I love the Catholic Faith and raising my kids in a house that celebrates the many feast days that the Church has given us. Some of been secularized to the point that we know longer know why we celebrate the day at all like St. Patrick’s Day and sometimes even Easter and Christmas. Valentine’s Day has become one of those days.
I am on a personal mission to make sure that my kids know who the real St. Valentine was and why he is the patron saint of those in love.
We celebrate most feast days with crafts, books, activities, and yummy treats to really learn about the saints and feast days in a fun and interactive way.
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St. Valentine Backstory
St. Valentine was a bishop in Terini, Italy in the 3rd century in the Roman Empire under Emperor Claudius II. Claudius had outlawed his soldiers getting married because he thought it was too distracting, so St. Valentine would marry the soldiers to their loved ones in secret. He was then arrested and put in jail.
There is one story about him that states that one of his jail guards brought his blind daughter to St. Valentine to heal. St. Valentines healed her and they become pen pals. St. Valentine would end his messages to her “from your Valentine”.
He was martyred by Claudius II around the year 270AD.
St. Valentine Crafts and Activities
–St. Valentine Bookmark Printable My kiddos liked making these bookmarks for their friends in school. Five come on a sheet for you to print out. Punch a hole in the top and tie a ribbon onto it and you’re done. It’s a pretty inexpensive valentine for your kids to make for their friends. You can print them off onto card stock for a sturdier bookmark or paste them onto construction paper to give it some structure as well. My disclaimer is that the picture is not mine and neither is the prayer, but I could not find the original artist who did make the picture.
–St. Valentine Coloring Sheet This is one of my kids favorite activities to do on feast days. I love the coloring sheets from Catholic Playground which I have linked. I also like the coloring sheets from Shining Light Dolls and Catholic Family Crate. Take a look at all of them and find your favorite.
You can also find more fun crafts and activities for St. Valentine’s Feast Day on the Catholic Icing Blog.
Saint Valentine Books
Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda– This book is such a great addition to our family’s liturgical living library. I have read a few stories about St. Valentine and some of them are very inappropriate and not based on Catholic tradition.
Saint Valentine by Ann Tompert– This is on my wish and comes highly recommended. It is out of print and therefore hard to find. I have it linked, but you can probably find it cheaper on eBay.
Goodies and Tea
We enjoy doing simple treats for St. Valentine’s Day. We make some finger foods, some heart sugar cookies to decorate with premade icing and sprinkles, and some tea. We’ve made cupcakes in past years as well and just decorated them with icing and sprinkles as well. I love to get the goodies out and while the kids decorate their cookies or cupcakes I read a book about St. Valentine or listen to this St. Valentine Podcast Episode. The kids have a blast.
I also found these adorable St. Valentine Calzones and these cute St. Valentine Cookies that I hope to do with my kids this year.
Catholic Valentines
I love finding Catholic Valentine’s day Cards. My kids go to Catholic school so I always feel weird giving Marvel or Barbie Valentine’s day cards not that anyone has ever said we shouldn’t. I just love keeping Catholic feast days as Catholic as I can. Here are a few options I’ve used in the past.
Valentine’s Day Cards from Amazon. These are the ones I’ve ordered for my kids this year. They are so cute and exactly what
Valentines Day Cards from Tiny Saints
Lollipop Cover Free Printables from Shining Light Dolls
Catholic Valentine Treat Card Printables from Shining Light Dolls
St. Valentine Gifts
You do NOT need to get your kids a gift for every feast day, or for any feast day at all, but I love adding to my family’s collection of saint toys, games, puzzles, and stuffies. I will say, that one of my fondest memories of childhood was the Valentine’s day gifts that my dad use to give me, including a purple monkey beanie baby. So here are some suggestions if you’re looking for gifts to give on St. Valentine’s feast day.
-St. Valentine Puzzle by Catholic Family Crate. This is also one of my favorite Catholic companies. Their puzzles are so nice. We have the St. Valentine, Holy Family Hearts, and the St. George puzzles and my kids love to do them. This is a fun activity to bring out every February or have out all year round.
-St. Valentine Plush Doll by Shining Light Dolls. This is one of my favorite Catholic companies to buy products from for my kids. Their products are beautiful, high quality, and they are a small business. Their mission is wonderful. I like to buy their products during their big sales and after the major holidays.
-St. Valentine Peg Doll by Shining Light Dolls. We have quite a few of their peg dolls. My kids love them. Our saint peg dolls frequently visit baby Jesus in the manger during Christmas. My babies love to slobber all over them all the time. They also get eaten by dinosaurs A LOT as well. They are great staple toy.
-St. Valentine Keychain by Tiny Saints. This is a cute little addition to the kids backpacks. My kids love having their patron saints on their backpacks. Plus they are ADORABLE!
Conclusion
The Catholic Church gives us all kinds of feast days to celebrate. Make it part of your family’s culture that your kids will always remember. Have fun!
You don’t need to do any of these, but if you do, leave a comment below.
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