It’s not too soon to start thinking about Valentine’s Day and how you and your children are going to share the love – for one day at least!

On February 14 we celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love. Brush up on your Valentine’s Day history with a trip to the library or bookstore to learn more about St. Valentine and why Cupid is a symbol of the day. Kids especially love making handmade Valentine’s cards. Pick a few simple designs and you will be amazed how many hearts of varying sizes in red, pink and white construction paper your kids can turn out in an hour.

Making up short verses or amusing rhymes can be a fun-filled time. Glitter and glue will keep everyone occupied for hours!

Heart-shaped cookies – keep the recipes simple –  can be made in advance and then decorated with appropriate Valentine’s Day colours and shapes.  Even chocolates are easy to make with heart-shaped molds. Melt pieces of chocolate in an open Ziploc-type bag in the microwave and snip off a corner to gently squeeze the chocolate into a heart-shaped mold (hint: many discount stores carry inexpensive molds). Refrigerate to set. Your child’s teacher will appreciate a tin filled with your child’s creations!

A nutritious and fun Valentine’s Day breakfast that even kids can help make? Cut out a large heart from a buttered piece of bread using a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Then brown the bread on one side in a skillet. Flip over the bread and break an egg into the hole. Cover the skillet to let the egg and bread cook together. The heart-shaped bread cutout can be toasted too.

There are hundreds of activities throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for Valentine’s Day. Want to join a skating party? The Scarboro Figure Skating Club, one of the oldest in Canada, invites everyone to a family skating day on February 10, 2012 at the Ice Galaxy, a boardless Olympic-sized ice surface, featuring a mirrored wall and heated viewing lounge.

Valentine’s Day is all about finding ways to tell your loved ones that they are special. Sanctuary Song, a live presentation by Theatre Direct Canada, tells the story of an elderly elephant’s journey to freedom in the Tennessee Sanctuary guided by her friend and keeper of 22 years. The story will inspire and touch both adults and children as it uses words and
music to celebrate the power of compassion, empathy and the unique communication between elephants and humans). Performances run from Feb. 16 to 19, 2012 at 601 Christie Street in the Artscape Wychwood Barns.