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Valentine’s Day is all about L-O-V-E. While love comes completely naturally to children, it can be a difficult concept for some adults. After all, we cannot physically touch, see, smell, hear or taste love. But we sure can feel it! Maybe not with our hands, but we feel it. Everyday, in everything – especially when we have children. Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to talk to your children not only about love, but other feelings as well.

Fix a snack for your family and gather around the table, announce that you want to talk about feelings. If you have older children, this statement may make them groan.

Tell your children that Valentine’s Day is coming as that it is a special day for love. Ask your children what they think love means. You or an older child can jot down their responses on a sheet of paper. Love means…”hugs and kisses”, “family”, being nice”. Ask your children if they can touch love, if they can see love, if they can smell love, if they can hear love or if they can taste love. You may get blank confused faces or some fun, silly answers! Explain to your children that love is a feeling, it may not be something you can use your five senses on because love itself is invisible, but that it is always there. You can touch love when someone hugs you, you can see love when someone has a smile on their face, you can smell love when Grandma is baking a cake, you can hear love when someone says something nice.

Have your children list other feelings. Happy, sad, angry, silly, bored, excited, etc. Have your child make the face of someone who is feeling that feeling. What does someone look like when they feel happy? What does someone look like when they feel angry?

Now it’s time for your child to get creative with feelings. Have each child make a picture book about feelings.

Here's what you'll need.

Construction paper
Markers or crayons
Hole punch
Ribbon or yarn

Here's what you'll do.

1. Have your child make the cover of their Book of Feelings first. They can write “My Book of Feelings” or include their name in the title, “Zack’s Book of Feelings”. Let them decorate the cover however they like. You can glue a picture of your child to the center of the cover or have them draw one of themselves.
2. Write different feelings on the tops of several sheets of construction paper. Happy, sad, scared, etc. On each sheet have your child draw a picture of what they look like when they are feeling that way.
3. Stack all the sheets together and punch three holes down the side – top, middle and bottom. Use ribbon or yarn to tie the sheets together and make a book.

When all the books are completed, have your child tell you about a time they felt each feeling. Tell me about a time you felt happy. Tell me about a time you felt scared. As you go through each feeling, talk to your child about how to deal with different feelings. How can someone feel better when they are sad? How can someone calm down when they are angry?

This is a great exercise in communication for your children and their Book of Feelings makes a great keepsake! It’s important to talk to you kids about feelings and that having different feelings is okay. It’s also important to teach them how to deal with more difficult feelings such as sadness or anger. Valentine’s Day is an obvious opportunity to talk to your kids about love. Don’t miss the chance to teach your children about other feelings as well this Valentine’s Day.