School Valentines - Son's Daycare

[katycoo]

Valentines seems to be a MUCH bigger thing in the USA.  We never did anything to do with it at school as an organised activity.  In high school there were fundraisers where you could send a rose to someone but it was optional.  That was it.

[MommyPenguin]

My youngest wouldn't get the "exchange" part of valentines (she's 15 months) but she'd probably enjoy having some interesting cards to chew on.

However, some of the kids are probably 18 months or close to 2 years old.  At that age, they can certainly like looking at valentines, at doing the exchange part, and they might also see older siblings doing the exchange in their classes.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's largely done for the older kids in the classroom who are most interested.

And thank you for reminding me, our co-op group is doing an exchange tomorrow, and I found some really cute valentines online to print out.  I need to get that done!

[Sharnita]

Kids definitely don't need to be able to read to appreciate Valentines. Besides the ones with holographs  there are some with stickers that little kids would like.

[esposita]

My youngest wouldn't get the "exchange" part of valentines (she's 15 months) but she'd probably enjoy having some interesting cards to chew on.

However, some of the kids are probably 18 months or close to 2 years old.  At that age, they can certainly like looking at valentines, at doing the exchange part, and they might also see older siblings doing the exchange in their classes.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's largely done for the older kids in the classroom who are most interested.

And thank you for reminding me, our co-op group is doing an exchange tomorrow, and I found some really cute valentines online to print out.  I need to get that done!

Would you mind sharing, Mommy Penguin? Pretty please? 

[Oh Joy]

I swear I'm not a grump and I love celebrating holidays.  But I dreaded these days at daycare.  The one-year old would bring home a huge bag of things - all given with generosity and good intentions - that I'd throw away.  Snacks outside the scope of our plan for treats, toys that we don't choose to have in our home, and cards assembled by the parents.  We try so hard to only bring things into our home with intention, and there would be so much even though it was just one thing or just one goodie bag from each family.

My point is that it's OK to decline, or to just do a simple construction paper heart with a crayon scribble on it.

Best wishes.

[MommyPenguin]

My youngest wouldn't get the "exchange" part of valentines (she's 15 months) but she'd probably enjoy having some interesting cards to chew on.

However, some of the kids are probably 18 months or close to 2 years old.  At that age, they can certainly like looking at valentines, at doing the exchange part, and they might also see older siblings doing the exchange in their classes.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's largely done for the older kids in the classroom who are most interested.

And thank you for reminding me, our co-op group is doing an exchange tomorrow, and I found some really cute valentines online to print out.  I need to get that done!

Would you mind sharing, Mommy Penguin? Pretty please? 

The original ones that I was going to do were these: http://www.catholicprintablesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Valentine_cards.jpg  They're religious, though, so may not work if you aren't.

However, then I found ones that I like even better!  These: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2014/02/diy-valentines-butterflies-flowers-and-hearts.html  I printed them on colored cardstock.  I used dum-dum lollipops and glued some little googly eyes on them (I had the eyes on hand in our craft stuff).  I think they'd be fine without the eyes.  If you didn't want to use candy, you could probably bend a pipe cleaner in half and use it as the butterfly's body (just separate the two halves slightly at the top and it would look like antennae).  Kids can glue on the eyes, slide the lollipop/pipe cleaner through the slots, and sign their names.  Possibly even cut out the butterflies if they're older.

[hajisaurus]

Thank you all for your great responses. I really needed perspective on this. I agree that it's weird, but the ritual may be fun and getting/making a shiny/pretty card for the kids to open wouldn't be that difficult. His class is segregated by age, so it will be him and 12 other 1 year olds. They are having a party with treats (all relatively healthy) so I think I'll go ahead and pick something up for them.

And, for the record, I am a bit of a humbug when it comes to the pomp and circumstance of holidays, but I want to make the experience fun for my little gooby! I think the entire daycare/pre-k has similar lists distributed for everyone. He wasn't enrolled last valentine's day (as he was only a week old!) so I don't think the baby class does this, but the 1-years makes more sense. Thanks!

[esposita]

My youngest wouldn't get the "exchange" part of valentines (she's 15 months) but she'd probably enjoy having some interesting cards to chew on.

However, some of the kids are probably 18 months or close to 2 years old.  At that age, they can certainly like looking at valentines, at doing the exchange part, and they might also see older siblings doing the exchange in their classes.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's largely done for the older kids in the classroom who are most interested.

And thank you for reminding me, our co-op group is doing an exchange tomorrow, and I found some really cute valentines online to print out.  I need to get that done!

Would you mind sharing, Mommy Penguin? Pretty please? 

The original ones that I was going to do were these: http://www.catholicprintablesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Valentine_cards.jpg  They're religious, though, so may not work if you aren't.

However, then I found ones that I like even better!  These: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2014/02/diy-valentines-butterflies-flowers-and-hearts.html  I printed them on colored cardstock.  I used dum-dum lollipops and glued some little googly eyes on them (I had the eyes on hand in our craft stuff).  I think they'd be fine without the eyes.  If you didn't want to use candy, you could probably bend a pipe cleaner in half and use it as the butterfly's body (just separate the two halves slightly at the top and it would look like antennae).  Kids can glue on the eyes, slide the lollipop/pipe cleaner through the slots, and sign their names.  Possibly even cut out the butterflies if they're older.

Thank you! We are Orthodox Presbyterians, so those are perfect!

[MommyPenguin]

Great, I'm glad they could be useful.    I made the foolish mistake of forgetting to get them ready until last night (need them this morning) and then I couldn't find the page that I'd seen them on.  Apparently I forgot to bookmark it.

[bopper]

Also you could use it as a "teaching" thing...Like junior can write on paper and you could cut out hearts, like someone suggested. Then you and junior could maybe use paper glue and glue them.  Then maybe you could put stickers on together.

[hannahmollysmom]

I still remember mine coming home from daycare with a bundle of cards. They loved them and looked at them over and over. Yes, they did get tossed after a few days, but the enjoyment they got from them made it worth the while.

When OD was 3, we went shopping for the little box of cards. She loved picking it out.

Also, many of the kids have older siblings who have exchanges at school, so they feel like they are involved too and have something to show bigger siblings.

[Tabby Uprising]

Thank you all for your great responses. I really needed perspective on this. I agree that it's weird, but the ritual may be fun and getting/making a shiny/pretty card for the kids to open wouldn't be that difficult. His class is segregated by age, so it will be him and 12 other 1 year olds. They are having a party with treats (all relatively healthy) so I think I'll go ahead and pick something up for them.

And, for the record, I am a bit of a humbug when it comes to the pomp and circumstance of holidays, but I want to make the experience fun for my little gooby! I think the entire daycare/pre-k has similar lists distributed for everyone. He wasn't enrolled last valentine's day (as he was only a week old!) so I don't think the baby class does this, but the 1-years makes more sense. Thanks!

Hah, I'm a total holiday junkie so between the two of us we bring balance to the universe 

[parker6221]

Same thing at my daughter's daycare.  I bought individual packs of fish crackers and added a sticker "so glad we're in the same school!".  Easy and no candy!

[hajisaurus]

So, brief update: He came home with a lovely goodie bag and from the look of it, about half of the kids participated. Most opted for the hologram type, some included candy (which he couldn't have) but there was also a nice little book for him too. We opened them together and he had a lot of fun chewing on them (which is his thing right now), and most of them survived a few days before being destroyed totally. He actually found the box the set we bought came in and began carefully placing them in the box and then dumping it out again. (For the non-parents, this is a pretty neat development for him - refinement of his fine motor skills and some cool logic forming.) I'm really glad we participated and I think he enjoyed the whole experience. Thanks again for all the feedback and helping me make my decision.

[lilfox]

Chiming in a little late, but IME daycares start having valentines sharing at the 1 yr stage. And it does run the gamut from simple paper hearts to photo cards (fortunately not common!) and with or without candy or trinkets.

Also I had to share a nifty solution to the Valentines problem.  One of the kids in DD's class gave out these: a construction paper heart with a glow stick bracelet threaded through slits in the paper, and the words "you make my heart glow". Around here, you can get a tube of 15 glow stick bracelets for $1, so for $2 and change he could make the requested 20 for his classmates.  totally stealing this next year!

My own score was finding a DIY set of foam cards + stickers with some less common designs (robots, dogs, and owls), so DD could make them herself.  In the past I also found valentine's that were printed on "seed paper" which could be put in water and would grow little plants, like chia or something. And temporary tattoos always seem to be a big hit as another non-candy option.