If you are in need of an enjoyable homeschool activity for your little ones this Valentines day that also gets them outside, I’ve got one for you.

Our family lives in New England which means winters are long. If you are familiar and you have kids who are similar to mine, then you know that by February the kids are chompin at the bit to get more space and time outdoors. Let’s face it: it can be challenging to get kids outdoors in the winter. We all get understandably irritable after being confined indoors for so long and cabin fever sets in by February.

Getting outside daily when we can is part of our daily rhythm. Still, there are times when we all need a little encouragement to get on all our winter gear- a chore in and of itself- and out the door. One of the solutions I’ve found to break through the apprehension is to create an invitation to play. What this looks like is a new or stimulating activity to inspire us to get some fresh air. This Valentines heart hunt is a fun Valentines Day themed activity that does just that while also giving value-added literacy practice.

With Valentines Day coming up, I love thinking about how I can modify our homeschool activities and play so there is a thread of the holiday woven through for added excitement.

Letter recognition is an important skill in early childhood literacy development. With a 4 year old preschooler at home, learning letter sounds, the symbols for the letters, and letter names is presently a focus of our homeschool so I incorporated some literacy practice into it as well.

This is a great activity for toddlers. My youngest loved searching for the hearts and was proud each time she discovered a heart saying “found another one!” She has been working on her shapes and colors. Since it’ll soon be Valentines Day we have naturally been gravitating toward work with hearts as well as red and pink, so this fits the bill. My oldest (4) has been exploring letter symbols and sounds. Each time we found a heart it was an opportunity to reflect on letters we’ve practiced and a fun way to gain exposure to new letters.

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How to make the hearts:

Gather materials:

• Construction paper
• Sharpie
• Laminator

Cut out construction paper hearts. I chose to do red and pink. You could do any shade of pink, red, or purple for the holiday. White could be a fun twist if you have snow and your kiddoes are into the challenge. My two are 2 and 4 and so I chose brighter colors to keep it light and enjoyable.

Write letters on the hearts. This is best done with a sharpie so it is bold and easy to see. I did write both upper and lower case letters for each since we have been introducing them simultaneously.

Laminate the hearts. This might feel like much work, but it’s worth the effort. I laminated the hearts while watching tv with my husband before bed and it was easy enough. I chose to laminate the hearts for a few reasons. Number one: toddlers. Enough said. Secondly, I knew we’d be taking them outside. My oldest tossed them into a stream once they were all gathered. It was fun and also I was super thankful they held up to that! Finally, it’s value-added because you can use them time and again for various activities leading up to Valentines day and to repeat in later years. This could be a great Valentine’s Day tradition and will require little effort in years ahead if they are laminated and sturdy.

Hide the hearts around the yard. You could also hide the hearts around a park or local green space or a nature trail. It’s also just fine to hide them inside, though I do love to get the kids outside.

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Adaptations for different ages and stages:

Math hearts– Put varying numbers of dots on the hearts. You can match these to their numerical symbols.

Literacy hearts– Write out a word on each heart. You can then arrange and rearrange the hearts to form sentences.

Literacy and spacial reasoning– You could create a literary scavenger hunt as a guide to finding the hearts. We’ll be adding a scavenger layer next year for our oldest kiddo to add a fun challenge and interest, and if I’m creative enough, a chuckle or two.If you are working on spacial reasoning, you could add words to the clues such as right/left, or over/under. If you’re exploring cardinal directions you could do North/South/East/West.

Expressions of love– It could also just be simple phrases or reasons you love your little one. Education is about more than academics, it’s about building our child’s emotional well being too. Bolstering a child’s emotional well being is always a win in my book so you really can’t go wrong with love notes.

A heart scavenger hunt is simple to make, easily adaptable, a good time to execute, and a great opportunity for learning or connecting with your little ones. It’s convenient to have a toolbox of ideas to support a childhood outdoors or to get moving and scavenger hunts are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. I truly hope you give this one a try.

Cheers to your next adventure in learning!