Part 2 of Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Valentine's Day Unit - Love, Sweet Love

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This post is a continuation of a previous post: Valentine's Day Unit - What is Love. Start there to read the Introduction.

We've been using Busy Toddler's Playing Preschool for our homeschool preschool curriculum this year, but I thought we would take a week off for Valentine's Day to teach my preschooler about love - what it is, how we share it, show it and celebrate it.

Shared Reading: That’s Me Loving You - Rosenthal, Amy Krouse

Talking Points: What does love feel like? Where do you feel it?

Learning Activity: Love is in our hearts and heart shapes are a symbol of love. Practice spelling LOVE by matching the letters in Busy Toddler’s Love Stickers Activity. For more themed-fun, use heart-shaped stickers instead of dot stickers.

Easy Activity: Adapt Busy Toddler’s Spider Web Tape Resist Art to be the shape of a heart!

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: Love Is: - Adams, Diane

Talking Points: How do we express love for each other?

Learning Activity: Sometimes we tell people we love them with words. Give examples by reading candy conversation hearts, then use them in Busy Toddler’s Valentine’s Day Sorting Activity

Easy Activity: Sometimes we show each other we love them with our actions. Do something nice for someone you love (i.e. hug a sibling, bake a sweet treat, help clean their room, etc.). Extension: do something for every person you love!

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool - Dean, James

Talking Points: What is Valentine’s Day? What do we do on Valentine's Day?

Learning Activity: Modify Busy Toddler’s Giant Halloween Word Search to include words about love and Valentine’s day (candy, hearts, chocolate, roses) or customize your word bank with family members’ names or things your child loves.

Easy Activity: Make a valentine to give or send to someone special. Use construction paper, stickers, doilies, etc.

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: I Love You Through and Through - Rossetti-Shustak, Bernadette

Talking Points: I will always love you. Did you know that nothing you do can change that?

Learning Activity: The book says "I love your happy side, your sad side... your silly side, your mad sad." Introduce the concept of unconditional love by practicing opposites. Cut heart shapes out of construction paper, when cut them in half using different patterns to make puzzles. Draw images of things that are opposites on each half.

Easy Activity: Let them get messy with Busy Toddler’s Oobleck Party. It is not as scary as it looks, I promise, and it is so much fun! If you are nervous, try it in the bathtub first; it rinses right off with water. If you are still apprehensive, check out Susie’s tips for Managing Messy Sensory Play or opt for Busy Toddler’s Bubble Foam instead.

Book Substitutions:

Shared Reading: Guess How Much I Love You - McBratney, Sam

Talking Points: Did you know you could keep counting numbers forever and never run out? It’s called infinity. That’s how long I will love you.

Learning Activity: Do Busy Toddler’s How Many is 100? activity with your child to help them visualize how numbers keep getting bigger. To reduce fatigue, take turns filling each box with 10 stickers. This is really valuable practice!

Easy Activity: Draw a heart of a piece of butcher paper. Bend a toilet paper or paper towel roll in the middle to make the shape of a heart. Let your child dip it in paint and stamp all around the heart. Extension: let them stamp as many times as they want to fill in the heart to show how love is infinite!

Book Substitutions:

I hope you enjoyed this week full of bookish love with Busy's Toddler's activities! Stay tuned for more pairings of books and learning through play activities for upcoming holidays!

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Next up: Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Easter Unit

See Also: Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Christmas Unit, Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Thanksgiving Unit, Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler: Halloween Unit, An Introduction to Playing Preschool with Busy Toddler