Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day With Catholic Kids

Many people don’t even realize that St. Valentine’s day is a Catholic feast day. Somehow, that “Saint” gets dropped off of the day most of the time. But we as Catholics can make sure always to keep the “Saint” in “Saint Valentine’s Day”! You can find all of my resources for celebrating feast days in February here. There are so many great ways to celebrate this beautiful Catholic feast day, and today I am going to share with you some pintables, resources, crafts, and books to celebrate the true meaning of St. Valentine’s Day with Catholic kids. 

Saint Valentine Quick Facts

I find it’s always better to know about the life of the Saint himself themselves before planning feast day activities, so let’s take a quick look at the life of St. Valentine in a nutshell. 

What Is The Real Story Of St. Valentine’s Day?

In short, yes, but there may have been 2 or 3 Saints with the name Valentine in the 3rd century, and the stories have become somewhat entangled over the years. That’s why it’s so hard to pin down St. Valentine’s story. Some historians claim they could have been the same person. Here’s what we know about his legend:

• Feast day February 14
• Bishop of Terini, Italy 
• 3rd century Roman martyr 
• Imprisoned for secretly marrying soldiers that wanted to be wed at a time that soldiers were not allowed to have wives
• signed a letter to the jailer’s daughter “from your Valentine” 
• healed his jailer’s daughter of blindness 
• Patron Saint of couples, love, and bee keepers
• Symbols: heart, birds, roses

Why Do We Celebrate St. Valentine’s Day As The Day Of Love?

Chaucer (an English medieval poet) wrote a poem called the Parliament Of Fowls in the 14th century that is about how birds choose their mates on February 14. You can read the whole poem here, but here are a few snippets:

For this was on Saint Valentine’s day,

When every fowl comes there his mate to take,

Of every species that men know, I say,

And then so huge a crowd did they make,

That earth and sea, and tree, and every lake

Was so full, that there was scarcely space

For me to stand, so full was all the place…

…Saint Valentine, who art full high aloft –

Thus sing the small fowls for your sake –

Now welcome summer, with your sun soft,

That this winter’s weather does off-shake.

Ok, I think we are ready to look at some ways to celebrate St. Valentine’s feat day with kids! This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you click through and purchase the item, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions shared are my own. 

St. Valentine Picture Books For Kids

We have had this picture book about St. Valentine for years! This book includes the legend of St. Valentine healing the young blind girl, and I love the collage style illustrations. This is the perfect book to pair with your St. Valentine’s day tea party if you have one.

Here is a book that I have on my wishlist- it’s another picture book about St. Valentine for kids, and it looks like it includes more legends surrounding love for this feast day.

St. Valentine’s Day Printables For Kids

This printable Saint Valentine craft is fun and easy to make and is included in my Saint Valentine pack download  for Catholic kids. It comes with a stand up St. Valentine statue craft, a coloring page, and actual St. Valentine Valentines. Everything prints in both color AND in black outline so you can choose to color it yourself or not. 

Also,  check out my Valentine’s day countdown chain– it’s a printable paper chain with Scripture verse to read per day counting down to the feast of St. Valentine! It’s so great when kids can see how much longer they are waiting for a feast day, and also a fun way to sneak a little bible reading into daily life with them. This also prints in full color or in black outline. The black outline version is super cute printed on pink paper! 

St. Valentine How To Draw Video

NEW!!! How To Draw St. Valentine. A super fun step by step FREE how to draw video. 🙂 Now your kids will know exactly who this feast day is actually about, and can add Saint Valentine to their cards, etc. 

St. Valentine Crafts For Kids

Make a St. Valentine paper bag puppet– my kids love these! I don’t fully understand children’s fascination with paper bag puppets, but they sure do have a good time with them! You can find all of my templates for St. paper bag puppets here.

Make heart shaped pipe cleaner rosaries– this is super cheap and easy, making it the perfect class for a classroom or large group of children. 

You can find more specifically Catholic St. Valentine’s day crafts here. 

Printable St. Valentine Prayer Cards

I now have a set of printable Saint Valentine holy cards that are free to download here. My kids love collecting prayer cards!

St. Valentine’s Day Liturgical Tea Party

The perfect way to eat any of your treats is with a simple Saint Valentine themed tea party. We love throwing these little liturgical teas! You can read all about why I love liturgical tea parties and how I plan them here.

Printable Valentines For Catholic Kids

These Saint Valentine Valentines and prayer cards for Catholic kids are available in my St. Valentine pack for kids! This whole pack is full of St. Valentine fun, and I hope your family enjoys it. 

Free printable Valentines that actually say Happy Saint Valentine’s day, rather than not acknowledging Valentine as a Saint.

Also, check out these Free printable Scripture verse Valentines. These are the scripture verses that pair with certain Valentine’s day treats with fun puns!

Love Scripture Resources For St. Valentine’s Day

You can find my round up of love scripture resources for St. Valentine’s day here. 

Fun St. Valentine Food Ideas

You can find my round up of fun St. Valentine’s day food for kids here. This is such a fun feast day to serve beautiful sweet treats! 

Sacred And Immaculate Hearts For Valentine’s Day

I love the idea of honoring the Sacred and Immaculate hearts of Jesus and Mary for St. Valentine’s day! I have one easy to navigate page where you can find all of my Sacred and Immaculate heart ideas for kids, so you should definitely check that out!

I also have a free video showing kids step by step how to draw the Sacred and Immaculate hearts that would be absolutely perfect for Valentine’s day cards or notes!