Our preschool and toddler Valentine’s Day storytimes are about love, friendship, and sign language! Each storytime consists of three books, a sign language activity with rhymes, songs, a felt board, and a craft.
Valentine's Day Books for Toddlers
_________________________________________________________________________
Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse! (Laura Numeroff)
This short board book has all the characters from the popular If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series, which now has its own show on Amazon. Mouse makes Valentine’s for all of his friends, explaining why he loves them. I asked a lot of questions to get kids engaged and laughing for this story.
When An Elephant Falls In Love (David Cali)
I loved this one so much that I used it for both toddler and preschool storytime. An adorable elephant is in love, so he starts to act a little differently. There’s so much subtle humor in this one, so you will have to get the kids really looking at the pictures. “What is elephant wearing? Two neckties? Have you ever seen someone wear two ties?”
Love Monster (Rachel Bright)
A red, slightly hairy monster feels lonely in a world of cute things. He goes out in search of someone to love him, but nothing seems to go his way until another monster appears in “the blink of a googly eye.” I like to have the kids look around with me for another monster.
Valentine's Day Books for Preschoolers
_______________________________________________________________________
When an Elephant Falls In Love (David Cali)
I used this one twice! The summary can be found above.
Hug Machine (Scott Campbell)
A boy who calls himself the “Hug Machine” just loves to handout hugs. There is no hug challenge too difficult for him, even if he has to get creative when it comes to a porcupine or a whale. He hugs so much that he is worn out by the end of the day, but there’s always a hug or two left for his mother.
A Crankenstein Valentine (Samantha Berger)
Crankenstein is not-so-happy about Valentine’s day. He does not like his new heart undies, hairy coconut chocolates, or playing cupid in the Valentine’s school pageant. The day goes terribly for Crankenstein, until he meets a girl who dislikes Valentine’s Day just as much as he does.
Sign Language Lesson & Rhymes
_______________________________________________________________________
Sign Language (ASL) Lesson
I really loved Jbrary’s ASL-themed Valentine’s videos, so I used a lot from there. I used the signs below. The ones with asterisk were only used with preschoolers.
1. Hug – Cross arms over chest, hugging yourself
2. Kiss – Make “puppet” shapes with both hands. Make them meet in the middle, then pull them away.
3. I Love You* - Like a “rock on” sign, but with the thumb out.
4. Be Mine* - Point towards the person then pull hand in, resting it on your shoulder.
5. Heart – Draw a heart on the left side of your chest using both hands. For toddlers, we just made a heart shape in front of us using both hands.
I Have a Little Heart (ASL rhyme)
Hearts & Kisses (ASL rhyme)
The only change I made was that we included the kiss sign at the end.
Valentine Flannel Rhyme & Songs
_______________________________________________________________________
4 Little Valentine’s Flannel Rhyme
There is a “6 Little Valentine’s” version that is popular on Pinterest, but I created my own rhyme using some creatures I had on hand. I wanted to have the last Valentine be from me as a surprise for the kids, so I made a little felt me! Here is my version:
Four little Valentine’s came to the door, The first one says “Rawr! love dinosaur.”
Three little Valentine’s, my oh my,
The second one says “You’re Sweet, from Fly.”
Two little Valentine’s made with care,
The third one says, “Here’s a hug! From Bear.”
One little Valentine left at the bottom,
It says “I love you, from Miss Autumn!"
Skinnamarink Song with Ribbon Dance
I am so in love with this song. Each child was given a ribbon to dance with, but you can also use shaker eggs, scarves, or hands!
Boom Chicka Boom (Valentines Day Song)
Fair Warning: This fun dance and repeat-after me song by The Learning Station will get stuck in your head, but it's definitely worth it!
Valentine's Day Crafts
_______________________________________________________________________
Toddler Craft: Bee Mine Bees
All you need for this simple craft is a large yellow circle, a heart for the wings, a triangle for the stinger, a craft stick, glue, and black crayon or marker.
Preschool Craft: Heart Elephant in Love
These little elephants pair well with our When An Elephant Falls in Love story. Each child will need three hearts, a trunk, googly eyes, glue, and crayons. I made easy trunks by cutting part of the Ellison heart outline die-cut.
Even though this is a simple craft, they all came out looking different depending on the position of the ears and trunk!
More From Ms. Michaela's Storytime
_______________________________________________________________________
Ms. Michaela celebrated Valentine's Day with a "Love Your Library" themed storytime. She read Carlo and the Really Nice Librarian, A Crankenstein Valentine, and A Friend Like You by Tanja Askani.
The Carlo and Mrs. Chinka flannel rhyme she used can be found here.
After that, the kids made Mrs. Chinka themed Valentines. :)