Valentine's Day is not exactly a children's holiday, but all ages are submissive to such a wonderful feeling as love, and there is nothing wrong with a child learning to express his feelings. This holiday does not have official status; it came to us from Western countries not so long ago, but it has already become popular, and various events dedicated to Valentine’s Day are held in children’s institutions.
As a rule, events are held in schools; in kindergartens the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day is not so common. And at a school holiday, in order to make it more fun and playful, it would be appropriate to include children’s competitions for Valentine’s Day in the program.
The selection contains games and competitions that require a minimum of preparation and props for the convenience of the teacher and educator.
Well, now let’s take a closer look at fun and original competitions for Valentine’s Day for schoolchildren.
A heart to everyone
At the beginning of any event with competitions and relay races, children should be divided into teams. And in order to somehow designate these teams, each participant needs to attach a heart emblem to their clothing. We will dedicate the first competition to such emblems. For older children, we take a sheet of whatman paper and a heart template made of cardboard, and for children of senior preschool and primary school age, it is better to take ready-made paper hearts so that the children do not come into contact with scissors.
The essence of the competition is this: each team comes up with a design and makes its own emblem. The older children cut out hearts from whatman paper themselves, according to the template, and then color them at their own discretion, while the younger children color ready-made hearts. Members of the same team must have the same logos. Children agree on the design among themselves in advance. The criteria for selecting the winners are the speed of completing the task, as well as the originality of the design.
After this preparatory stage, you can directly begin to conduct children's games for Valentine's Day at school.
History of Valentine's Day
In the 3rd century. n. e. Rome was ruled by the cruel Emperor Claudius II. He was an angry and warlike man. And so, in order to strengthen his army, he issued a decree according to which men who joined the army could not marry. The cruel ruler believed that family ties make a man sentimental and soft, and this does not help him become a merciless warrior.
But no decree could stop love. The only hope for the lovers was a young priest named Valentin. Being a kind man with a soft heart, he bypassed the imperial decree to marry lovers. Moreover, thanks to the fact that the church gave Valentin immunity, he helped the lovers exchange letters and meet.
But everything secret becomes clear, and the emperor learned about the illegal activities of the young priest. Claudius issued a cruel decree, which sentenced Valentin to arrest, and then to death.
And so, while in captivity, Valentin fell in love with the jailer’s daughter - he was so amazed by her beauty and tenderness. The girl, having learned who was in prison, decided to meet with the priest and... she fell in love with him.
Until Valentine’s execution, the lovers wrote letters to each other, swore eternal love and made promises to always be together.
Valentine's execution was scheduled for February 14, 270. On that day, the lover wrote his last letter to his beloved. There were no confessions, no promises, no oaths. And there were only two words: “Your Valentine.”
But no other words were needed to say goodbye. And this short note became a symbol of eternal love, fidelity and devotion and was called a Valentine. And so the day of the execution of the Christian priest, oddly enough, became a holiday for all lovers.
Heart puzzle
Cut a cardboard heart approximately 20*20 centimeters in size into several parts. The more parts, the more difficult it is to assemble. Here you need to focus on the age of the participants. If the competition is held among children from primary school, then it is enough to cut the heart into 4-5 parts, and if the participants are older children, you can make the parts smaller.
You can use either a plain heart or any picture cut out in the shape of a heart for the puzzle.
Marked cupid
For this competition, you need to prepare a “little man” (cut out a full-length image of a person from the wallpaper) and glue a balloon to tape in place of the heart, or attach a dart circle. Each participant receives 3 darts, respectively, each “Cupid” will have 3 attempts. So, each “Cupid” takes turns making 3 of his attempts, aiming straight at the heart. If the participant immediately managed to pierce the heart, a new ball is hung in place of the heart. For each well-aimed hit, the participant is awarded a point. And the participant with the most points—the most accurate cupid—will receive a prize.
Inflate your heart
For this competition you will need heart-shaped balloons. It is better to hold such a competition among boys - it will be easier for them to inflate the balloons. There may be several options:
- who will inflate more balloons? In this case, it is worth stipulating in advance that the balloons are inflated to a certain size;
- who will inflate the biggest balloon? Here you need to set aside a certain time, for example a minute, and then evaluate the result - whose ball is larger;
- Whose balloon will burst first? Option for older children. The balloons are inflated until they burst - the one whose balloon bursts first is the winner.
Holiday scenario
HOST: Hello, dear guests! Today we have all gathered here to celebrate the most beautiful, most romantic, most beloved holiday - Valentine's Day!
HOST: Despite the fact that it is cold outside and snow is blowing, here we are warm and cozy, because love lives in each of us!
HOST: Do you know why Valentine's Day is celebrated on this day - February 14?
HOST: Don’t know? Then we will show you!
A comic dramatization of the story of St. Valentine
CHARACTERS:
- Valentin (a girl dressed as a man, in a black robe, tied with a rope, and with a mustache);
- the jailer's daughter (a thin young man dressed in a woman's dress, with a wig, bows and bright makeup);
- jailer (a girl in a police uniform);
- three or four pairs of lovers, in which the role of girls is played by boys, the role of boys by girls;
- emperor: a young man wearing a white sheet over his shoulder, a laurel wreath on his head;
- servant: in a colored sheet over his shoulder, with a scroll in his hands.
Scene in the imperial palace. On the stage there is a chair in which the emperor sits. A servant enters.
SERVANT (falls to his knees): Oh, great emperor, everything is very bad, very...
EMPEROR: What happened in my great empire?
SERVANT (rising from his knees): The authority of our army is under threat: no one wants to serve anymore for a piece of bread, and also (in a whisper, looking around) they are afraid of hazing!
EMPEROR (indignantly): What?! Hazing?
SERVANT (justifying himself): Hazing, Your Imperial Majesty, is when senior soldiers force junior soldiers to wrap their footcloths and wash their closets!
EMPEROR: So how come our soldiers refuse to serve?
SERVANT: Getting married!
EMPEROR: And what do these married people do?
SERVANT: But look at what!
Competition "Commanders". Several couples participate. Bright crumpled pieces of paper and candy wrappers are scattered on the floor. The young men are blindfolded and given brooms and dustpans. The girls stand a little further away. At a signal, they must direct the young men, shouting to them where to go and where to take revenge. The task is to collect as many pieces of paper as possible until the signal sounds to end the competition. The couple that did it best wins.
EMPEROR (scratching the back of his head): What did they come up with - don’t serve in the army! It’s okay, I’ll show them how to go against the authorities! (Takes paper and writes something.) I order... Hey, servant! Read! (hands over a scroll)
SERVANT (reads loudly): In the name of the great Emperor Claudius II, I command! Ban all weddings from today, and impose a fine for each date. Burn any romantic letter! And whoever does not obey will be executed!
Music plays (for example, the “Imperial March” from Star Wars), to which the emperor and servant leave. The priest comes on stage.
PRIEST (raising his hands to the sky): Oh gods, gods! The Emperor is completely crazy! Ban weddings, punish lovers! (Addresses the audience): Have you heard that weddings are banned?! What to do?
A loving couple enters.
GUY: Father Valentin, the emperor forbade getting married, but we have already set the wedding day!
VALENTINE: My children, how can I help you? (Pauses.) I will marry you secretly!
The girl puts on a veil, the guy straightens his tie, Valentin picks up the icon and begins the ceremony. The lovers quickly leave, and the priest addresses the guests:
VALENTIN: Dear guests! Are there any lovers among you who want to receive Valentine's blessing? Well, I’ll marry you all! But you need to complete the task.
Competition "Dance on a newspaper". 3-4 sheets of newspaper are spread on the floor, with a pair on each one. A slow dance begins. When the music suddenly stops, each couple must fold the newspaper in half and then continue dancing. The next pause - the newspaper is rolled up again, and so on until the dancing couple can stay on it.
VALENTIN: My children! Please accept my blessing! (He crowns couples who approach him in turn.)
The jailer appears on the scene.
JAILER (suspiciously): Father Valentine! What were you doing here now?
VALENTIN (hides the icon): Nothing special!
JAILER: Come on! And who just married several couples? I will read your rights (takes a piece of paper out of his pocket and reads it). Father Valentin, you are under arrest, you can remain silent, you don’t have to testify against yourself and your relatives, everything you say can be used against you in court.
The jailer handcuffs Valentin, sits him on a chair and leaves. Returns with a scroll.
JAILER: Valentine, His Majesty Emperor Claudius II has made a decision: he sentences you to death on February 14, 270!
VALENTIN: Since I am destined to die for love, then I am ready to sacrifice myself.
The jailer leaves. The jailer's daughter appears.
JAILER'S DAUGHTER: Valentine! How cruel the emperor is to punish you like this!
VALENTIN (looks lovingly at the girl): No more than I punished myself!
JAILER'S DAUGHTER: Oh, Valentin, how did you punish yourself?
VALENTIN (kisses the girl’s hand): On the threshold of death, I not only fell in love, but received reciprocity.
Valentin and the jailer's daughter kiss. Then the girl runs away, covering her face with her hands, and sits down at the other end of the stage.
VALENTIN: My beloved, how will we communicate if you are free and I am in prison? Yes, that's right, I'll write you a letter!
Competition "Love Letter". A team of boys and a team of girls are invited to the stage. They are given sheets of paper with written words.
1st sheet: Love, roasts, carrots, gifts, heart, door.
2nd sheet: Love, potatoes, window, carrots, stomach, mind.
Within a certain time, teams must compose a love poem using the words written on the pieces of paper. Then Valentin takes a piece of paper with a poem that the young men wrote, and the jailer’s daughter takes a poem that the girls wrote. The lovers approach each other and tenderly read the messages.
Execution scene. They take out a stool and an ax made of plywood. The jailer takes Valentin out. In the background are all the characters.
JAILER: Today, February 14, 270 AD, a priest is to be executed who violated the emperor's orders and secretly married lovers, thereby indulging their desire not to serve in the army. Our great emperor sentenced him to death. What can you say in your defense, Valentin?
VALENTIN: And I have nothing to justify myself with. I did a good deed, reunited loving hearts. And now, when cruel people take my life, I will ascend to heaven and will perform marriages there. Remember: from now on and forever and ever, marriages are made in heaven! And what God has united, no one can separate!
EMPEROR (menacingly): You're being rude to the emperor! Cut off his head!
The jailer and the servant grab Valentin, put him on his knees and put his head on the block, the role of which is played by a stool, and raise an ax. Valentin's body falls.
The jailer's daughter runs up to him and takes the note from the priest's hand.
JAILER'S DAUGHTER (reading): “Your Valentine!” Just two words, but so much meaning! And why do we need words to understand each other? (Screams) I love you, Valentin! (The girl takes an ax, hits herself on the head with the butt and falls).
All the characters leave. The presenters come out.
HOST: Sad story. Unhappy Valentine sacrificed himself so that the lovers could be together.
HOST: But this sad story has a continuation. Valentine was canonized after his death, and the day of his death became Valentine's Day.
HOST: Yes, that’s what morals used to be like! I wonder if there are people now who are capable of sacrificing themselves for love?
HOST: Of course there will be, these are our guests!
The festive program continues with musical performances and competitions.
Find a match
The principle is the same as the previous competition, only children are looking for a pair for each heart, that is, you need to prepare several pairs of hearts, for example, 2 yellow, 2 green, 2 red, etc. Hearts can also vary in size. Before the competition, paper hearts are mixed, and children look for a match for each heart.
Such a children's competition for Valentine's Day at school is suitable for participants from primary school. It is not only fun, but also useful, as it will help kids strengthen their ability to distinguish colors and sizes.
“Isn’t it time for us to go to the ball?”
In principle, both girls and boys can take part in the next competition. But in order for young people to fully experience how difficult it is sometimes for a girl to get ready, it is still better to play this game with the stronger sex. Whereas ladies can support and inspire their gentlemen.
To conduct this competition you will need large nylon tights and mittens. The task of young people, while listening to music, after putting mittens on their hands, is to pull on tights. The winner is the one who can do it faster than the others without tearing such a delicate piece of clothing too much. Whatever, it will be fun for everyone.
Valentine coloring page
The entertainment is a little similar to what was described above, but in this case you will need blank coloring pages in the shape of a heart. Children color valentines cards at their own discretion, and on the back you can write a wish. The best Valentine is chosen by voting.
In both this and the previous competition, all participants can be declared winners by awarding the same number of points.
And here are the templates for valentine coloring pages. All you have to do is save them to your computer and print them out.
"Nimble Cupid"
Absolutely everyone takes part in this competition, but the participants do not compete in pairs. Men here will act as cupids, and women as their goals. And Cupid, as you know, aimed his love arrows at the target. But shooting at the fair sex is at least inhumane, and at most unsafe. Therefore, multi-colored hair bands will act as arrows. There should be as many flowers as there are cupid participants. Their task is: in the allotted time (1-3 minutes depending on the number of participants) to hit as many lovely beauties as possible with their “arrows”. To do this, you need to put an elastic band on their ankle. At this time, the girls sit on chairs with their legs crossed. Whoever puts on the most rubber bands gets the title of “the fastest Cupid.”
Valentinchikov relay
An outdoor game in the style of Valentine's Day. There can be many variations of such a relay race. Here are some of them:
- At the start there are teams, and at the finish there is a sheet of paper attached and a box with paper hearts. Each participant runs up to the sheet, attaches one heart and returns to the team, passing the baton. Whichever team attaches the most hearts to its sheet wins. You can attach the hearts with buttons using double-sided tape;
- at the finish line there is a basket or box with hearts, each participant, running to the finish line, takes one and runs back. The team that has the most hearts or completes the task first wins;
- Participants run in twos, holding a heart-shaped inflatable balloon between them. Children must cover the distance without losing the ball.
Song competitions
Usually, the company hosts music competitions well. You can prepare paper hearts, on each of which write the first lines of famous love songs. The players take a heart out of the box at random and sing the first verse of the song.
A fun singing competition can be held by dividing guests into two teams. One should ask a question, in the words of a song, for example: “Where are you, my black-eyed one, where?” And the second team must answer with a phrase from another song. For example, the question asked can be answered with the phrase: “There, there, where the currants grow.”
Heart Luck
A variant of the Valentine's Day game for schoolchildren, similar to a lottery. There are paper hearts on a large sheet of whatman paper. You should write numbers on the back of the hearts - these will be points. Team members can open any heart after reciting a poem, singing a song or solving a riddle (this point is at the discretion of the teacher or educator). The team with the most points on the hearts wins the competition.
Here are some more competitions and entertainment:
"Coat of Arms of Love"
Several couples take part in this competition. Their number will depend on how many materials you manage to prepare for the competition: it could be just a few couples, or it could be all the guests. What will you need for the competition? Various decorative trinkets: glass pebbles, large beads, natural and artificial flowers, shells, ribbons, lace, small figurines and much more. All this stuff is laid out on one table in the center. And the participants, using all this, must create their own coat of arms of love. It is important that both the guy and the girl take part in the creation process. When the work is completed, you can choose the best coat of arms and present a prize to the winner, or you can say that all coats of arms are unique and inimitable, and therefore it would not be correct to compare them with each other. After all, those who love are already winners, and therefore all participants will receive prizes.
Game “A little about self-love”
This competition-game promotes the development of self-confidence and self-belief. However, if there are very shy children in the company, it is better not to force them to perform this task. Assignment: looking at yourself in the mirror, say a few gentle and kind words to yourself. As an option, invite the child to tell about himself, supposedly from the words of his mother. Starting, for example, with the phrase: “Mom thinks that I’m the best...”, the main thing is to say only good things.
Longing aches in my soul
To hold this competition, all you need to do is purchase a package of clothespins. The host invites interested couples. The girls, at the request of the presenter, close their eyes and turn away. At this time, he attaches ten clothespins to each participant. What’s remarkable is that clothespins can be attached to a variety of places, for example, on the inside of a trouser leg. As soon as all the clothespins are hung, the presenter gives the start of the competition. The girls' task is to find absolutely all the clothespins hidden on the guy as quickly as possible.
To make the competition more fun, you can hang not ten, but nine clothespins on the guys. Imagine how the girls will try to find the last clothespin and win.
Game "One Breath"
Participants stand in a circle, alternating between boys and girls. Then one of the girls eats the candy and uses the candy wrapper to play. Sucking in air, the girl holds the candy wrapper to her lips. The second participant in the game must, without using his hands, that is, with his lips, take the candy wrapper and hold it on his lips, pass it to the third player. The player who drops the candy wrapper is eliminated from the game. And the next one takes another candy and the game continues.
