Children's Music and Movement Activities for Valentines Day
Valentine's Day inspires many different children's music and movement activities ideal for the classroom and at home. With the nature of the holiday being love and kindness, this presents the perfect opportunity to share some love in a group setting. While they are having fun they will also be improving their fine motor skills while exploring music, rhythm and beat. A few years back I shared a few Valentine song ideas and wanted to share some more this year.
Alice the Camel (Valentine's Edition)
Back in the day, before I had any children, I worked at a childcare center. My sister sent me a binder full of music and movement activities! I still use that binder for circle time for part of our home school music time. One of those songs is "Alice the Camel and Sadie reminded Aunt Kathy about it. That lead to this GREAT (I might be a little biased) video she just put out on her YouTube:
Follow along with "Alice" the camel and her friends as we add and subtract to 5. Learn to sing "I love you" as well as replacing the "you" with names and family members. Being able to substitute words in a sentence is an early phonological awareness skill, helping us to build a foundation for literacy. This version also teaches sign language for mom, dad and family.
Children's Music and Movement Activities for Valentines Day Share on X
More Valentine Activities
1- Passing game and songwriting activity.
Alyssa over at Dynamic Lynks shares a few great activities that include free printables. She shares: "We love holiday-themed therapy activities here at Dynamic Lynks, and one of my personal favorite holidays is quickly approaching. That’s right, we are talking all things Valentine’s Day in this blog post! Valentine’s Day is rooted in love, but one of the greatest forms of love is friendship."
2- How about a musical hearts game?
You will need several hearts in different colors, one for each child, for this movement activity. Each heart should be different from the others either in color. The hearts are placed on the floor. You can either place them in a circle or scatter them around the floor. Create a set of cards with corresponding hearts. The kids dance around the hearts as music plays. When the music stops, each child runs and stands on a heart. Draw one card and display it. You can either give small prizes out or practice making a chart. Making a chart teaches children basic math skills. They can have a visual of which color was chosen the most. The dancing continues as long as you want to play the game.
3- Give your children/students a Valentine Heart Attack!
I came across this idea last year and did it for my kids. Every morning for the week before Valentines Day I would add a heart on their door with something special for them. As life gets busy, I used my cell phone alarm to remind me to do this! Check out this idea on Skip to My Lou.
4- "Skinnamarink" with Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup
Found on her album Stinky Cake, this one is sure to be a hit!
From her blog: "This wonderful old song began in a 1910 musical entitled "The Echo", when it was titled "Skiddy-Mer-Rink-A-Doo", words by Felix F. Feist and music by Al Piantadosi. As it passed into the public domain, it also transitioned into the children's music domain, with many versions, spellings and pronunciations. I know I sang it with my children many years ago, and the children I sing with now love it. A great "I LOVE YOU" song for February, and all year long! Put on your soft shoes and get hokey - dance with your little sweetie!"
5- My friend Sandra, always shares great resources. Check out her Valentine's Day Music Activities
6- Stretchy Band with "A Little Song a Turning in My Heart"
