s Day is a great way to express your love for them. Use these 10 books and the activities they inspired to enjoy a day of fun and connection with your child. 

“The Kindness Quilt” by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace  

Activity: Encourage your child to be kind to others by having them draw pictures depicting their acts of kindness. Collect these kind moments and create a kindness display board in your home. 

“A Gift for Amma” by Meera Sriram 

Activity: Visit a gift shop with your child and have them pick out something special for someone they love! It could be a grandparent, a friend or your spouse. Talk about why they chose the item and how it will make the person feel. 

“I am Human: A Book of Empathy” by Susan Verde 

Activity: Give your child colorful construction paper hearts and ask them to illustrate how they can show kindness in each heart shape. Connect all their creations by tying pieces of yarn from one heart to another – demonstrating how our acts of compassion create an infinite web uniting us all! 

“How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids” by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer 

Activity: Encourage your child to draw various ways to show kindness to their siblings, pets and friends. Explain how these acts of generosity make others feel good while also giving us an internal sense of fulfillment! 

“Love Is” by Diane Adams 

Activity: Continue craft time by having your child draw out a time they cared for something or someone. 

“Little Blue Truck’s Valentine” by Alice Schertle 

Activity: Have your child learn to share the love by making valentines and delivering them to those they care about.  

“You are Friendly” by Todd Snow 

Activity: Encourage your child to draw several ways to be friendly at home and school. Use these drawings each morning to remind them to be friendly, and ask your child at the end of the day to give some examples of how they were friendly.  

“I Love You Because You’re You” by Liza Baker 

Activity: Get the family together for a fun game. Each day, play the “I Love You When You…” game and take turns finishing this statement: “I love you when you…” Celebrate each other and show appreciation through these sentiments. 

“The Power of One” by Trudy Ludwig 

Activity: Create a kindness chain. Write one way to be kind to others on a small piece of paper. Each day, your child can choose several actions to complete. When finished, link each piece of paper into a chain. Over a few months, your child will have a long chain noting all the actions they have completed!  

“Kindness to Share from A to Z” by Todd and Peggy Snow 

Activity: Create an alphabet book with your child, noting the ways to be kind you plan to do in the next few months. As you complete these with your child, check off each page on your alphabet book. 

Make Valentine’s Day special for your child by teaching them about the power of love and how small acts of kindness can make a big difference. With these books and activities, your child will learn the importance of being kind to those around them. These are valuable lessons that will impact them for years to come.